Stratford Town Centre Vision and Strategy: place, purpose, and public value

In our previous article ‘Do we still need masterplans’, we focused on a growing recognition of the need to evolve urban planning processes to prioritise the wellbeing of people and the health of our planet.

We argued for a more nuanced approach, less focused on supply-side interventions that champion new development as the only solution and more focused on responding to local needs and making the most of local assets. As part of that provocation, we introduced our role in the Stratford Town Centre Vision and Strategy.

Stratford is one of Europe’s largest regeneration areas which, despite rapid development during and after the 2012 Olympics, experiences significant poverty and issues of (a lack of) trust and engagement amongst local communities.

Great progress has been made since our previous article and there is much to celebrate and learn from that we think can add value for other areas and communities. In this piece, we reflect on PRD’s long-standing involvement in Stratford and with LB Newham, and how it can help us all think and act differently in how we intervene successfully in places, within a new social and environmental context.

A New Approach for Stratford

Having spent over two years supporting the evolution of LB Newham’s inclusive economy strategy and embedding these principles into a new corporate plan (Building a Fairer Newham), the council asked PRD to translate Newham’s corporate ambitions around inclusive economy into a masterplan that was being developed for Stratford Town Centre.

Initially conceived as a ‘traditional’ masterplan to inform new planning policy which would place development as the main driver of change, it soon became evident that Stratford needed a more nuanced approach to affect meaningful, community-centred change. Since a new Local Plan was being drafted, the timing was not right for focusing on developing a masterplan. The landowners preferred to establish a long-term collaborative position with the council rather than deal with a rigid place-focused policy. Initial engagement also showed that any strategy for Stratford needed to think way beyond the built environment in its scope.

Based on these factors, LB Newham opted to depart from the conventional urban design-led approach, asking PRD to assume leadership of the masterplan.

The task was clear: realign the economic and property aspects of the masterplan to mirror the council’s priorities of health, wellbeing, civic participation, inclusivity, representation, and environmental sustainability.

Our approach focused on what is important to local people right now, rather than on grand plans for redesign and development. This resulted in a plan that remains adaptable to growth but is not contingent on its success.

By grounding the new Stratford Town Centre Vision and Strategy in the values of community and environmental stewardship, it provides the foundations and principles for action and new partnerships. This enables a centre that works better for people whilst recognising the climate challenges and our responsibility to the planet. It also sets out a vision to create a globally significant district which continues the positive change of the last decade.

Understanding and Repositioning Stratford’s Role and Significance

The Town Centre Vision and Strategy identifies Stratford as one of the most important centres in London, the fulcrum of development of a wider area spanning much of East London.

Our team critiqued previous market-led approaches to key sites in the town centre, providing evidence to show the impact of developer and investor inactivity led to a more organic and ultimately successful evolution of town centre uses and amenities. We challenged the narrative that ‘old’ Stratford was a lower value location and in some cases were able to demonstrate how leaving assets alone had supported activity with wider community benefit—something that was particularly evident in the Stratford (shopping) Centre.

We also managed significant public engagement with local people, seeking to embed a stronger culture of local participation and co-design in future activities. Before talking to people, we reviewed over five years of previous community engagement, including planning applications, citizen assemblies and resident surveys. We sought to understand the local narrative, which allowed engagement on the town centre vision to be positioned as part of an ongoing conversation rather than repeating the ‘introductory’ engagement that had gone before.

By continuing a conversation, we embraced deeper reflections from local people on the impacts of the cost of living crisis; the need for more green spaces; the fine balance between the perception of Stratford as exciting and confusing; the safety fears of young people; the love for the Stratford Centre; the need to develop night time provision; and desire to play a more active role in the future of the town centre.

In addition to qualitative research, we used new quantitative evidence on footfall, spending, and town centre shops from the GLA’s High Streets Data Service to argue for a more foundational and locally focussed approach to the evolution of the town centre, providing balance to Westfield and the Olympic Park.

The result of this approach is a vision more routed in the experience of the everyday economy of Stratford rather than one we imagine might exist in the future. It embeds the importance of the Foundational and Overlooked economies as vital to the day-to-day needs of residents living through a cost-of-living crisis, championing quality of life over commercial objectives.

A Vision for Stratford Town Centre

The vision also reflects residents’ concerns with the climate crisis and access to green space. It argues that, as the most prominent centre in Newham, Stratford should lead the borough’s just transition. It emphasises the need for any development and investment to be underpinned by the highest expectations in terms of net zero, nature depletion, decarbonisation and circularity.

The Vision and Strategy

The Vision and Strategy sought to redefine the economic geography of Stratford. It identified new neighbourhoods around the town centre under the concept of One Stratford, as opposed to the often used ‘old and new’. Practically, it reconsidered the boundaries of this wider Stratford area to reflect the evolution of the London Legacy Development Corporation and to empower LB Newham to provide great stewardship not only over the town centre but also the Olympic Park and surrounding areas.

The recommendations are defined by the aspiration for more development and economic growth and a new set of principles for people and the planet. The vision recognises that there will be development and hopefully economic growth, but that this should be conscious and respond to these overall objectives:

Planet – A Green Net Zero Town Centre

Empower & involve residents
Extend life Cycles, Reusing what is already here
Active travel and public transport
Regeneration resources: promote renewable & non-toxic resources
Waste as a resource: ensure resources are not lost and cascade back into the system

People – A Place to be Healthy and Well

Enabling the best start in life for young people, enabling them to be healthy and ready for adult life
Meeting the needs of those who are most vulnerable
Providing continuity in health services, making these more available to local residents
Creating healthy food environments
Becoming a more active borough
Supporting active travel and air quality
Providing healthier housing and environments
Tackling poverty

The vision applies these principles across key locations in the town centre, identifying smaller, more deliberate interventions that can be delivered in the short term or incrementally to build trust and demonstrate change for local people.

Specifically, the final strategy identifies four demonstrator projects to be actioned immediately by LB Newham and its partners:

Transform the cultural quarter into a green oasis providing spaces for outdoor performance and growing, alongside workspace, community hubs and new provisions for screen-based activities
Reimagine the Town Hall to change the way we think about democracy and participation
Refurbish Morgan House, creating generous public open space in its surroundings
Create a new hub for innovation and enterprise which connects directly to the next exciting chapter in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.

In addition, we developed new strategies to help the council extract more social and economic value from the land and buildings it controls. We argued for them to acquire additional property to support a more progressive property strategy. We also enshrined the principle of ‘reuse first’, encouraging developers and landowners to refurbish and repurpose buildings rather than demolish and rebuild.

It’s Happening Now! The Vision in Action

The Stratford Town Centre Vision and Strategy is not one where success is predicated on transformation but on progressive transition. This means less focus on shiny new buildings and projects, and more on the choices that will support a more tangible local impact.

This is Stratford, after all. It is not static and at times it is chaotic! Gratifyingly, there is momentum. £30m of investment at Stratford Workshops has brought a previously neglected workspace up to modern standard, whilst the decision to retain and retrofit the housing tower at James Riley Point shows how LB Newham has committed to the objectives of the vision.

Public sector partners are intervening directly. London Creative Land Trust’s acquisition of Alice Billings House has not only created new affordable space for artists but brought a programme of high street curation, including exhibitions, events, residencies and wellbeing sessions.

When the Stratford Centre’s Indoor Market closed at short notice, LB Newham responded quickly, recognising its value as a community asset. The council took the Indoor Market’s head lease, allowing it to continue operating and ensuring that a public good not valued by the open, private market is protected in perpetuity. A long-term programme of working toward community involvement in commercial strategy in the redevelopment of Carpenters Estate is built upon a similar ethos of economic spaces contributing to social and community benefit.

Meanwhile, a multi-partner public sector coalition is developing the case for investment in the improvement of Stratford station. This focus on long-term transition and infrastructure is matched in ambition by the council’s Just Transition Plan, which fully recognises the systemic breadth of the climate challenge, particularly where it contributes to poverty and inequality in the borough.

The Stratford Vision and Strategy provides the foundation to evolve a place-based response, without compromising the council’s mission or promoting superfluous carbon-intensive development.

Final thoughts – Stratford Town Centre Vision and Strategy as a Route Map for Place and Purpose in other places

We developed a strategy that adopted a different approach to value. This works in Stratford, but could it work elsewhere? We believe it can.

The Labour Government’s approach to the economy is summed up by the Chancellor of the Exchequer as “growth, but not for growth’s sake”. The Stratford Town Centre Vision and Strategy is an example of this in action. We believe it provides a strong basis for public leadership and mission-led public value from which others can learn. Successes include:

A council enabling new investment which adds value commercially and socially.
A recognition that the ‘old’ Stratford’s foundational economic value is worthy of parity with more recent investments at Westfield and the Olympic Park.
An expectation is that developers and investors understand the tone of the area and the responsibility and privilege of working in one of Europe’s most important regeneration projects.
A recasting of what we value that allows a public good, such as the indoor market, to be valued and protected, despite the short-term commercial objectives of many owners.
A reframing of the legacy of London 2012, providing a precursor and exemplar for an inclusive economy, adopted by the London Legacy Development Corporation and the four growth boroughs.
A starting point for a discussion about climate and ecology, building a foundation for greater local engagement in this topic.
An ongoing conversation with local people about what Stratford means to them and their ongoing role in its direction and stewardship.

Thinking about growth-based policy in local areas requires nuance and an understanding of local needs. The Stratford Town Centre Vision and Strategy recognises the commercial value of the area and welcomes those who want to invest. It also sets the terms for this to happen: not focussing upon a picture of a future that is perfect, but a process that ensures it happens the right way.

One Stratford, A Visions for Stratford Town Centre. Illustration by Hawkins Brown

By Chris Paddock and Carolina Eboli