INTRODUCTION
Just Space has battled successive Mayors of London to re-balance the economy to support small and medium enterprises in which so many people work, to stress the potential for pay and productivity growth in low-pay sectors and to reverse the property market processes which extinguish so many working class jobs and the supply of affordable goods and services — in shop premises, industrial estates, railway arches and traditional retail markets. In the last 25 years London has lost a quarter of its industry, even more than the London Plans envisaged.
The economy of London is dominated by financial, property and related services, which generate enormous amounts of ‘growth’ or value added. But so much of this value is creamed off as profits, rents and capital gains for owners that very little trickles down to ordinary Londoners. Escalating rents and prices for essentials mean that working class Londoners don’t get the benefits. Even middle-income workers struggle.
The speculative housing sector, which has been fostered by banks, governments and the planning system, creates land prices so high that few other uses can compete. The planning system’s job should be to steer land uses for overall benefit, but the Mayor has been giving priority to speculative housing. Thus much of our effort has been in protecting the ordinary economy from the pressures of rent and deregulation.
Solutions in our MANIFESTO
- Widen the idea of economy to include low-pay sectors and unpaid activity, the ‘gig’ economy and platform services.
- Challenge the indiscriminate pursuit of ‘growth’. The Mayor was right to insist in 2016 that not all growth is ‘good growth’ but this emphasis has slipped badly.
- Protect workspace use, whether industrial, retail or commercial, whether private or non-profit. Note that tenure security for enterprises is as important as for households. It’s more important to hold on to the spaces we inherit than to secure ‘affordable workspace’ from new developments.
- Help people access services and jobs with a minimum of driving, close to home, in clinics, shops, libraries, workshops, factories and traditional retail markets.
- Review the roles played by centres of all sizes, high streets and parades in the social as well as economic life of the city, especially for the young and the old and for carers. Food production, distribution and availability is part of this.
- Improve access to training (including English language skills), especially for the lowest paid and where workforce skills are a barrier to productivity growth and individual livelihood.
LINKS, GROUPS CAMPAIGNING ON THIS ISSUE
People’s Economy Homepage | People’s Economy
Latin Elephant https://latinelephant.org/
PLUSH SE16 PLUSH SE16 – Culture and Community
Save International House (London’s biggest affordable workspace) Save International House
Seven Sisters Market https://sevensisters.market/