Lessons Learnt - Design for London

6.1 concLusions: town centre intensification as a Housing strategy
Three core o jectives should underpin ny town
centre intensific tion str tegy: incre sing housing
supply nd density, improving housing qu lity,
nd cre ting wider pu lic enefit.
increasing supply
Both n tion l nd GLA policies c ll for more
homes, in p rticul r more f mily homes nd more
fford le homes. Our design scen rios shows
th t the tr nsform tion of town centres nd their
edges c n deliver signific nt contri ution to the
provision of homes c lled for y the M yor. Most of
the proposed scen rios deliver etween 200 nd
500 new homes, nd in m ny c ses there is no
need to ssume th t scen rios would e mutu lly
exclusive - they c n often e com ined, le ding to
n ddition for e ch town centre of etween 400
nd 1,000 homes. The seven loc tions com ined
could c ter for two thirds of the t rgeted housing
production for the seven oroughs in one ye r.
Discussions with orough p rtners throughout
this study confirmed th t there re m ny loc tions
in south London like the ones investig ted in this
study, so these second ry town centres nd their
edges could m ke consider le contri ution to
the qu ntit tive housing ch llenge.
Some of the princip l typologies specific lly
ddress the need for f mily homes, while others
propose mix of p rtments nd houses. The
need to m ke the wider pu lic re lm more f milyfriendly
h s een ddressed in oth c ses.
The over ll housing num ers per scen rio rem in
on consistently high level. There re differences
etween the v rious princip l typologies nd their
ver ge density, ut the v ri tion is rel tively
limited. Im gin tive com in tions of p rtments
nd houses c n e m de for optimum results. The
choice for different typologies should e sed on
m itions for the unit mix, ch r cter nd pu lic
84 HOUSING INTENSIfICATION IN SEVEN SOUTH LONDON TOWN CENTRES AND THEIR EDGES
v lue in ny loc tion.
It is cle r th t delivering complex, mixed nd
dense town centre schemes is not n e sy t sk.
The complic tions re m nifold; persever nce,
cre tivity, p rtnership working nd site-specific
ppro ches re needed to overcome potenti l
rriers. Much h s een chieved since the 2004
Pl nning nd Compulsory Purch se Act, nd the
further ch nges in the 2008 Pl nning 2008 re
welcome. Other potenti l rriers include the
pro lem tic n ture of l nd ssem ly mong
multiple p rtners, nd development control issues
including sust in ility requirements, p rking nd
servicing solutions. More gile ppro ches re
still needed, p rticul rly in the current economic
context. An emph sis on design ch mpioning,
ch nge in development control guid nce, further
c p city uilding nd resourcing for Loc l
Pl nning Authorities needs to e complemented
y ddition l tools to en le proposition l
pl nning nd delivery y the pu lic nd third
sector. As rgued in the previous Ch pter, this
should include incre sed emph sis on developing
‘fr mework str tegies’ within the LDf process to
provide guid nce nd opportunity for sm ll sc le
intensific tion.
improving quality
The study is design-led nd demonstr tes how the
provision of good qu lity homes (in terms of rchitecture,
response to ur n context, environment l
perform nce nd residenti l menity) is possi le
through diversity of ur n design ppro ches.
All scen rios re sed on sound principles for
good qu lity housing th t c n respond to ch nging
needs over time nd which includes dequ te
outdoor sp ces. The propos ls follow English
P rtnership’s 2007 guidelines for intern l sp ce
st nd rds nd gener lly void single- spect units.