Arthur George Ling (20 September 1913 – 20 December 1995) was a British architect and town planner. From 1955 to 1964, he was City Architect and Planning Officer for

Coventry Coventry ( or rarely ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands county, in England, on the River Sherbourne. Coventry had been a large settlement for centurie ...

. As head of

Nottingham University The University of Nottingham is a public research university in Nottingham, England. It was founded as University College Nottingham in 1881, and was granted a royal charter in 1948. Nottingham's main campus (University Park Campus, Nottingh ...

’s Department of Architecture, he was Consultant Architect-Planner for the Runcorn New Town Masterplan (1967). There he invented the

Runcorn Busway The Runcorn Busway is a bus rapid transit (BRT) system in Runcorn Runcorn is an industrial town and Runcorn Docks, cargo port in the Borough of Halton, Cheshire, England. Runcorn is on the south bank of the River Mersey, where the estuary ...

, the world's first bus rapid transit system.

Early life and education

Ling was born in

Swindon Swindon () is a town in Wiltshire, England. At the time of the 2021 Census the population of the built-up area was 183,638, making it the largest settlement in the county. Located at the northeastern edge of the South West England region, Swi ...

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated to Wilts) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire to the north-east, Berkshire to the east, Hampshire to the south-east, Dorset to the south, and Somerset to ...

on 20 September 1913. He was educated at

Christ's Hospital Christ's Hospital is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Private schools in the United Kingdom, fee-charging boarding school for pupils aged 11–18) with a royal charter, located to the south of Horsham in West Sussex. T ...

Horsham Horsham () is a market town on the upper reaches of the River Arun on the fringe of the Weald in West Sussex, England. The town is south south-west of London, north-west of Brighton and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Nearby to ...

before winning a scholarship to study at the Bartlett School of Architecture,

University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

. After graduating a BA (Architecture), he was awarded a Diploma in Town Planning in 1938.

Career

Ling began his career as a planner at

London County Council The London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London throughout its existence from 1889 to 1965, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today ...

in 1936 before joining the modernist practice of

Maxwell Fry Edwin Maxwell Fry, CBE, RA, FRIBA, F RTPI (2 August 1899 – 3 September 1987) was an English modernist architect, writer and painter. Originally trained in the neo-classical style of architecture, Fry grew to favour the new modernist style, ...

and

Walter Gropius Walter Adolph Georg Gropius (; 18 May 1883 – 5 July 1969) was a German-born American architect and founder of the Bauhaus, Bauhaus School, who is widely regarded as one of the pioneering masters of modernist architecture. He was a founder of ...

in 1937. At the beginning of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he became structural engineer at the

City of London Corporation The City of London Corporation, officially and legally the Mayor and Commonalty and Citizens of the City of London, is the local authority of the City of London, the historic centre of London and the location of much of the United Kingdom's f ...

before returning to the county council in 1941 where he helped to prepare the ''

County of London Plan The County of London Plan was an urban planning proposal prepared for the London County Council in 1943 by John Henry Forshaw (1895–1973) and Sir Leslie Patrick Abercrombie (1879–1957), with foreword from Charles Latham, leader of ...

''.

Elevated busway at Runcorn Shopping City

In 1955, he became City Architect and Planning Officer for Coventry. Following several part-time positions at the Hammersmith School of Art and UCL, Ling was appointed Professor and Head of

’s Department of Architecture in 1964. In that capacity, he created the

Runcorn Runcorn is an industrial town and Runcorn Docks, cargo port in the Borough of Halton, Cheshire, England. Runcorn is on the south bank of the River Mersey, where the estuary narrows to form the Runcorn Gap. It is upstream from the port of Live ...

new town masterplan and the world's first bus rapid transit system, the Runcorn Busway, while sketching on the back of an envelope.

Political views

Ling joined the Communist Party as a student, and following a visit in 1939, stayed on in the

USSR The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

to study Soviet town planning. He was active in the Society for Cultural Relations with the USSR after the Second World War and was a founder member of the

Society for Anglo-Chinese Understanding The Society for Anglo-Chinese Understanding (SACU) is an organisation established in 1965 to promote understanding and friendship between British and Chinese people. The organisation has no political affiliation and is open to all who are inte ...

in 1965.

Personal life and death

He married Marjorie Tall on 22 April 1939 with whom he had one son and three daughters. He died on 20 December 1995 at his home in

Helmdon Helmdon is a village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish about north of Brackley in West Northamptonshire, England. The village is on the River Tove, which is flanked by meadows that separate the village into two. The parish includes ...

Brackley Brackley is a market town and civil parish in the West Northamptonshire unitary authority area of Northamptonshire, England. It is on the borders with Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire, east-southeast of Banbury, north-northeast of Oxford, and ...

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire ( ; abbreviated Northants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Leicestershire, Rutland and Lincolnshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshi ...

Recognition and media

Ling was made Vice President of the

Royal Institute of British Architects The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) is a professional body for architects primarily in the United Kingdom, but also internationally, founded for the advancement of architecture under its royal charter granted in 1837, three suppl ...

from 1963 to 1964, and Honorary Treasurer from 1964 to 1967. He was President of the Town Planning Institute from 1968 to 1969. Ling featured in two films on planning: ''Proud City'' (1946) on the 1943 ''

'', and ''Basingstoke - Runcorn: British New Towns'' (1974), a Canadian information film.

References

External links

1946 film, ''Proud City''1974 Canadian documentary film about Runcorn New Town
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ling, Arthur 1913 births 1995 deaths Alumni of the Bartlett 20th-century British architects British urban planners Academics of the University of Nottingham Presidents of the Royal Town Planning Institute