London’s old problems require new solutions

By Sadie Morgan2023-12-13T07:00:00

The capital is congested, polluted and expensive but, thanks to the insight and ingenuity that its people possess, the way it functions can be mended, writes Sadie Morgan

In the mayor of London’s 2021 Good Growth agenda for the capital, one section specifically refers to the need to make “the best use of the land”. Among other points, it talks about “proactively explor[ing] the potential to intensify the use of land to support additional homes and workspaces”, as well as “applying a design-led approach to determin[ing] the optimum development capacity of sites”.

These two mandates are indicative of a capital whose success has always – and still – relies on the innovative rationalisation of its built environment. That means we – designers, architects, planners, engineers, landscapers – need to rise to the challenge we have been trained to meet.

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