Shaping the next London Plan

The London Assembly Planning and Regeneration Committee has today published a series of letters and outputs to the Mayor to ensure the next iteration of the London Plan considers the needs of all of London’s communities.

In December 2021, the Greater London Authority (GLA) began the process of engaging with Londoners and other stakeholders through the ‘Planning for London Programme.’ The aim of the programme is to gather evidence, capture the views of stakeholders and identify issues that a future London Plan review could consider.

The London Plan 2021 is the Spatial Development Strategy for Greater London. It sets out a framework for how London will develop over the next 20-25 years and the Mayor’s vision for Good Growth.

The Plan is part of the statutory development plan for London, meaning that the policies in the Plan should inform decisions on planning applications across the capital.

The way we design our buildings plays a crucial role in shaping the health and wellbeing of London’s communities. This year, the Planning and Regeneration Committee ran a number of investigations into how planning can both help and hinder the ways in which people live and travel around the capital. The Committee conducted investigations into:

• The architectural design of social housing in London
• The concept of the “15-minute city” and what this would look like in London
• The extent to which planning can help “design out” crime in our communities 
• The impact of planning decisions on accessibility for Disabled people
• The extent to which women and girls are impacted by the design of the built environment.

The Committee’s work programme this year was designed to actively contribute and feed into the Planning for London Programme.

Through the investigations, the Committee heard that, while the Mayor and GLA have carried out important work in this area, there are still many challenges and more can be done to make London’s spaces inclusive for everyone.

The Committee remains committed to advocating for further measures to address the needs of London’s diverse communities and promote a city that prioritises the safety and wellbeing of all Londoners.

Key recommendations from the Committee’s investigations include:

• The next London Plan should include policies that make explicit reference to the importance of creating gender-diverse spaces. The GLA should prepare stand-alone guidance on creating gender diverse spaces.
• The Mayor should publish London Plan Guidance (LPG) on inclusive design for developers, local authorities and planning authorities to follow throughout the design process. In doing so, the LPG should collate and present examples of good practice where tensions arise between “inclusive design” and “safety.” This guidance should also set out good practice on public consultations with specific groups who are typically less likely to engage with open consultation processes, such as young people.
• The GLA should create a training programme for Building Control Officers to ensure they are aware of how developments can comply with London Plan policies on improving accessibility for Disabled people.

Sakina Sheikh AM, Chair of the London Assembly Planning and Regeneration Committee, said:

“The London Plan plays a pivotal role in making London accessible and safe.

“Our Committee’s work programme covered a number of areas specifically focussed on improving the lives of Londoners through inclusive design.

“From the relationship between design and crime, to the impact of planning decisions on disabled people, our work highlighted a number of key areas that could be improved in future iterations of the London Plan.

“Our recommendations are based on the evidence we heard across all of our investigations, where we heard from experts across various fields to help shape our suggested improvements.

“We heard of some fantastic work being done to make London a more inclusive, accessible city. However, we also heard of the challenges many communities still face today.

“Our recommendations will not solve every challenge, but they will go some way to ensuring a more joined up approach to design and planning, and putting Londoners at the heart of how the city is designed in the future.”