Overhauling Public Locales in London with a £12.4 million Budget

Mayor of London's Civic Partnership Programme Transforms Public Spaces and Boosts Green Infrastructure

The Mayor of London's Civic Partnership Programme has awarded a total of £12.4 million to five projects, aiming to deliver transformative public realm improvements, green infrastructure, and social empowerment. These initiatives focus on public space transformation and environmental improvements, with the goal of empowering local communities, enhancing sustainability, and addressing inequalities worsened by Covid-19, the cost-of-living crisis, and climate change.

One of the most prominent named projects is the Ilford Arrival Regeneration, which will revive the "almost forgotten" River Roding with new parks, riverside walks, a bridge, pocket parks, boardwalks, and rewilding of a nearby golf course. This project emphasizes community empowerment, especially involving young women and girls, so residents can shape their own neighborhoods rather than having regeneration imposed on them. The aim is to transform neglected public places into thriving green spaces in one of London’s greenest boroughs (Redbridge). The Ilford Arrival Regeneration is funded by the Civic Partnership Programme with a budget of around £3 million, and the design is led by the spatial design agency Periscope.

Other Civic Partnership projects focus on empowering diverse Londoners in shaping local environments to create better and greener public spaces. These initiatives support community safety, sustainable travel connections, and cultural space enhancements. They build on previous successful initiatives from the Mayor’s funding, including workspace improvements, libraries, and air quality routes. The projects promote community engagement in project design and delivery to address historic inequalities and environmental challenges.

The Riverdale Sculpture Park will be transformed with a £2,486,000 investment to create a safe and enjoyable riverside public space connected to active travel routes. Meanwhile, the North End Quarter Fringes project in Croydon Town Centre, funded with £814,000, aims to regenerate the area by working with community partners, bringing vacant shops back into use, planting more trees, improving street lighting, creating a green wall space, and a new food growing garden.

The Connecting Hoxton project will use its £3,000,000 funding to improve local services, facilities, green spaces, and public realm through a co-design process with local residents, community, cultural organizations, and businesses. The Neasden Town Centre project will receive £3,100,000 and will focus on investing in green spaces, improving road crossings for pedestrians, and refreshing the high street to include a community training kitchen.

Jules Pipe, Deputy Mayor for Planning, Regeneration and the Fire Service, stated that the projects aim to give Londoners a greater role in shaping their city's growth and deliver better public spaces. Over 220 trees will be planted across the awarded projects, and the total investment in the five projects will create or improve approximately 28,000 m2 of public space in Brent, Redbridge, Hackney, Lewisham, and Croydon.

Sadiq and Jules are committed to growing partnerships as a way of empowering local communities and creating a city where all Londoners have access to the best opportunities. The projects aim to transform public spaces and deliver environmental improvements across London, ensuring local voices shape the regeneration process.

The Ilford Arrival Regeneration project, funded by the Mayor of London's Civic Partnership Programme, aims to empower local communities in Redbridge by transforming neglected public places into thriving green spaces.
The Riverdale Sculpture Park will undergo regeneration with a focus on environmental improvements, aiming to create a safe and enjoyable riverside public space connected to active travel routes.
The North End Quarter Fringes project in Croydon Town Centre, funded by the Civic Partnership Programme, will regenerate the area by working with community partners, creating greener public spaces, improving street lighting, and introducing a food-growing garden.
The Connecting Hoxton project, with a focus on sustainable living and environmental science, will improve local green spaces and public facilities through a co-design process with residents, community organizations, and businesses in Hackney.
Over in Neasden, the Neasden Town Centre project, funded by the Civic Partnership Programme, will focus on investing in green spaces, improving road crossings for pedestrians, and refreshing the high street to include a community training kitchen. This project aligns with the Mayor's commitment to empowering local communities and creating a more sustainable lifestyle across London.