The natural lay of the land can be appreciated from several public vantage points. Hampstead Heath offers the finest panorama over the central basin of the metropolis. But from Shooters Hill, Upper Norwood, or Alexandra Palace one has a choise of views: inward to the crowded skyline of the City and West End or out to the open expanses of the Home Counties, the Thames estuary, the South Downs, and the Weald. Such panoramas show that London, for all its immensity, resembles more closely the limited metropolises of the early 20th century than the amorphous and sprawling megalopolises of today, such as Tokyo or Los Angeles.
The line of the post World Warii Green Belt runs quite confortably along the encircling hills of London Basin- the long ridge of the downs to the south of London and, to the north, the more broken chain of heights running from Iver Heath (above Heathraw Airport) clockwise through Ruislip Common, Bushey Heath, Enfield Chase, Epping Forest, Hainault Forest, and South Weald.
