Letter: Enticing people to live in the City

Sir: Hamish McRae is surely right to want the City of London to become less dependent on the financial services industry ('Cheaper City tries to lure its refugees', 21 October). He goes so far as to suggest the expansion of retailing in the Square Mile. He stops short, however, of proposing an increase in the number of people living there.

But surely the attraction of places such as Paris and Frankfurt as financial centres is that they are also centres in which people live: with the retailing, restaurants, etc which go with an urban area that does not close down when the offices do. In this respect, if in no other, the City of London needs to learn from its rivals.

Yours faithfully, HARLEY SHERLOCK Andrews, Sherlock & Partners London, EC1 The writer is author of 'Cities are Good for Us'.

(Photograph omitted)