Planning London’s future

Many of the challenges London faces have been a long time in the making. Think of the housing shortage, climate change or long-standing inequalities amongst our communities. 

At the same time, London continues to change. This change has only got faster since the pandemic, which has had a big effect on the capital. While it’s too early to know for sure, we could see permanent changes in how and where people live, work and spend their time and money.   

The Planning for London programme was set up to explore longer-term issues like these. It will find ways to address them by gathering evidence, talking to Londoners, and bringing in ideas from experts.  

The programme will focus particularly on issues that relate to London’s different places, spaces and buildings.  

This could be: 

• where and how new homes are built 
• how we use our town centres and high streets 
• what our public spaces, parks and streets look like.    

City Hall’s planning team will bring together the issues and ideas discussed and report the programme’s findings.  

This will help inform a future London Plan: a document that has a big say on how London will develop in the future.

At the heart of the Planning for London programme is the need for Londoners to explore and influence the long-term direction for our city.  

From February, we’re seeking your views on some of the issues we want to explore in more depth over the rest of 2022. These are:  

• How might your area change because more people are working from home?
• What do different places in London mean to you? How does the design of these places make your experience of them better or worse?
• How can London be welcoming for families, children and young people? 
• How should London’s places, spaces and buildings change to meet the needs of Londoners?
• How can London’s places, spaces and buildings help speed up our response to the climate emergency? 

From May, we will publish more information. This will include more detail on what questions the programme will consider and when there will be further opportunities to take part.   

The programme is run by a small dedicated team, part of City Hall’s planning team.  

They are bringing together all the relevant work already going on at City Hall. This includes housing, transport, environment, economy, inclusion and health. This will help them better understand where they need more evidence or understanding of how London’s places, spaces and buildings affect people’s lives. 

At the end of the programme, the team will publish findings based on the evidence, views and ideas that people taking part have generated. These findings will inform further work after this programme has finished, including a future London Plan.