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16
SECTION I.
SOCIAL CONDITIONS AND VITAL STATISTICS.
Croydon is largely a. dormitory town, but there are a number
of industries in the area. The industrial side of the town shows
progressive development. The chief industr.es are iron foundries
(bell casting) and engineering. The London Terminal Aerodrome
is within the County Borough Boundary.
The population is growing rapidly. The increase of population
revealed in the 1931 census was 21.8% on that for 1921. This is
the highest rate of increase for any town having a population of
over 100,000 at the 1921 census; and is the fourteenth for all towns
in England and Wales.
Bearing on this great increase it is noteworthy that 15 of the
28 increases of over 10% are in areas wholly or partially within
Greater London. There is a definite drift of the population southwards.
Towns showing decreases in population are nearly all
northern towns. This drift brings with it public health problems
which must be met as they arise.
Croydon is an aggregation of townships, each of which shows
its own characteristics. Bad structural housing conditions are met
with in the central part of the town, particularly in Whitehorse
and Central Wards, though there are individual streets in nearly
every ward in the town in which the standard of house property is
low, when compared with the other residential streets. Various
miscellaneous industrial undertakings are scattered throughout the
Borough. This is a matter of some moment. There is at present
no power to prohibit factories being placed anywhere in areas which
are not scheduled under Town Planning. As Town Planning deals
with immediate and future development, it does not affect oldestablished
areas, and the proximity of factories to residential areas
has caused complaints from time to time.
The 1931 Census gave a total enumerated population of
233,115, details regarding the number of the sexes, occupations and
housing have not yet been published by the Registrar General. In
the 1921 Census returns 5.75 was the average number of rooms
per dwelling and 1.14 the average number of families in each
dwelling, which gives 1.25 rooms per person. In 1921, 4.7% of the
population was living more than two persons per room, a slight
increase in density over 1911 (4.3%),