Planning London’s future

Much of this must be economic: inequality is so bad that the rich get the space for their families while the middle- and low-income people are overcrowded and/or have to move out of London or to the extreme edge to find space they can afford.
Far too much of the (inadequate numbers of) social homes built are 1 and 2 person flats. It should be possible for people at all income levels to reproduce without being forced to flee.

- Rent should be cheaper for families to incentivise them to stay and move here
- Free entry to public spaces - indoor and outdoor - to encourage visits from children and young people
- Further pedestrianisation of estates and areas with a high density of families
- Prioritise libraries as important learning spaces for children and young people

I would like to see more unused pubic spaces turned into a wild play area where we can escape concrete jungle and hear birds and see small animals. Many children play areas have not been improved or equipment added. Many playground are aimed at younger children and toddlers but not for older kids. I wish to see more outdoor sporting facilities that are well maintained, clean and not have moss and broken branches on the floor. More safe and clean public toilets in the parks.

There needs to be more social housing built, which are maintained and totally made liveable in for families. Public transport must be affordable, safe and user friendly for every citizen. All children need accessible and safe areas to play. There needs to be more seating areas and benches for the elderly to be able to rest in public places and there needs to be more pedestrianised areas.

London no longer feels safe particularly for young people. There is a lack of support to working mothers for childcare. There is a lack of organised and affordable out of school for young children and youth. London is simply not a family place at present

I have a young child and although the school community is very welcoming and the area where the school is located is pleasant, the area where I live is not. The neighbourhood has deteriorated in the past 5 to 7 years with a marked increase in litter, flytipping, antisocial parking and intimidating behaviour by groups of men congregating at pavement tables smoking / drinking coffee.

The majority of local businesses have changed ownership and they no longer meet our needs as a family. As a white British woman I am often made to feel unwelcome or invisible by the predominantly middle Eastern men I now encounter in my neighbourhood shops / cafes. I find the local business owners no longer share the same values or respect for the community or the environment. The businesses are amongst the main perpetrators / reason for the antisocial parking which makes walking and cycling dangerous. They do not dispose of their waste correctly which contributes to the prevalence of others flytipping in the area.

Where neighbouring buildings once had one or two dwellings there are now HMOs. Respect for neighbours has disappeared and where before there was never antisocial noise, this frequently occurs throughout the day and night - generally this is no longer an environment where I want to raise my children as it is becoming increasingly dirty and unsafe.

Housing and rental prices are out of control in London, making it unaffordable for many people especially those with families. We need more limits to buying houses as "investments" (i.e. as a way to launder money) that just sit empty all year round which drive up prices for the rest of us.

You need to start by stopping the corruption within childr ns social care, you need to ensure police are protecting people human rights and not colluding to cover up crimes with council officials. You need to insure the national crime data base is up to date to ensure no one should obtain a da that should.not have one, and ensure accountability and punishment for crimes committed in public office

I raised my family in central London and both children now raise theirs here (Islington and Hackney). This wonderful city is full of learning opportunities, through its rich cultural assets, historical places, and not bad, even rather good public (ie not private) schools. There are out of school opportunities to sing and play instruments, to engage in certain sports, to dance, to act. There is no need to go everywhere by car. Walking and cycling are getting safer all the time. The people are diverse and children grow alongside each other, learning about human differences and similarities. The parks are peerless alongside any other big city.

The main challenge is air quality - we could revert to maintaining country houses or camp sites outside the city for holidays and term-time learning in different environments. But the countryside is over-rated for children as a full-time place to live - free ranging is discouraged by farmers and anxious mothers; cars are required for nearly all outings and frequently for getting to school; cultural opportunities are few and often far away, the mix of people is rare, with little diversity of race, even of class, in some places.

London parents from lower income groups need encouragement to use the facilities that are to hand, to spread their own and their children's knowledge of different neighbourhoods and activities. Middle class parents know what's what and take every advantage of art galleries, museums, libraries, parks etc. Teachers should be helped to go on outings and poorer parents should be subvented in ways that do not stigmatise the children.

My grand-daughter, 9, says the River is wonderful - the bridges, the Tower, Greenwich and Hampton Court palaces at each end. She says take everyone to the river.

I don’t yet feel at ease in various settings because I feel this government is trying to put out a message that the pandemic is over and clearly not listening to scientific advice.
Other countries have no problem with mask wearing.

The mayor of London attack on car use in London is poor
His introduce car tax is very poor
Business needs support from the mayor’s office
Tourism and making visitors needs urgent attention

I proposed my project to City hall few years ago before the pandemic! My project was about to use the empty spaces owned from TFL to create a space where kids can go and do FREE mediation classes, FREE music classes, FREE cocking classes, FREE martial art classes and during weekend using the space for Art and Music event.

To start the project I would have found the teachers that would volunteer for the classes for FREE! The only thing I need is a space from the Mayor of London!

Please help me to make this project reality and to support our future our kids!

Thank you

i dislike the charge for people driving cars - this can be much easier in certain circumstances, for families with small children, for handicapped doing heavy shopping, for elderly people going to concerts, theatres etc who feel safer in a car!! We cannot all afford taxis!!

Throughout the pandemic there were hundreds of thousands of Londoners with no private outdoor space of any kind - meaning no balcony, no roof terrace, and no garden.
It is not remotely practical that all Londoners could have access to a private garden.
But it is more than practical that ALL Londoners could have access to private outdoor space.
The most practical way that that can be achieved is with balconies.
Current Planning Policies make adding balconies on existing buildings very difficult.
Overall Planning Policies need urgently to be changed to make a presumption of a right to private outdoor space more important than the spurious issue of overlooking - properties on lower levels in a building are already overlooked from the windows of those above and nearby.

One London street that I investigated carefully - Higham Road N17 - has about 50 flats on floors above ground floor that have no balconies and no roof terraces.
So a guesstimate of 100 people in just one London street with no private outdoor space of any kind. These conditions should not be tolerated.
ALL of these upper floor flats in Higham Road could have balconies at the back, and many could have roof terraces on top of what are called 'closet wings' - flat roofs on what resemble two storey original rear extensions.

London's Planning Policies need to be changed urgently so that ALL Londoners can have access to private outdoor space.
It would be a positive legacy from the negative pandemic if ALL Londoners had some private open space - so that people could relax outdoors on a balcony by just opening a door, for example, rather than having to organise a trip to the park every time someone - including children - want to get some fresh air.
Then families might feel more welcome.
The many thousands of properties in London with no private outdoor space are a disaster for families especially, and a disaster for everyone else too.

I am not yet a parent but if we have a baby I would not feel that living in London is safe and healthy to bring up a child. I am fortunate to be able to consider moving elsewhere, but in reality it would be hard to move.

My reasons are:
- the air quality
- the litter, flytipping and rubbish problem
- lack of safe streets for walking, cycling and playing
- lack of local community green space, gardening, growing and embedded access to nature
- difficulty in using public transport with a baby/child
- cost of living