(Re)Designing the built environment for recovery
Dr. Alex Prior and prof. Diana Stirbu| Social Integration and Regeneration Learning Network
On 6 January 2021, the Social Integration and Regeneration Learning Network hosted a discussion on the role of the built environment in London’s recovery. This includes enhancing public spaces, new uses for underused buildings, increasing access to green spaces, protecting community and cultural spaces, and re-thinking the role of high streets and town centres. This event incorporated presentations from several guest speakers, and breakout discussions with participants across a range of London Boroughs.
Shona Scales — Senior Project Officer for Regeneration and Economic Development at the GLA — provided an overview of the London Recovery Plan. The Plan forms a city-wide response to a Grand Challenge identified by the London Recovery Board: to not only restore confidence in the city but improve its economy and society, as well as reversing the negative impact Covid-19 has had on London’s communities.
More than half of the workshop participants indicated — during a live poll — that their organisation had its own recovery plan.
As set out in the London Recovery Programme overview paper,
…beyond transition there is a need to focus on London’s longer-term recovery from COVID-19. To this end, the Mayor of London, in partnership with London Councils, has used his convening power to bring together all the leaders of London’s anchor institutions to form the London Recovery Board…The Board’s remit is to plan and oversee the capital’s wider long-term economic and social recovery, developing a strategy and call to action to reshape London as a fairer, more equal, greener and resilient city than it was before the crisis.
In addressing this Grand Challenge, the London Recovery programme has committed to a mission based approach, the 9 recovery missions, guided by Key Outcomes, Cross-cutting Principles and Engagement:
One key area of focus for Shona’s team is the high streets for all recovery mission, which aims to deliver enhanced public spaces and new uses for underused high street buildings in every London Borough by 2025. This entails working with diverse communities, as well as fostering local engagement and partnerships in order to deliver inclusive projects. A special focus was put on connected communities, or the promotion of social integration and active citizenship (through the use of High Street and Town Centre strategies, for example).
Shona described high streets as ‘London’s social glue’, and as such have been central to community responses to Covid-19. They provide information and access to support , social contact, meeting spaces, and ‘cultural footholds’. Consistent with the London Recovery Plan, in responding to the pandemic there is the opportunity to further diversify the high street and ‘rebalance’ its social function. During the Q&A, Shona discussed the value of shared working spaces (an increasingly popular measure) to the high street economy, and the prospect of populating vacancies they were already seeing on the high street.
Daisy Froud, one of the Mayor’s design Advocates, then discussed Communities, the Built Environment and Recovery. Daisy provided broad perspectives and reflections on how engagement has changed, community perspectives, and the role of engagement in recovery. In discussing the changed nature of engagement, Daisy highlighted the general shift to digital functionality, and the continuing concerns of communities about being further excluded:
- Not having their voices heard, at a time when many do not have the time or the energy to actively participate
- Being unable to participate due to digital exclusion- access to the internet and devices
Daisy observed a greater public attention on process; the policy journey, how we get from A to B. Concepts such as measurement and evaluation had transcended specialist dialogue and become widely discussed and scrutinised. We have also seen a shift in focus away from getting back to where we were 12 months ago and towards improvement. As it becomes clear that Covid-19 is not just a ‘temporary detour’, “people [are] combining what they miss with what they want to see happen”.
Drawing upon her own practice of community engagement, Daisy identified the following key issues for communities, some of which are long-established:
● Jobs, business support, housing and community space (long-standing but amplified concerns at a time when people miss community identity)
● The impact of emergency measures, such as low traffic neighbourhoods, on different communities
● The potential of high streets to support London’s recovery
● Importance of open space and high street community space
● Supporting and working with what is already there
Speaking more generally about the role of engagement in recovery, Daisy spoke of the need to learn from — and evaluate — what has already happened (including emergency or temporary interventions). In doing so, we can solidify what has worked, and address citizen concerns of exclusion from solutions and adaptations (even when these are temporary). She also reinforced the need for aims, values, principles, and a clear brief for both engagement and recovery. Adaptation, as Daisy attested, is easier with clear principles, in order to avoid having to re-consult on a regular basis.
Ayesha Malik — Kingston Town Centre Area Regeneration Lead — provided a presentation on Local Perspectives on Recovery. Ayesha illustrated a stark economic context, with sales starting to improve in the Kingston Business Improvement District area but larger retailers continuing to struggle. After presenting a SWOT analysis of the town centre, Ayesha outlined their key objectives for the area:
● Creating a recovery and reinvestment rolling pipeline of physical projects
● Developing strong and extensive partnerships with key town centre stakeholders
● Defining and expressing Kingston’s ambition as a place in which to invest, build and do business (in the short- and long-term)
Key deliverables included a programme of Covid-19 recovery projects designed to deliver rapid physical outputs and outcomes over the next two years, and utilising the Economic Recovery Task Force partnership to attract resources, support and investment. Consistent with the London Recovery Plan, Ayesha underlined the importance of repurposed spaces and community hubs, outlining several ongoing and prospective examples within the Kingston area.
The collected themes raised by Shona, Daisy and Ayesha reflected the priorities of the workshop participants. When asked about engaging communities in recovery activities, priorities included, 94% indicated reaching vulnerable communities as their top choice, followed by (re-)connecting with young people (78%) and helping local businesses survive (61%).
Participants were able to expand on these priorities and perspectives in breakout discussions. In relation to the above poll, establishing priorities in relation to engaging communities was acknowledged to be important, but participants also highlighted the interconnected nature of these priorities, and by extension the importance of a holistic approach (to engagement and recovery).
Broad themes within the breakout discussions included the need to engage with landowners and not just businesses. Engagement processes in general were described as illuminating, challenging assumptions around ‘what people want’. The need for more green spaces also came out strongly, as well as the importance of including communities (not just companies) within the ‘green mission’. For instance, people with long-term disabilities (who are reliant on taxis) must be considered within traffic reduction plans, while green infrastructure can lead to concerns of gentrification and business change.
Participants also discussed the value of specific plans and initiatives, such as ‘mapping’ cultural infrastructure and social connections in order to secure cultural awareness within recovery efforts. Discussions of integration also warned against the establishment of exclusionary gated communities, consistent with ‘a need to bring the community with us’. Alongside this, the upkeep of accurate data (e.g. the state of vacancies in town centres) was described as crucial to planning. As one participant observed, cities change rapidly, and decisions must, where possible, be ‘future proof’.
Our next event — on 27 January, 2–4pm — will be an online training session on Measuring Social Integration and Social Value in Regeneration. During the session we will:
● Introduce the GLA’s social integration measurement toolkit, a new set of guidance and tools to support collaborative working towards a better understanding of social integration within London’s places and communities. Specifically, it helps to provide an understanding on local areas and communities and the impact of initiatives on social integration
● Review key principles of social impact evaluation and social value in regeneration
● Explore practical case studies of developing and applying social value frameworks
We will continue to provide updates on events, and blog posts summarising key findings. In the meantime, we want to hear your inputs and experiences. You can sign up for the network here and tell us about your ongoing projects by emailing us on socialintegration.learning@londonmet.ac.uk.
