Many of the strongest calls for change in London planning have, in effect, been criticisms of Opportunity Areas, the mechanisms which govern major physical developemnts in the city and are so often spurned as just Opportunities for Developers.

Taking stock of many years of engagement, Just Space has just produced a draft document to help members decide what to do next.

The term Opportunity Area has been in use since the 1990s, applied to areas where very large scale change through development is planned. This report summarises the big shifts in how the designation has been used, initially for the modernisation of employment in under-used industrial, port or railway land, but now for many ordinary parts of occupied London, the aim nowadays being mainly to create development sites for housing through intensification.

Community groups in and around the affected areas have criticised and resisted many of these schemes for decades and tried to secure changes to the London Plan policies which govern them, with scant success. The criticisms have been that the designation, planning and target-setting of OAs have lacked transparency and democracy, as have the mechanisms for implementation. Areas have been planned without the necessary understanding of the social and economic life of the affected areas and the outcomes have mostly been detrimental to working class, including minoritised, communities and to many businesses. Just Space continues to argue that there should be no further designations until a serious review of the programme has been completed and digested.

In the last 2 years Just Space has collaborated with the Planning and Regeneration Committee of the London Assembly which, in turn, has put pressure on the Mayor of London (the planners in the GLA) and secured a new policy document and web site. This represents modest progress.

The aim of the new Just Space report is to bring a scattered narrative up to date and form a basis for Just Space member groups to consider what further steps, if any, to take on this issue in the wider context of how London will be planned in the current emergencies. It thus complements the Community-led Recovery Plan for London prepared during the worst of the Pandemic.

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Because this report was facilitated by UCL Bartlett School of Planning’s knowledge exchange with Just Space, it is being presented initially to students before the summer term ends. The meeting is open to all. Friday 12 May 1600h-1800h, mainly face-to-face but with a zoom option.

The presentation slides and (soon) a video record of the UCL meeting are at https://ucljustspace.wordpress.com/2023/05/16/briefings-in-may-2023/ Comments on the draft document are very welcome and can be added to the version at https://docs.google.com/document/d/1M0xyFMHDw0u1jlCiRjc6L4JupZeg76w1RLW3IKAy4T4/edit#heading=h.hhnujb12n0kt

Bartlett briefing Just Space and Opportunity Areas. eventbrite.co.uk