Building Strong Communities
Stage: Programme designBy 2025 all Londoners will have access to a community hub ensuring they can volunteer, get support and build strong networks.
Open
1080 Londoners have responded
![Londoners together at an event at City Hall](https://www.london.gov.uk/talk-london/sites/default/files/styles/scale_for_card/public/2021-02/Resilient%20communities.png?itok=Ox2KfbLi)
Idea generation
When it comes to your neighbourhood, you are the experts.
Since March 2021, we’ve been asking Londoners for their best ideas to improve their local area and make it even better for everyone.
Your suggestions are providing a way for communities, councils and partner organisations to see what people want to happen in their local areas– and to incorporate those into their plans for recovery.
We’ve now mapped out your ideas as well as the initiatives that local organisations have successfully submitted for funding. Use the filters on the left-hand side and click on the icons to see more details for your local area. We’ll keep you posted on how you can get involved again.
Zoom in on the map and click through to see the ideas and read more about the exemplar projects.
Closed
Open for ideas between 15 March 2021 and 17 September 2021
169 ideas generated by Talk London members
Artist use of empty retail
![Sea turtle](https://www.london.gov.uk/talk-london/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail_crop/public/avatar_selection/sea-turtle-36px.png?itok=IA3puNWE)
8 comments
Last activity 2 years ago
There will be many sites in central london where retail has withdrawn on the ground floor and young artists / performers and others could use and animate the space and prevent degeneration and decay. Think of the 'short life housing' schemes of Haringey and others in the 1980s - rates and no rents paid and houses that would have decayed saved by having users in them.
View this idea
outdoor socialising
![Adelie penguin](https://www.london.gov.uk/talk-london/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail_crop/public/avatar_selection/adelie-penguin-36px.png?itok=zptfWpHt)
0 comments
Last activity 2 years ago
Bring on the artists!!! OUTDOOR and throughout the year even! Performing artists, actors, dancers, musicians, singers...and painters, 'crafters', gardening demonstrations. Give people a chance to share and connect within their community. Give these local talented people a platform by showcasing their skills in safe pockets within our outdoor environments. Use quiet streets, fronts of churches, pub gardens, outdoor courtyards, in front of flats, empty spaces etc Spread the talent out on the specified day so that people are not gathering around to closely in one area alone - respect social distancing. Allow young people to decorate/paint tired looking public walls, fences - express themselves using colour and guidance from (local) experts. Most people have something to offer but most people just feel as if they're just another number! So much bureaucracy attached to every movement made by the 'ordinary person in the street'...time for change to happen in a positive way FOR EVERYONE not just for the select few.
View this idea
Covid Recovery - Online/High Street
0 comments
Last activity 1 year ago
Reduce Rates for Small Businesses on our high streets. Make setting up an online channel a condition of the reduction. Negotiate a bulk discount with a small business platform such as Shopify. Give online business training to Small Businesses. At the rear of that high street business, create a delivery only street, where possible, to allow drop-ship carriers to pick and drop off packages easily. Incent them with reduced rates for electric vans.
View this idea
Reduce traffic
![Monarch butterfly](https://www.london.gov.uk/talk-london/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail_crop/public/avatar_selection/monarch-butterfly-36px.png?itok=ECoyQVsr)
1 comment
Last activity 2 years ago
Design LTNs and on the boundary roads have traffic calming chevrons, electric busses and masses of trees planted. Cycle lanes for safer cycling on busy roads. Reduce and slow down rat run traffic.
View this idea
Community parklets
![Monarch butterfly](https://www.london.gov.uk/talk-london/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail_crop/public/avatar_selection/monarch-butterfly-36px.png?itok=ECoyQVsr)
2 comments
Last activity 2 years ago
Give over a few car spaces in each street for community Parklets. Seating areas with plants and games like chess so locals can sit and connect.
View this idea
Community gardens
![Monarch butterfly](https://www.london.gov.uk/talk-london/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail_crop/public/avatar_selection/monarch-butterfly-36px.png?itok=ECoyQVsr)
0 comments
Last activity 2 years ago
We would like community gardens in lots of small pockets through the borough. Pedestrianisation of small cut throughs (like, charter court N4) to create community gardens where locals can plant and grow and kids can play and all ages can come together to look after these gardens.
View this idea
Finsbury Park skate plaza
![Monarch butterfly](https://www.london.gov.uk/talk-london/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail_crop/public/avatar_selection/monarch-butterfly-36px.png?itok=ECoyQVsr)
0 comments
Last activity 2 years ago
Expanding the small skatepark in Finsbury Park to make it big enough and safe for the large amount of people who use it. Provide good quality large outdoor spaces to keep young and old active and connected to each other. Look after our communities physical and mental well-being and give teenagers and young adults a great and safe space to spend their time being active. There is a wasteland plot next to the existing small skatepark that Haringey have agreed to let us extend onto, but we need the money. £225k. Every area should have good skate, scooting, roller skateing and BMX facilities. It’s brilliant for physical and mental health and the community as a whole.
View this idea
Bus stop solar panels
![Koala](https://www.london.gov.uk/talk-london/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail_crop/public/avatar_selection/koala-36px.png?itok=dtWqRwKW)
0 comments
Last activity 2 years ago
There are hundreds of bus stops in London and if we cover them with solar panels we will generate a good amount of electricity that can be put back in the network, used to add better lights to the bus stop (increase safety at night), power screens to show the bus status and other information, used locally to recharge electric bikes, phones/tablets or pedestrian lights.
View this idea
*Local Hubs* as Community Forums for Local Projects (using empty shops and buildings)
2 comments
Last activity 1 year ago
At the moment, there are not enough spaces to meet neighbours and discuss ideas that would improve our local areas. We need inclusive spaces to meet others outside the council hall to learn about the past, present and future of our areas and increase civic engagement and involvement. Urban rooms, civic schools and urban studies centres offer a British model where citizens can exchange skills and meet others to do collective local projects. Decades ago, many boroughs in London had one of these spaces, and they created projects that improved local communities. We need the mayor's support to fund a space, facilitators and basic resources to harness local knowledge. The model is already there. Let's bring LOCAL HUBS back and engage more people in local projects.
View this idea
Ealing / Lammas Park
1 comment
Last activity 1 year ago
Lammas Park has five aside football pitches and childrens' playgrounds, but it doesn't have public toilets or a social gathering point / cafe like its neighbouring Walpole Park. It is regularly used by walkers, runners, dog walkers, families and groups of friends and has become increasingly important to the community through the covid crisis. It would be great to give it a social focal point where people can gather, drink something and shelter from the weather. You could even have pop up food and beverage companies using the space in the summer months. It has an Edwardian pavilion that is dilapidated and if renovated could serve this function to the community.
View this idea
Safer streets for the elderly, disabled, women, children
1 comment
Last activity 1 year ago
I would like to see local council run surveys to ask their residents what would make the local streets and parks safer for elderly, disabled, women and children. Pre covid, we had real issues with school children being mugged in the town centre and parks, during covid, we have a new network of LTNs that is making many streets much quieter and it is worsening the perception (and reality?) of safety, particularly when walking home after school or in the dark.
View this idea
Deptford Area Improvements
![Adelie penguin](https://www.london.gov.uk/talk-london/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail_crop/public/avatar_selection/adelie-penguin-36px.png?itok=zptfWpHt)
0 comments
Last activity 2 years ago
Improve Deptford to be more friendly and accessible for all. This includes: 1 walking paths 2 cycling path 3 common spaces for markets, local businesses, restaurants and bars 4 More sustainable and green design (green areas, gardens, etc) 5 get the best and most of the Thames river between Surrey quays and Greenwich
View this idea
Sharing Bicycle In Surrey quays area
![Adelie penguin](https://www.london.gov.uk/talk-london/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail_crop/public/avatar_selection/adelie-penguin-36px.png?itok=zptfWpHt)
0 comments
Last activity 2 years ago
Working with London Underground/Santander to locate additional bicycles near Surrey quays station to improve connections between Greenwich and Canada Water. Nice spots could be: 1) opposite the station main entrance 2) Tesco big parking area? 3) at the marina
View this idea
Surrey quays Station improvements
![Adelie penguin](https://www.london.gov.uk/talk-london/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail_crop/public/avatar_selection/adelie-penguin-36px.png?itok=zptfWpHt)
0 comments
Last activity 2 years ago
Working in partnership with London Underground to: 1) improve station accessibility 2) potentially add A rail connection To London Bridge 3) increase frequency of trains 4) more connections to south London for social growth 5) Enlarge pedestrian paths near station access. At the moment it is a very narrow path near the main road.
View this idea
Better Society
![Tiger](https://www.london.gov.uk/talk-london/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail_crop/public/avatar_selection/tiger-36px.png?itok=aA7kY7A6)
1 comment
Last activity 2 years ago
Until all the residents and visitors to London learn to respect and care for the city and each other no amount of sticking plaster is going to make a difference. The money should be pumped into education, scout and guide groups, sports groups and volunteering organisations in the hope that anti-social behaviour can be eradicated and a better sense of community encouraged. You need to tackle the root cause of why some people drop litter and others don't; why some feel the need to deface someone else's property with graffiti; why the streets aren't safe to walk alone. The list is endless but needs addressing or the blight will continue.
View this idea
Prostitutes' Adverts (Tom Cards) in Phone Kiosks
![Tiger](https://www.london.gov.uk/talk-london/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail_crop/public/avatar_selection/tiger-36px.png?itok=aA7kY7A6)
0 comments
Last activity 2 years ago
Throughout London, BT telephone kiosks are disfigured by lurid advertisements that are glued to the insides of the kiosk windows. Often the kiosk doors are jammed shut by folded cardboard. If you pull hard on the chrome door handle, it will tear loose because it is secured by wood-screws into the wooden door structure. If you lever the door open with a metal instrument, you damage the edge of wooden door. If one simply removes the prostitutes' cards, the residue of glue remains - defacing the kiosks' appearance. The Mayor's office could go after a.) the prostitutes whose numbers are advertised; b.) the agents (Tom Carders) who go from kiosk to kiosk, posting the adverts; c.) BT for not blocking the (mobile) telephone numbers that are advertising prostitution; d.) BT for not maintaining the cleanliness, repair and hygiene of their iconic red telephone kiosks. By all means, rid our streets of the ugly dirty modern square-sided aluminium phone boxes that serve no purpose other than to act to provide legitimate advertising and revenue for BT. Encourage Londoners to 'adopt' their local phone box as I have: Daily I, and several of my neighbours, reopen the doors; remove all the tom cards and scrape off the glue and paste residue from the windows. Every couple of weeks I brush the floors; wash all the windows inside and out; and disinfect the floors. These are tasks that BT should perform but don't. I'm in regular contact with BT to report damaged kiosks. Occasionally, BT will send an engineer to replace broken window panes and repair interior lighting, however, many of the kiosks that have been converted to 5G (those with a 'nipple' on the roof) have no interior lighting - rendering them discreet but disgusting temporary urinals.
View this idea
Pop up shops
![Staghorn coral](https://www.london.gov.uk/talk-london/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail_crop/public/avatar_selection/staghorn-coral-36px.png?itok=zzM8b1vZ)
0 comments
Last activity 2 years ago
Start a scheme where empty shops can be leased on a short-term basis, for cheap, to local residents. Also support in place to support those businesses. Benefits 1) Shops can make money quickly to expand business 2) Local residents can enjoy different shops on their local high street 3) Can be seen as a trial run for both the business and the community. If the pop up shop works well, then they can make the move permanent. 4) Give communities a chance to use the space, before developers turn them into flats.
View this idea
Sensible Planning
![Tiger](https://www.london.gov.uk/talk-london/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail_crop/public/avatar_selection/tiger-36px.png?itok=aA7kY7A6)
0 comments
Last activity 2 years ago
Ensure all planning applications for major developments factor in the infrastructure needed to make them work. The new Sutton hospital and cancer hub has inadequate access without demolishing houses. All new buildings should have south facing roofing with solar panels. If they have to conform to current looks we'll continue to perpetuate 1930s inefficient residential areas and bland shopping centres.
View this idea
Stop plans to build on tube station car parks
0 comments
Last activity 2 years ago
Listen to residents & stop your plans to build on tube station car parks - sort out the infrastructure before starting new projects. Stop road closures when works are on to get traffic moving. Your current schemes are responsible for dispersing pollution to historically low traffic areas due to more traffic & congestion ironically it’s meant to be for school streets scheme but traffic has increased ten fold in my area as you didn’t listen to residents concerns about building a new school where it wasn’t needed & on greenbelt land. Stop making deals with private corporations when you build on the greenbelt these sports venues & pitches should be for residents & the communities as you promise when you made these plans & propose them to locals. Just resign - London residents are fed up of your mini dictatorship in their borough.
View this idea
6 steps for clean air in London
![Adelie penguin](https://www.london.gov.uk/talk-london/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail_crop/public/avatar_selection/adelie-penguin-36px.png?itok=zptfWpHt)
1 comment
Last activity 2 years ago
1. Make Westminster bridge to a garden bridge 2. Invest in electrical ferries in the Thames 3.Demand Procurement policies and actions for all london businesses and authorities 4. Collaboration Green Bond investment between all London Boroughs to clean up Grand Union Canal and invest in infrastructure for waste collection and schools campaigns 5.More bike lanes 6.Education investment for Drivers to turn the engine off when they stand still eg TFL, Metropolitan police. Royal Mail...
View this idea
Timeline
London’s recovery from COVID-19 – what you told us so far
HappenedHow your feedback has started to shape London’s road to recovery
HappenedNovember 2020: Building Strong Communities workshop with 200 Londoners
HappenedJanuary 2021: Volunteering summit with Londoners to discuss the opportunities and challenges around volunteering
HappenedApril 2021 - 2 workshops with 30-40 stakeholders on the Civic Strength Index
HappenedApril 2021 - 2 workshops with 30-40 Londoners on the Civic Strength Index
HappenedShare your ideas to reimagine London
HappenedYou and other Londoners have shared 169 ideas
Have a look