Arthur Ling

{{Short description|British architect and town planner (1913–95)}} {{Use British English|date=June 2022}} {{Use dmy dates|date=June 2022}} {{Infobox architect | name = Arthur Ling | image = Arthur Ling in 1948.jpg | image_size =  | alt = | caption = Ling in 1948 | birth_name = Arthur George Ling | birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1913|09|20}} | birth_place = Swindon, Wiltshire, England | death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1995|12|20|1913|09|20}} | death_place = Helmdon, Brackley, Northamptonshire | nationality =  | other_names = | alma_mater = Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London | spouse = Marjorie Tall | partner = | children = 4 | parents = | awards = | practice = Arthur Ling and Associates | significant_buildings = Belgrade Theatre, Coventry Central Baths | significant_projects = Lansbury Estate, Runcorn New Town | significant_design = | signature = | website =  | embedded =  }}

'''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.<ref name="ODNB">{{cite ODNB |last=Gold |first=John R. |title=Ling, Arthur George (1913–1995) |year=2019 |doi=10.1093/odnb/9780198614128.013.109713 |url=https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-109713 |access-date=1 June 2022}}</ref> As head of Nottingham University’s Department of Architecture, he was Consultant Architect-Planner for the Runcorn New Town Masterplan (1967).<ref name="New Town Masterplan">{{cite book |last=Ling |first=Arthur |oclc=311425 |url=http://www4.halton.gov.uk/Pages/planning/policyguidance/pdf/evidencebase/Area%2520Specific%2520Evidence/RuncornNewTown/Runcorn_New_Town_Masterplan_(1967).pdf |date=1967 |title=Runcorn New Town Master Plan |publisher=Runcorn Development Corporation |access-date=25 February 2018 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180621015846/http://www4.halton.gov.uk/Pages/planning/policyguidance/pdf/evidencebase/Area%20Specific%20Evidence/RuncornNewTown/Runcorn_New_Town_Masterplan_(1967).pdf |archive-date=21 June 2018}}</ref> There he invented the Runcorn Busway, the world's first bus rapid transit system.<ref name="Tale of Two Centres">{{cite journal| last1 = Couch| first1 = Chris| last2 = Fowles| first2 = Steven| date = 2006| title = Britain: Runcorn — A Tale of Two Centres| jstor = 23289488| journal = Built Environment| volume = 32| issue = 1| pages = 88–102| doi = 10.2148/benv.32.1.88}}</ref>

==Early life and education== Ling was born in Swindon, Wiltshire on 20 September 1913. He was educated at Christ's Hospital, Horsham before winning a scholarship to study at the Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London. After graduating a BA (Architecture), he was awarded a Diploma in Town Planning in 1938.<ref name="ODNB" />

==Career== thumb|The Belgrade Theatre in Coventry, designed by Arthur Ling Ling began his career as a planner at London County Council in 1936 before joining the modernist practice of Maxwell Fry and Walter Gropius in 1937. At the beginning of the Second World War, he became structural engineer at the City of London Corporation before returning to the county council in 1941 where he helped to prepare the ''County of London Plan''.<ref name="ODNB" />

thumb|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 Nottingham University’s Department of Architecture in 1964.<ref name="ODNB" /> In that capacity, he created the Runcorn new town masterplan and the world's first bus rapid transit system, the Runcorn Busway, while sketching on the back of an envelope.<ref name ="New Town Masterplan"/><ref name="Busway">{{cite web |last=Crabtree |first=Gordon |date=6 August 1971 |title=Runcorn Busway creates worldwide interest |publisher=Commercial Motor |url=http://archive.commercialmotor.com/article/6th-august-1971/32/runcorn-busway-creates-worldwide-interest |access-date=25 July 2020 |archive-date=25 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200725010701/http://archive.commercialmotor.com/article/6th-august-1971/32/runcorn-busway-creates-worldwide-interest |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Political views== Ling joined the Communist Party as a student, and following a visit in 1939, stayed on in the USSR 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 in 1965.<ref name="ODNB" />

==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, Brackley, Northamptonshire.<ref name="ODNB" />

==Recognition and media== Ling was made Vice President of the Royal Institute of British Architects from 1963 to 1964, and Honorary Treasurer from 1964 to 1967. He was President of the Town Planning Institute from 1968 to 1969.<ref name="ODNB" />

Ling featured in two films on planning: ''Proud City'' (1946) on the 1943 ''County of London Plan'', and ''Basingstoke - Runcorn: British New Towns'' (1974), a Canadian information film.<ref name="media">{{cite web |title=British Planning Films |date=20 August 2014 |publisher=International Planning History Society |url=https://planninghistory.org/archives/british-planning-films/ |access-date=1 June 2022}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== *[https://player.bfi.org.uk/free/film/watch-proud-city-a-plan-for-london-1946-online 1946 film, ''Proud City''] *[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vd6B4QfkqUg 1974 Canadian documentary film about Runcorn New Town]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ling, Arthur}} Category:1913 births Category:1995 deaths Category:Alumni of the Bartlett Category:20th-century British architects Category:British urban planners Category:Academics of the University of Nottingham Category:Presidents of the Royal Town Planning Institute Category:People educated at Christ's Hospital