Micro-Regeneration: A focus on the High Street by Gabriela Mac Allister

Micro-Regeneration: A Focus on the High Street Gabriela Mac Allister Tutor: Gwyn Lloyd-Jones

Table of Content Introduction ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….01

A Journey Through London’s Opportunity Areas: From Nine Elms & Battersea to the City Fringe ……………………………………02

Gateway to The City: Whitechapel High Street ……………………………………………………………………………………………….07

Historical and Social Character Understanding regeneration in Whitechapel High Street: High Street 2012 and Whitechapel Vision The Altab Ali Park: An exception What did High Street 2012 miss? Whitechapel Vision 2013: The Masterplan

The High Street as the Focus of a Ground-Up Approach ………………………………………………………………………………….27 The Value of the Street and its Community Placemaking: A solution Further considerations responding to our new reality

Conclusions ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………33

Bibliography ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………35

Introduction London is a city of constant change and reinvention. Regeneration is now becoming second nature to developers and councils all over the city, with thirty-nine active opportunity areas, defined as land that has significant capacity for development, either commercial, residential or mixed use.1 Most of these areas are greatly affected by social and economic deprivation, which regeneration aims to solve by creating opportunities for economic growth. However, this often causes the fragmenting of existing communities and can ultimately lead to their displacement by creating a spike in living prices. As described by Rob Imrie, regeneration policy aims to rebalance the distribution of economic benefits, however this is sometimes used to “legitimate the construction of exclusive and expensive urban spaces in order to encourage the in-migration of a creative, entrepreneurial and relatively mobile class of workers into deprived neighbourhoods”.2 These projects tend to propose top-down solutions, which that tend to ignore the intricacies of regeneration at a micro level. Set within this context of change and its effects, this dissertation aims to investigate regeneration at the micro level, creating an understanding of the social value of the High Streets by analysing regeneration projects targeting these and their methods. Subsequently, the main question to answer is how focusing on the street can mitigate the effects of top-down regeneration by adopting a different approach. Whitechapel High Street will be analysed as a case study as it has a rich history, a wide range of ethnicities, and has been the focus of various regeneration projects and masterplans. The works of Suzanne Hall3 , Iain Sinclair4 and Jane Jacobs5 have been referenced to inform the style of narrative.

Mayor of London, ‘Opportunity Areas’, https://www.london.gov.uk/what-we-do/planning/implementing-london-plan/opportunity-areas 13th December 2020

Rob Imrie, Loretta Lees and Mike Raco, Regenerating London: Governance, Sustainability and Community, Oxon: Routledge, 2009

Suzanne Hall, City, Street and Citizen: The Measure of the Ordinary, Routledge, 2012

Iain Sinclair, Ghost Milk - Calling Time on the Grand Project, Penguin Books, 2011

Jane Jacobs, The Death and Life of Great American Cities, Great Britain: Jonathan Cape, 1962

A Journey Through London’s Opportunity Areas: From Nine Elms & Battersea to the City Fringe Figure 1: 344 bus route, from Nine Elms to London Bridge and opportunity areas’ boundaries

Google satellite image overlaid with author’s diagrams Diagrams based on Mayor of London, Opportunity Areas, https://www.london.gov.uk/what-we-do/planning/implementing-london-plan/opportunity-areas 13th December 2020

A Journey Through London’s Opportunity Areas: From Nine Elms & Battersea to the City Fringe As I leave the construction cluster around my apartment in Phase 1 of the Battersea Power Station development and come back into the reality of the city, I am reminded of the context my new purpose-built flat resides in. A vibrant neighbourhood south of the Thames undergoing major change under the Mayor’s opportunity areas plan. Initially set out in 2013, the Vision for London highlighted areas that had potential for growth and development. To this day, masterplans have been approved for most of these, and more areas have been added to the list. The 344 to Liverpool Street drives along Nine Elms Road, now crowded with building sites for residential high rises; St George’s Wharf Tower stands tall over Vauxhall. As the bus makes a turn for Lambeth Road, the cityscape changes, mid-rise buildings frame the street. We eventually reach Waterloo, the opportunity area adopted in 2007 revolving around Waterloo Station, where 2,500 homes are set to be built during redevelopment.6 Luxury homes, leisure facilities, increased and diversified retail are common denominators for master plans in opportunity areas, establishing London’s regeneration agenda as a socio-political process that enables and sustains the city’s economic competitiveness and global city status.7 Such has been the case as well for Elephant and Castle. The approach to Elephant Square showcases various new developments amongst traditional residential houses. In the case of Elephant and Castle, the London College of Communication partnered with the council to work on the area’s masterplan, a strategy commonly adopted in regeneration plans to encourage investment. 8 This outward-facing approach is typical across regeneration schemes, where its sought to “clear the streets of particular groups, while securing them for conspicuous consumption”9, which has persistently resulted in gentrification, fragmenting long standing communities. The Shard stands out over the buildings framing Borough High Street, we have arrived at London Bridge. This area’s key role in London’s transport links with the south and south east of England made it an ideal opportunity area. Infrastructure and transport links have historically been particularly attractive for regeneration. The railway, for instance, aided the city’s development enormously but displaced thousands to the periphery, generating working class suburban neighbourhoods, a trend that stands true today.10 As the city grows, the economically disadvantaged find themselves displaced or surrounded by incredibly wealthy areas, which raises the question of who regeneration is really for and how long-standing communities can be preserved in a time of major change.

6 Mayor of London, Waterloo Opportunity Area, https://www.london.gov.uk/what-we-do/planning/implementing-london-plan/opportunity-areas/opportunityareas/waterloo Accessed 13 December 2020 7

Rob Imrie, Loretta Lees and Mike Raco, Regenerating London: Governance, Sustainability and Community, Oxon: Routledge, 2009

Anna Milton, ‘The Price of Regeneration’, Places Journal, 2018, https://placesjournal.org/article/the-price-of-regeneration-in-london/ Accessed 23 September 2020 8

Rob Imrie, Loretta Lees and Mike Raco, Regenerating London, 2009

Figure 2: Battersea Power Station under construction Photograph by author, November 2020

Figure 3: Circus West Village, BPS Development Photograph by author, November 2020

Figure 4: St. George’s Wharf Tower Photograph by Author

Figure 1: 344 bus route, from Nine Elms to London Bridge and opportunity areas’ boundaries

Figure 5: Vauxhall’s residential developments Photograph by Author

Over the river and into The City, a completely different landscape emerges. Deep into the financial district, high rises overcast the streets now quieter than usual. Further up the A10, one turn left and I find myself in London’s famous East End; out of the bus and into the City Fringe and Tech City. This area is crucial within the London plan, set to be transformed into the city’s hub for creative industries, supporting the financial centre’s growth; it is recognised as “strategically important for London and the UK”11. Therefore, London’s east was the protagonist to one of the largest regeneration schemes, the Olympic and Paralympic Games of 2012. Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, described it as greatly beneficial to this deprived area: “When you add up the benefits in jobs, growth, infrastructure, the boost to east London and the positive glow it has given to the brand of London and the UK - that £9.3 bn looks like one of the most sensible and pragmatic investments in the history of British public spending” 12 However, the project's legacy and impact are a matter of controversy, especially when looking at its immediate impact area. The East End is characterised by its community made up of different backgrounds, historically it attracted refugees and immigrants who have now set roots in the area. The first industries to settle in East London were mostly manual skills, which over time decreased in demand and by the time they were replaced with industrial processes, the area was known for poverty, gang rule and slum housing, mostly derived from an increase in population inflowing from Eastern Europe. After the war the area improved, and slum housing was eliminated. The area has since sought out to reinvent itself but Tower Hamlets is still one of the most deprived boroughs in London despite various regeneration attempts. The games provided an opportunity for place branding backed up by the expectation that the Olympic Legacy would bring welfare to the area for years to come. Research into this indicates that the residents of host boroughs (Tower Hamlets and Newham) felt alienated from the prosperity the Olympics brought, since displacement was happening around the area to a point where residents did not feel it was “their place”.13 Top-down regeneration has left a mark in communities, fracturing their sense of belonging and cohesion as they see their neighbours being directly or indirectly displaced. The City’s high rises stand tall behind me as I watch Whitechapel High Street extend ahead. The street’s historical scale is overcast by the redeveloped city centre’s mass scale, marking the boundary between the financial district and the East End.

Mayor of London, City Fringe Opportunity Area, https://www.london.gov.uk/what-we-do/planning/implementing-london-plan/opportunity-areas/opportunityareas/city-fringe-opportunity-area Accessed 13 December 2020 11

Boris Johnson, ‘2020 Vision: The Greatest City in Earth’, London: Greater London Authority, 2013, https://www.london.gov.uk/sites/default/ﬁles/ 2020_vision_web.pdf 12

Paul Watt, ‘It's not for us’, City, vol. 17, no. 1, 2013, 99-118

Figure 6: Skyscrapers in the Financial Centre Google Street View Images, 225 Threadneedle Street, 2020, https://www.google.com/ maps/@51.5144007,-0.0836857,3a,75y,31.59h,77.14t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1shzsAF1UJ-keWb_4IIRM77A! 2e0!7i16384!8i8192 Accessed 01 January 2021

Figure 7: Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in Stratford mass scale regeneration for international engagement Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, ‘An Area of Innovation’, https://www.queenelizabetholympicpark.co.uk/ invest/an-area-of-innovation, Accessed 02 January 2021

Figure 1: 344 bus route, from Nine Elms to London Bridge and opportunity areas’ boundaries

Gateway to The City: Whitechapel High Street “Whitechapel, [...] is a spacious fair street, for entrance into the City eastward, and somewhat long, reckoning from the laystall east unto the bars west. It is a great thoroughfare”14 I cross Commercial Street, a busy road cornered by the Aldgate Tower and a Sports Direct shop. The preserved pre-war townscape on the Northside of Whitechapel Road sharply contrasts the newly built residential high rises on the South.

14 Walter Thornbury, 'Whitechapel', in Old and New London, vol. 2, 1878, 142-146 British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/old-new-london/vol2/pp142-146 Accessed 27 December 2020

Figure 8: Whitechapel High Street, the northside Sports Direct and residential high rises on Leman Steet. Photographs taken and edited by author

Figure 9: Whitechapel High Street plan Plan edited by author, base map from OS MasterMap, November 2020, Ordnance Survey, using Digimap Ordnance Survey Collection, https://digimap.edina.ac.uk/, created 20 November 2020

Historical and Social Character Fast paced traffic flows over the location of the old London Metropolitan Electric Tramway tracks that ran all the way along Whitechapel High Street, connecting the East with The City of London until they were phased out in 1952.15 Despite the East End’s reputation for poverty and crime, it was an important thoroughfare where travellers and merchants used to stay overnight on their way to the great city.16 Since the 1500s, Whitechapel has seen the best and the worst of times, changing drastically through the centuries; going from housing wealthy merchants in the 16th century, to being overcrowded by incoming foreign communities a century later. A rapid increase in population quickly turned Whitechapel into a slum area characterised by crime and poverty and became the focus of Victorian philanthropists and authors. After the Victorian era, the Jewish community migrated out of Whitechapel and were replaced by a fast incoming Bangladeshi community.17 This history of constant migration and interconnection of ethnicities has made Whitechapel a rich palimpsest, where a wide variety of social groups have set roots. Perhaps it is this rapid change that had such detrimental economic effects on the area, which has not entirely recovered from the deprivation left behind by the slum period. My journey down the street is characterised by the sight of narrow alleyways leading back to residential courtyards and silent streets, which in the 17th century led to coaching inns and remain part of the street’s character. My attention is drawn to Angel Alley, the entrance to what used to be The Angel Inn is now gated at the back. I had hoped to visit the Freedom Press, an anarchist bookshop founded in 1886 which still releases newsprints occasionally. As part of the 19th century’s communist movement boom, Charlotte Wilson and Peter Kropotkin opened Freedom Press at the back of Angel Alley, right on the way from the High Street to Toynbee Hall. The periodical focused on publications by anarchist writers and thinkers, including Herbert Spencer and William Morris, and held occasional public meetings and discussions.18 Parallel to the Freedom Press, philanthropists Samuel and Henrietta Barnett founded the Toynbee Hall; a pioneer in the international settlement movement, which provided halls of residence for students dependent on their service to the local community by sharing their life experiences and culture. 19 Their initiative looked to appease class conflicts and establish contact with the lower classes20 , in a way that personally connected both groups. The work in Toynbee Hall was extended in 1888 by Charles Robert Ashbee, an early resident who founded a seminar to discuss John Ruskin’s works, and went on to open the Guild of Handicraft in a site on Commercial Street.21 Following the arts and crafts movement’s ideas, Ashbee founded the guild with the intention of engaging the community in the crafts, whose members also started teaching in the school, passing on knowledge onto others in the local area.22 A decade later, in 1901 the first free gallery to bring arts and culture to the East End was opened. In line with arts and crafts ideologies prominent in Whitechapel, Charles Harrison Townsend designed the Whitechapel Gallery with the idea that “even the lowest people of London, could appreciate the highest art” 23, positioning the gallery as a further attempt to bridge inequality between classes by making the luxury of art accessible to the poor. Combining arts with education, BBC On This Day, “1952: London’s Trams Trundle into History”, http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/6/newsid_2963000/2963092.stm Accessed 30 December 2020 15

Walter Thornbury, ‘Whitechapel’, 1878

Adila Mir, ‘Roots in Resilience: A Brief History of the British-Bangladeshi Community in London’s East End’, ucl.ac.uk, 08 December 2020, https:// www.ucl.ac.uk/history/news/2020/dec/roots-resilience-brief-history-british-bangladeshi-community-londons-east-end Accessed 15 December 2020 17

Freedom Press, “History”, 2020, https://freedompress.org.uk/history/ Accessed 27 December 2020

Robert C. Reinders, ‘Toynbee Hall and the American Settlement Movement’, Social Service Review, vol. 56, no. 1, 1982, 39–54

Robert C. Reinders, ‘Toynbee Hall and the American Settlement Movement’

Emily K. Abel, ‘Canon Barnett and the ﬁrst thirty years of Toynbee Hall’, Queen Mary University of London, 1969, p. 157 https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/ 30695441.pdf 21

Emily K. Abel, ‘Canon Barnett and the ﬁrst thirty years of Toynbee Hall’

Toynbee Hall, ‘The History of Toynbee Hall - A Timeline’, https://explore.toynbeehall.org.uk/explore/the-history-of-toynbee-hall-a-timeline/, Accessed 14 December 2020 23

Figure 10: Whitechapel High Street in the 1870s “Nowhere in the streets of London may one escape the sight of abject poverty, while ﬁve minutes’ walk from almost any point will bring one to a slum; but the region my hansom was now penetrating was one unending slum.” Description of East London by Jack London in his autobiographical novel People of the Abyss published in 1902. Plan collaged by author, base map from Ordnance Survey County Series 1:10560, 1st Edition 1849-1899 [TIFF geospatial data], County/Tile: , Published: 1870s, Landmark Information Group, Using: EDINA Historic Digimap Service, <http://digimap.edina.ac.uk/>, Downloaded: December 2020

Figure 11: Whitechapel High Street in 1899, view from Leman Street

Figure 12: Whitechapel High Street in 1910 Metropolitan Electric Tramway runs along Whitechapel High Street

‘Whitechapel High Street’, London Metropolitan Archives, City of London Photographs, 1899, Record no. 35177

Plan collaged by author, base map from Ordnance Survey County Series 1:10560, 1st Revision 18881914 [TIFF geospatial data], County/Tile: , Published: 1910, Landmark Information Group, Using: EDINA Historic Digimap Service, <http://digimap.edina.ac.uk/>, Downloaded: December 2020

the gallery pioneered programmes for art students that were later applied around the UK.24 More than a century later, the Whitechapel Gallery and Toynbee Hall continue to help their community, providing services such as legal and ﬁnancial advice and organising social events.25 Today the Toynbee Hall, Whitechapel Gallery and the Freedom Press continue giving a voice to the people of Whitechapel; with the High Street playing a key role in the servicing and survival of these initiatives. Visiting Whitechapel High Street today, the gallery still stands out as a landmark both for the the East End and London, playing “a central role in London’s cultural landscape and is pivotal to the continued growth of the world’s most vibrant contemporary art quarter” 26, an ambition shared by regeneration masterplans made for Whitechapel, evidencing the legacy of the arts and craft’s movement presence in the past. As part of this agenda, Rachel Whiteread was commissioned to create a permanent public art intervention to the facade of the building in 2012.27 The piece was part of the High Street 2012’s ambition to highlight the positive features of the High Street in an attempt to use the enhancement of cultural buildings as a tool for regeneration. Whitechapel High Street embodies its complex history and has become the space where people of different ideologies and backgrounds cross paths on their way to their respective activities, all living, coexisting and occupying the street. Ambitions for the High Street

Whitechapel Gallery, ‘History’, whitechapelgallery.org, https://www.whitechapelgallery.org/about/history/, Accessed 14 December 2020

Toynbee Hall, ‘Impact Review 2019’, https://www.toynbeehall.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/2019-Impact-Review-FINAL-DIGITAL-VERSION.pdf Accessed 28 December 2020 25

Whitechapel Gallery, ‘About’, whitechapelgallery.org, 2020, https://www.whitechapelgallery.org/about/ Accessed 20 December 2020

Fluid Architecture, ‘High Street 2012 Project Evaluation’, 2013, p.96 [Report accessed directly via Fluid]

Figure 13: The Whitechapel Gallery before 2012 The Victorian Web, 2012, http://www.victorianweb.org/art/architecture/ townsend/1.html Accessed 01 January 2021

Figure 15: This is Whitechapel exhibition poster

Whitechapel Gallery, ‘History’, 2021, https://www.whitechapelgallery.org/ about/history/ Accessed 01 January 2021

Figure 16: Whitechapel High Street plan Plan edited by author, base map from OS MasterMap, November 2020, Ordnance Survey, using Digimap Ordnance Survey Collection, https://digimap.edina.ac.uk/, created 20 November 2020

Figure 14: The Whitechapel Gallery in 2020 Photograph by author

Understanding regeneration in Whitechapel High Street: High Street 2012 and Whitechapel Vision High Street 2012 was a regeneration scheme conceived within the wider masterplan for the Olympic Games in London the summer 2012. The ambition of the project was to “create a thriving high street of which London can be proud, and which the world will admire; where there’s a balance between pedestrians and other road users, where people and places are connected, where locals and visitors want to be, and where there is a sense of history, diversity, community, fun and wellbeing”28 This super high street along the A11 from Aldgate to Stratford comprised a 6km stretch of streets. Individualised approaches were proposed for each town based on features that needed enhancement and each area’s character. As for Whitechapel, developers viewed it as a “historic area of immense diversity and intense activity”29, which informed their proposals, including historic building restorations, new pedestrian and cycle routes and general decluttering.30 These modifications were applied all throughout the High Street, aiming to improve the public realm physically to better the perception of the area. Cultural outreach was central to the plan.31 Projects showcasing this were focused in the Aldgate area, namely the Altab Ali Park and the Whitechapel Gallery. High Street 2012 portrayed what could have been an incredibly beneficial project for the local area, unfortunately not all of the ambitions were carried through, and most of the projects delivered were superficial interventions which embellished the street’s image in preparation for the Olympic Games and the welcoming of crowds from all over the world. Discarding community centred projects resulted in interviewees identifying original issues that the project had aimed to solve but did not carry through, such as the predominance of vehicular traffic, security concerns regarding pedestrians and cyclists on the road, lack of parking spaces, but most importantly that the area was not a High Street in character.32 In Whitechapel, High Street 2012 did not deliver the projects that would have made a cohesive High Street, an issue likely connected with difficulties regarding funding. Daniel Fordham says that “due to the major cuts taking place at the time, there were difficult decisions to make about where to target the funding. Other elements of the proposals were deemed to be a higher priority”.33 Deemed as most important were the facade restorations and street decluttering; by delivery, 61 units were restored along the high street and the public realm was significantly improved. Although successful when considered individually, these projects would have been strengthened if the community engagement approaches had been prioritised, on the whole the project’s success is let down by the other proposals that were not completed.34

Fluid Architecture, ‘High Street 2012’, 2008-2010 [Report accessed directly via Fluid, information about the project can be found at: https://ﬂuidofﬁce.com/ project/high-street-2012-vision/] 28

Fluid Architecture, ‘High Street 2012’

Fluid Architecture, ‘High Street 2012 Project Evaluation’, 2013, p.96

Fluid Architecture, ‘High Street 2012 Project Evaluation’

Fluid Architecture, ‘High Street 2012 Project Evaluation’, p.95

Fluid Architecture, ‘High Street 2012 Project Evaluation’, p.78

Figure 17: Before decluttering the street Fluid Architecture, ‘High Street 2012 Project Evaluation’, 2013

Figure 18: After decluttering of the street 2012 Fluid Architecture, ‘High Street 2012 Project Evaluation’, 2013

Figure 21: East London’s proposed super high street, connecting The City with Stratford Fluid Architecture, ‘High Street 2012’, 2008-2010

Figure 19: Before historic facade restorations Fluid Architecture, ‘High Street 2012 Project Evaluation’, 2013

Figure 20: After historic facade restorations 2012 Fluid Architecture, ‘High Street 2012 Project Evaluation’, 2013

Figure 22: Whitechapel High Street plan with High Street 2012’s interventions Plan edited by author, base map from OS MasterMap, November 2020, Ordnance Survey, using Digimap Ordnance Survey Collection, https://digimap.edina.ac.uk/, created 20 November 2020

Dressing up the high street temporarily to create a street that “the world will admire”35 left an overall feeling of disengagement with the locals and their overall best interest. An example of this, additional to the buildings’ facades, is Angel Alley, an important connection point to the high street that now sits between the KFC and a nail lounge. In 2012, Whitechapel Gallery received a grant to improve the passageway as the connection between High Street 2012 and Toynbee Hall. After years of poor maintenance, these improvements decayed and Angel Alley once again has become dark with graffitied walls. Issues of maintenance have been raised by the community since 2013, clients and stakeholders pointed out that issues of staff turnover and change in roles had resulted in a lack of continuity in the overall vision. The street today is testimony to the lack of agreement and communication between parties during the project’s execution; while some buildings have been well maintained, others have been neglected and decaying over the past decade, excessive street furniture has cluttered the street again and the character of the High Street is still affected by the three lanes of heavy traffic traversing it. Traces of High Street 2012 have become an amalgamation of well-kept brick buildings and crumbling stucco facades. An effort has been made to preserve landmarks, while buildings deemed of ‘lesser importance’ have seemingly been neglected for years after restoration works were completed. The key aim of community outreach 36 has been let down by feelings of polarisation and superficiality to the project, making it a weak point in the delivery. In 2013, the community stated they would have liked to “see more creative initiatives that draw out institutions/communities to build a sense of ownership, rather than capital funding being spent on large sculptures”37, emphasising the importance of ground-up approaches. One project, however, was extraordinarily successful given its strong link with the community. Standing in the junction of Osborn Street and Whitechapel Road, I look past the fast flowing traffic, across the street, and see the cast iron arch that marks the entrance to the Altab Ali Park. I cross.

Fluid Architecture, ‘High Street 2012’

Fluid Architecture, ‘High Street 2012 Project Evaluation’, 2013, p. 96

Eleanor Fawcett, Interviewee for Fluid Architecture, ‘High Street 2012 Project Evaluation’, 2013, p.96

Figure 23: Angel Alley in 2012, after improvements

Figure 24: Brick building facades today

Fluid Architecture, ‘High Street 2012 Project Evaluation’, 2013

Photograph by author, November 2020

Figure 25: Angel Alley today

Figure 26: Neglected buildings

Photograph by author, November 2020

Figure 27: Whitechapel High Street plan with High Street 2012’s interventions Plan edited by author, base map from OS MasterMap, November 2020, Ordnance Survey, using Digimap Ordnance Survey Collection, https://digimap.edina.ac.uk/, created 20 November 2020

The Altab Ali Park: An exception “Muf’s dig at Altab Ali Park was very successful. It felt inclusive and exciting” Daniel Fordham, Tower Hamlets38

Figure 28: Cast iron arch marking the entrance to the Altab Ali Park Photograph by author, November 2020

Fluid Architecture, ‘High Street 2012 Project Evaluation’, 2013, p.93

Arguably the most successful project in Whitechapel under High Street 2012, the park by Muf Architecture has become a well known meeting point for the community. Previously named St. Mary’s Gardens, the park was renamed after a racist attack against a young Bengali man in 1978;39 a testimony of the area’s battle with racism. The park was reimagined by Muf to provide seating and meeting spaces but it is the affinity with the community that has made the project widely successful amongst high street users. During the renovation process, an area was sectioned off to perform archeological dig with the community, exposing the history of their high street. The result of the dig has been preserved and is a feature that not only symbolises collective memory but has also helped build it. These community activities and genuine engagement can have a positive impact in people’s life, especially vulnerable community members and can “instil a can-do spirit that extends across an entire community”40, which is fundamental for Whitechapel’s regeneration and is reflected on a decrease in crime and antisocial behaviour 41 since the renovations. A possible alternative to top-down regeneration could reside in these kinds of interventions that remind the community of their heritage and collective memory, generating positive engagement and sense of belonging. What did High Street 2012 miss? Although the community responded positively to the improvements achieved,42 the parts of the project that could not be carried out were the ones that could have made the most lasting change in the community. Unfortunately, High Street 2012 prioritised general, quick changes rather than place-specific, long-term relevant interventions. While making sure that the High Street has a better aesthetic appeal is an adequate starting point, the users of the street must feel that it reflects the character of their community, where all its different layers come together. For this to happen, projects with the depth of the Altab Ali Park must be prioritised, proposals that genuinely create or renovate public space catered to the locals, not only temporary visitors. Proposals put in the back-burner were most in tune with the community outreach that was present in the Altab Ali Park. Projects such as the pedestrianisation of secondary streets, a market office, further supporting structures for the market, additional green public space along the high street and overall better lighting/accent lighting,43 could have significantly benefited the community by generating a strong sense of ownership.. It is the implementation of human-centred design that High Street 2012 lacked and therefore did not impact the community at a deeper level. High Street 2012 proposed additional public spaces and pedestrian crossings, foreseeing the increase in people visiting Whitechapel after the CrossRail’s arrival. The project’s interventions did not work in isolation: the Whitechapel Vision masterplan was meant to take over from where they left off.

Tower Hamlets Council, ‘Altab Ali Park’, towerhamlets.gov.uk, 2020, https://www.towerhamlets.gov.uk/lgnl/leisure_and_culture/parks_and_open_spaces/ altab_ali_park.aspx#:~:text=It%20was%20renamed%20Altab%20Ali,East%20End%20at%20that%20time. Accessed 05 November 2020 39

Melody Barnes and Paul Schmitz, ‘Community Engagement Matters (Now More Than Ever)’, Stanford Social Innovation Review, 2016, https://ssir.org/ articles/entry/community_engagement_matters_now_more_than_ever Accessed 05 November 2020 40

Metropolitan Police, ‘Whitechapel’, met.police.uk, November 2020, https://www.met.police.uk/a/your-area/met/tower-hamlets/whitechapel/?tab=Overview Accessed 02 January 2021 41

Fluid Architecture, ‘High Street 2012 Project Evaluation’, 2013

Fluid Architecture, ‘High Street 2012 Project Evaluation’, 2013, p.111

Figure 29: Altab Ali Park archeological dig; St. Mary’s Church remains revealed London Development Agency, Altab Ali Archeological dig - High Street 2012, 2010, https://vimeo.com/16247826 Accessed 03 January 2020

Figure 30: Altab Ali Park in 2012, after renovations Fluid Architecture, ‘High Street 2012 Project Evaluation’, 2013

Figure 31: Altab Ali Park today Photograph by author, November 2020

Figure 32: Whitechapel High Street plan Plan edited by author, base map from OS MasterMap, November 2020, Ordnance Survey, using Digimap Ordnance Survey Collection, https://digimap.edina.ac.uk/, created 20 November 2020

Whitechapel Vision 2013: The Masterplan Leaving the Altab Ali Park behind, I carry on walking down the street, towards the Underground Station and the soon to be Whitechapel CrossRail. Across the street the New Royal London Hospital stands prominently behind its previous site, now boarded up and being transformed into the new Tower Hamlets Town Hall.

Figure 33: Old Royal London Hospital’s facade, New London Hospital behind Photograph by author, November 2020

Whitechapel Vision was approved in 2013, a year after High Street 2012 was completed. At the time, Whitechapel had experienced a considerable amount of change, positioning it as Tower Hamlets district centre.44 In reference to the masterplan’s ambition, the Mayor states that they strive to create a vibrant and successful new area for London.45 Although the approach is said to be one of inclusion, striving to create a new area and therefore a new social fabric can endanger the integrity of the existing community. Amongst the 3,500 new homes, they predict 5,000 new jobs will be generated, and aim to build 7 new public squares, open spaces, the new civic hub and cultural centres, new streets and a local media hub; all of these projects contribute to the overall agenda of making Whitechapel, within the City Fringe and Tech City, a destination for leisure, retail and art, as well as enhancing its position as an internationally recognised research centre by improving existing facilities such as the Queen Mary Medical School and transport links with the arrival of CrossRail.46 Although these projects could be incredibly beneficial for the area, an important question to address is how the existing community will exist within this “new area’ the plan intends to create. New ambitions should consider existing communities that may not identify with these new ideas, guaranteeing that locals take precedence over the need to reshape the community to portray these ideals; a goal that should be the backbone of all initiatives within the masterplan. Various attempts have been made to regenerate Whitechapel since 2004 47, however most of these are left incomplete or get delayed; as is the case for the CrossRail. Originally meant to open in 2018, the project aims to connect towns near London to the city’s relevant areas, reinforcing the importance of Whitechapel for the city and as a historically relevant thoroughfare. CrossRail is predicted to be greatly economically beneficial in line with the growth agenda. However the increase in investment and subsequently living prices, can have a detrimental effect on longstanding communities, forcing displacements and struggles to cover living expenses.48 With Salvation Army’s permanently closed Booth House not but a block away, the importance of social movements that have historically helped the struggling communities of Whitechapel is reinforced. Booth House operated as a shelter for homeless men49 who have been relocated to a site in Old Montague Street that used to house women survivors of domestic abuse.50 The abundance of charities stems from Tower Hamlets’ high levels of deprivation; being in the top 32 most deprived areas, two in five older people are income deprived as of 2019.51 Although indicators of deprivation have improved during the past few years, the masterplan states that at the time “overcrowding and waiting lists for social housing in Tower Hamlets remain[ed] persistently high at approximately 22,000”.52 Worryingly, only 35% of the 3500 new private homes will be allocated to affordable housing. The meaning of affordable housing has unfortunately been changed by the government to mean the price of the property is up to 80% the market value53, implying that most people in need of social housing would not be able to live in today’s ‘affordable’ housing. Displacement of council estate residents is a city-wide phenomenon and “serious mental health problems are common among those displaced from longtime communities”54, which makes it all the more important to find solutions to this issue.

Mayor of Tower Hamlets, ‘Whitechapel Masterplan Supplementary Planning Document’, Tower Hamlets Council, 2013, p. 3 https:// www.towerhamlets.gov.uk/lgnl/planning_and_building_control/consultation_and_engagement/whitechapel_vision_spd.aspx Accessed 25 September 2020 44

Mayor of Tower Hamlets, ‘Whitechapel Masterplan Supplementary Planning Document’, p. 3

Mayor of Tower Hamlets, ‘Whitechapel Masterplan Supplementary Planning Document’, p. 4

Mayor of Tower Hamlets, ‘Whitechapel Masterplan Supplementary Planning Document’, p. 6

Anna Milton, ‘The Price of Regeneration’, Places Journal, 2018, https://placesjournal.org/article/the-price-of-regeneration-in-london/ Accessed 23 September 2020 48

49Tower

Hamlets Council, ‘Booth House’, towerhamlets.gov.uk, https://communitycatalogue.towerhamlets.gov.uk/marketplace/cat/product/470

Mike Brooks, ‘Whitechapel’s former Hopetown women’s hostel renamed by Salvation Army to shelter reluctant homeless men’, East London Advertiser, 12 June 2018, https://www.eastlondonadvertiser.co.uk/news/local-council/whitechapel-s-former-hopetown-women-s-hostel-renamed-by-salvation-3595276 Accessed 20 December 2020 50

Mary-Ann Domman, ‘Indices of Deprivation 2019’, londoncouncils.gov.uk, 2019, https://www.londoncouncils.gov.uk/members-area/member-brieﬁngs/localgovernment-ﬁnance/indices-deprivation-2019#:~:text=In%20London%2C%20Hackney%20has%20the,Chelsea%20(ranked%2091st). Accessed 01 January 2021 51

Mayor of Tower Hamlets, ‘Whitechapel Masterplan Supplementary Planning Document’, Tower Hamlets Council, 2013, p. 15

53 Anna Milton, ‘The Price of Regeneration’, Places Journal, 2018 54 Anna Milton, ‘The Price of Regeneration’, Places Journal, 2018

Figure 34: Development site on Whitechapel High Street Photograph by author, November 2020

Figure 35: Whitechapel Vison 2013 key interventions diagram; major development sites around the High Street Mayor of Tower Hamlets, ‘Whitechapel Masterplan Supplementary Planning Document’, Tower Hamlets Council, 2013, https://www.towerhamlets.gov.uk/lgnl/planning_and_building_control/consultation_and_engagement/whitechapel_vision_ spd.aspx Accessed 25 September 2020

Figure 36: Whitechapel High Street plan Plan edited by author, base map from OS MasterMap, November 2020, Ordnance Survey, using Digimap Ordnance Survey Collection, https://digimap.edina.ac.uk/, created 20 November 2020

Whitechapel’s rebranding can potentially damage the area’s social fabric triggered by the ambition to create a new identity, reinforcing the need for finding grounded solutions that preserve the community’s character. Ahead is the Whitechapel Market, what used to be a vibrant market overflowing with customers is now desolated with only a few stalls occupied, one of the realities of the pandemic. Central to the life of the High Street, the market was scheduled to be improved within the aims of the masterplan, but these enhancements have been delayed. The plan for the market is one of Whitechapel Vision's key aims outlined for the street, which included creating new gateways into Whitechapel, transforming the public realm and diversifying retail and leisure.55 Sculptures and public art are mentioned as strategies for demarcating the entrance to the High Street and new landmarks created by the construction of ‘iconic’ buildings along the High Street, are proposed to establish Whitechapel’s position as a “distinct and unique world-class destination”.56 Additionally, as part of the public realm enhancements, proposals passed on by High Street 2012 were included in the masterplan as well as further improvements following a similar approach. The plan for the High Street is a particularly important component of the masterplan as it is, in essence, the face of Whitechapel. Therefore, special attention is directed towards the diversification of the retail offer in the market and along the street. 57 While it is unclear what diversifying retail means for sellers, it is crucial to avoid exclusion of local businesses in the search for attracting wealthier crowds to promote investment in the area. Although interviews to community members58 were carried out as research for the masterplan, the proposal seems to be following the trend of gentrification, which again, contributes to the displacement of locals. A way of mitigating these effects could be a shift from macro approaches to a micro focus, centred around the high street and its users.

Mayor of Tower Hamlets, ‘Whitechapel Masterplan Supplementary Planning Document’, p. 21-22

Mayor of Tower Hamlets, ‘Whitechapel Masterplan Supplementary Planning Document’, p. 21

Mayor of Tower Hamlets, ‘Whitechapel Masterplan Supplementary Planning Document’, p. 22

Mayor of Tower Hamlets, ‘Whitechapel Masterplan Supplementary Planning Document’, p. 13

Figure 38: Whitechapel Street Market Photograph by author, November 2020

Figure 37: Whitechapel Vison 2013 ambitions drawing Mayor of Tower Hamlets, ‘Whitechapel Masterplan Supplementary Planning Document’, Tower Hamlets Council, 2013, https://www.towerhamlets.gov.uk/lgnl/planning_and_building_control/consultation_and_engagement/whitechapel_vision_ spd.aspx Accessed 25 September 2020

Figure 39: Back of Whitechapel Street Market stalls Photograph by author, November 2020

Figure 40: Whitechapel High Street plan Plan edited by author, base map from OS MasterMap, November 2020, Ordnance Survey, using Digimap Ordnance Survey Collection, https://digimap.edina.ac.uk/, created 20 November 2020

The High Street as the Focus of a Ground-Up Approach The Value of the Street and its Community “What the street offers us is a space that is central to the life of an area, but it also extends past the area, linking places and people”59 Suzanne Hall in City, Street, Citizen

Figure 41: Jack the Chipper and Efes Turkish restaurant at the junction with Osborn Street Photograph by author, November 2020

Suzanne Hall, City, Street and Citizen: The Measure of the Ordinary, Routledge, 2012

As I reach Cambridge Heath Junction, I turn back to see the High Street with its people rushing, stopping, engaging in conversations, occupying it despite the closed and vacant shops, reiterating that the High Street is more than a thoroughfare. The journey through Whitechapel High Street highlighted its unique character, providing a variety of services and products from Whitechapel’s rich cultural background, all coexisting on the same street; showcased through the colourful shop fronts of Islamic clothes shops, the presence of the Idea Store and Library and the young people gathered outside while on a break, Jack the Chipper fish & chip shop, Efes Turkish Restaurant and the many instances where traditional English shops exist next to traditional asian cuisine and service shops. The interwoven cultures of Whitechapel permeate through the street, giving it a unique character, where every shop front is different but exists within a collective. It is this atmosphere that is at risk of being entirely turned around by the goal of making Whitechapel an international hub for London, reinforcing the city’s global status. High Street 2012 and Whitechapel Vision left the street’s social value aside and focused on the physical qualities of the public realm, treating the street as merely the ‘face’ of Whitechapel, a thoroughfare with opportunities for retail; a site for “conspicuous consumption”.60 However, the High Street is fundamental for developing a town’s sense of ownership and belonging. Mary Portas highlights the street’s social value in her 2011 review, emphasising on how communities have been sacrificed for convenience and high streets have lost their essence61 which has been in decline for decades, largely at the hands of gentrification of small towns and deprived neighbourhoods. Jane Jacobs vividly describes the role of the streets in weaving a town’s social fabric in her book The Death and Life of Great American Cities, emphasising small encounters as the key to the life of the street. “The trust of a city street is formed over time from many, many little public sidewalk contacts. It grows out of people stopping by at the bar for a beer, getting advice from the grocer and giving advice to the newsstand man [...] Most of it is ostensibly utterly trivial, but the sum is not trivial at all. The sum of such casual, public contact at the local level – most of it fortuitous, most of it associated with errands – is a feeling for the public identity of people, a web of public respect and trust, and a resource in time of personal or neighbourhood need…” 62 Social trust and respect has been built over decades, a feeling supported by facilities such as the Toynbee Hall, Islamic Aid, Booth House, the women’s shelter and the street itself. The preservation of this social history should be the building block from which redevelopment plans are proposed, focusing on the micro; the chance encounters and small interactions Jacobs describes as crucial to the creation of a cohesive street. Such notions are reiterated in government reports, where placemaking is the focus of most recommendations63 since designs have to be tailored to their specific context, they emphasise the community’s input as critical for making appropriate, people-focused decisions.

Rob Imrie, ‘Regenerating London’, p. 8

Mary Portas, ‘The Portas Review: An independent review into the future of our high streets’, gov.uk, 2011, p. 12, https://www.gov.uk/government/ publications/the-portas-review-the-future-of-our-high-streets 61

Jane Jacobs, The Death and Life of Great American Cities, Great Britain: Jonathan Cape, 1962, p. 54

Department for Communities and Local Government, Re-imagining urban spaces to help revitalise our high streets, communities.gov.uk, 2012, https:// www.gov.uk/government/publications/re-imagining-urban-spaces-to-help-revitalise-our-high-streets 63

Figure 42: General clothing shop and Islamic clothes shop Photograph by author, November 2020

Figure 43: Traditional english restaurants next to a middle eastern restaurant, in front on Whitechapel Street Market Photograph by author, November 2020

Figure 44: Whitechapel High Street plan Plan edited by author, base map from OS MasterMap, November 2020, Ordnance Survey, using Digimap Ordnance Survey Collection, https://digimap.edina.ac.uk/, created 20 November 2020

Placemaking: A solution Placemaking is a popular strategy used to encourage community involvement in regeneration, defined as “the act of strengthening the connection between people and place through the creation of public spaces that act as a centre or focal point for the community”64, the approach has wrongfully been used to calm controversies around gentrifying regeneration plans.65 Genuine use of placemaking strategies can successfully ensure the inclusion of the community in key decisions at every stage, empowering them over plans made for their town.66 Whitechapel’s placemaking projects have been crucial in creating high street dynamics that exist today by making tools for individual and collective wellbeing entirely accessible. If investment for infrastructure was directed towards socially engaging interventions in the high street first, instead of large scale developments, regeneration processes would guarantee a social grounding; thus strengthening a cohesive community that has established a relationship of trust with each party, leading to the economic welfare of the area.67 Unfortunately, plans for Whitechapel High Street have largely focused on embellishing the high street’s physicality to better public perception; an approach that has proved unreliable if adopted individually, incapable of creating lasting change. Public realm improvements can be complementary actions to placemaking strategies which call for “participatory solutions to what might be considered as traditional planning problems, which go beyond physical redesign to consider how people actually use places in contradistinction to the top-down strategic approaches”.68 Perhaps by taking real consideration of the way the street is used, important sites for enhancement can be identified that are entirely based on the way people have grown to occupy the street, returning to the value of dense, pedestrianised neighbourhoods that produce spontaneous encounters necessary to build community cohesion.69 Multiculturalism is the backbone to Whitechapel’s character, a feature present in the use and occupation of the High Street but is at risk at the hands of gentrification. A fitting counter-regeneration concept is multicultural urbanism, “a mode by which to construct new social spaces that support cross-border networks”70, where planning projects revolve around the diversity of communities, offering solutions that enhance interactions between cultures and generate the exchange of knowledge and experiences necessary to make progress.71 This establishes a strong social fabric from which economic welfare is generated as an effect, not a central objective. Placemaking and multicultural urbanism can be adopted to rethink the micro components of a town, generating people-centred planning proposals. Further considerations responding to our new reality Whitechapel High Street has suffered from the effects of the pandemic, with various shops having to close and the market being nearly desolated during national lockdowns. This global event has reshaped our lives, shedding new light on the importance of adequate public spaces for the health of communities. SpaceSyntax developed a new concept for the High Street that focuses solely on the needs of people, creating a design for local development which prioritises public transport for those who need it most and moves workplaces back to the high streets, fundamentally improving the performance of neighbourhood centres.72 If this initiative is used in tandem with strategies of placemaking and multiculturalism, it could present a viable approach to apply in Whitechapel High Street, bringing the power of communities back into the street in an improved environment, responding to an overdue change in priorities.

Peter J. Ellery and Jane Ellery, ‘Strengthening Community Sense of Place through Placemaking’, Urban Planning, vol. 4, no. 2, 2019, 237-248

Anna Milton, ‘The Price of Regeneration’, Places Journal, 2018

Peter J. Ellery and Jane Ellery, ‘Strengthening Community Sense of Place through Placemaking’, 2019

Dick Stanley, ‘What Do We Know about Social Cohesion: The Research Perspective of the Federal Government's Social Cohesion Research Network’, The Canadian Journal of Sociology / Cahiers Canadiens De Sociologie, vol. 28, no. 1, 2003, 5–17 67

Steve Millington and Nikos Ntounis, ‘Repositioning the high street: evidence and reﬂection from the UK’, Journal of Place Management and Development, vol. 10 no. 4, 2017, 364-379 68

69Steve

Millington and Nikos Ntounis, ‘Repositioning the high street: evidence and reﬂection from the UK’, 2017

Clara Irazabal, Transnational Planning: Reconﬁguring Spaces and Institutions, Taylor and Francis Group, 2012

Rob Imrie, ‘Regenerating London’, 2009

SpaceSyntax, ‘SoftHub’, https://spacesyntax.com/project/softhub/ Accessed 25 September 2020

Figure 45: The people of Whitechapel High Street in 2020 Photograph by author, November 2020

Figure 46: SpaceSyntax’s sketch of the SoftHub proposal Screen capture from the SoftHub COVID recovery project, June 2020, https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=dT2GOEyP2O0&feature=youtu.be, Accessed 10 September 2020

Conclusions This dissertation aimed to investigate regeneration at a micro level, establishing how the effects of top-down regeneration could be mitigated by focusing on the High Streets and adopting an alternative approach. The journey through London’s opportunity areas and Whitechapel High Street provided the grounds for an in-depth exploration of the effects of mass scale regeneration and economy-driven masterplans. The analysis of regeneration provided an insight into the social fragmentation it causes, setting the context for further investigation into the High Street. It was established that streets are where communities are formed through everyday interactions, positioning the High Street as key in community development. Successes and failures from High Street 2012 revealed that superﬁcial approaches are not efﬁcient in solving long term problems if adopted individually. Therefore, community engagement surfaced as a crucial component of redevelopment, as portrayed through the analysis of the Altab Ali Park. This precedent shed light on the weaker points of Whitechapel Vision, as the masterplan continued to approach the High Street as an opportunity for place branding with not enough emphasis on interventions centred around the locals. Whitechapel is a rich palimpsest of backgrounds and planning efforts should regard this as central to all proposals. Placemaking and multiculturalism are viable approaches that guarantee the wellbeing of communities and the strengthening of social cohesion, providing a necessary change in priorities. These strategies when used in tandem with new initiatives, as proposed by SpaceSyntax, can ground regeneration on the micro components of the area which is where planning efforts should be going if we aim to make communities the focus of regeneration.

Figure 47: View of Whitechapel High Street from Cambridge Heath Junction Photograph by author, November 2020

Bibliography Abel, Emily K, ‘Canon Barnett and the first thirty years of Toynbee Hall’, Queen Mary University of London, 1969, p. 157 https:// core.ac.uk/download/pdf/30695441.pdf Barnes, Melody and Schmitz, Paul, ‘Community Engagement Matters (Now More Than Ever)’, Stanford Social Innovation Review, 2016, https://ssir.org/articles/entry/community_engagement_matters_now_more_than_ever Accessed 05 November 2020 BBC On This Day, ‘1952: London’s Trams Trundle into History’, http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/6/ newsid_2963000/2963092.stm Accessed 30 December 2020 Brooks, Mike, ‘Whitechapel’s former Hopetown women’s hostel renamed by Salvation Army to shelter reluctant homeless men’, East London Advertiser, 12 June 2018, https://www.eastlondonadvertiser.co.uk/news/local-council/whitechapel-s-former-hopetownwomen-s-hostel-renamed-by-salvation-3595276 Accessed 20 December 2020 Campkin, Ben, Remaking London: Decline and Regeneration in Urban Culture’, I.B. Tauris, 2013 Clossick, Jane, ‘The Depth Structure of a London High Street, A Study in Urban Order’, London Metropolitan University, 2017 Department for Communities and Local Government, Re-imagining urban spaces to help revitalise our high streets, communities.gov.uk, 2012, https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/re-imagining-urban-spaces-to-help-revitalise-our-highstreets Accessed 10 October 2020 Domman, Mary-Ann, ‘Indices of Deprivation 2019’, londoncouncils.gov.uk, 2019, https://www.londoncouncils.gov.uk/members-area/ member-briefings/local-government-finance/indicesdeprivation-2019#:~:text=In%20London%2C%20Hackney%20has%20the,Chelsea%20(ranked%2091st). Accessed 01 January 2021 Ellery, Peter J. and Ellery, Jane, ‘Strengthening Community Sense of Place through Placemaking’, Urban Planning, vol. 4, no. 2, 2019, 237-248 Fluid Architecture, ‘High Street 2012 Project Evaluation’, 2013, [Report accessed directly via Fluid] Fluid Architecture, ‘High Street 2012’, 2008-2010 [Report accessed directly via Fluid, information about the project can be found at: https ://fluidoffice.com/project/high-street-2012-vision/] Freedom Press, ‘History’, 2020, https://freedompress.org.uk/history/ Accessed 27 December 2020 Hall, Suzanne, City, Street and Citizen: The Measure of the Ordinary, Routledge, 2012 IDEO, “The Field Guide to Human-Centered Design”, Design Kit, 2015, https://www.designkit.org/case-studies Accessed 31 December 2020 Imrie, Rob, Lees, Loretta and Raco, Mike, Regenerating London: Governance, Sustainability and Community, Oxon: Routledge, 2009 Irazabal, Clara, Transnational Planning: Reconfiguring Spaces and Institutions, Taylor and Francis Group, 2012 Jacobs, Jane The Death and Life of Great American Cities, Great Britain: Jonathan Cape, 1962 Johnson, Boris, ‘2020 Vision: The Greatest City in Earth’, London: Greater London Authority, 2013, https://www.london.gov.uk/sites/ default/files/2020_vision_web.pdf

London, Jack, ‘People of the Abyss’, The Floating Press, 1903, ProQuest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/ westminster/detail.action?docID=419217 Mayor of London, City Fringe Opportunity Area, https://www.london.gov.uk/what-we-do/planning/implementing-london-plan/ opportunity-areas/opportunity-areas/city-fringe-opportunity-area Accessed 13 December 2020 Mayor of London, Opportunity Areas, https://www.london.gov.uk/what-we-do/planning/implementing-london-plan/opportunity-areas Accesed 13 December 2020 Mayor of London, Waterloo Opportunity Area, https://www.london.gov.uk/what-we-do/planning/implementing-london-plan/ opportunity-areas/opportunity-areas/waterloo Accessed 13 December 2020 Mayor of Tower Hamlets, ‘Whitechapel Masterplan Supplementary Planning Document’, Tower Hamlets Council, 2013, p. 3 https:// www.towerhamlets.gov.uk/lgnl/planning_and_building_control/consultation_and_engagement/whitechapel_vision_spd.aspx Accessed 25 September 2020

Metropolitan Police, ‘Whitechapel’, met.police.uk, November 2020, https://www.met.police.uk/a/your-area/met/tower-hamlets/ whitechapel/?tab=Overview Accessed 02 January 2021 Millington, Steve, and Ntounis, Niko, ‘Repositioning the high street: evidence and reﬂection from the UK’, Journal of Place Management and Development, vol. 10 no. 4, 2017, 364-379 Milton, Anna, ‘The Price of Regeneration’, Places Journal, 2018, https://placesjournal.org/article/the-price-of-regeneration-inlondon/ Accessed 23 September 2020 Mir, Adila, ‘Roots in Resilience: A Brief History of the British-Bangladeshi Community in London’s East End’, ucl.ac.uk, 08 December 2020, https://www.ucl.ac.uk/history/news/2020/dec/roots-resilience-brief-history-british-bangladeshi-community-londonseast-end Accessed 15 December 2020 Portas, Mary, ‘The Portas Review: An independent review into the future of our high streets’, gov.uk, 2011, p. 12, https:// www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-portas-review-the-future-of-our-high-streets Accessed 10 October 2020 Reinders, Robert C, ‘Toynbee Hall and the American Settlement Movement’, Social Service Review, vol. 56, no. 1, 1982, 39–54 Sinclair, Iain, Ghost Milk - Calling Time on the Grand Project, Penguin Books, 2011 SpaceSyntax, ‘SoftHub’, https://spacesyntax.com/project/softhub/ Accessed 25 September 2020 Stanley, Dick, ‘What Do We Know about Social Cohesion: The Research Perspective of the Federal Government's Social Cohesion Research Network’, The Canadian Journal of Sociology / Cahiers Canadiens De Sociologie, vol. 28, no. 1, 2003, 5–17 Thornbury, Walter, 'Whitechapel', in Old and New London, vol. 2, 1878, 142-146 British History Online http://www.britishhistory.ac.uk/old-new-london/vol2/pp142-146 Accessed 27 December 2020 Tower Hamlets Council, ‘Altab Ali Park’, towerhamlets.gov.uk, 2020, https://www.towerhamlets.gov.uk/lgnl/leisure_and_culture/ parks_and_open_spaces/ altab_ali_park.aspx#:~:text=It%20was%20renamed%20Altab%20Ali,East%20End%20at%20that%20time. Accessed 05 November 2020 Tower Hamlets Council, ‘Booth House’, towerhamlets.gov.uk, https://communitycatalogue.towerhamlets.gov.uk/marketplace/cat/ product/470 Toynbee Hall, ‘Impact Review 2019’, https://www.toynbeehall.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/2019-Impact-Review-FINALDIGITAL-VERSION.pdf Accessed 28 December 2020 Toynbee Hall, ‘The History of Toynbee Hall - A Timeline’, https://explore.toynbeehall.org.uk/explore/the-history-of-toynbee-hall-atimeline/, Accessed 14 December 2020 Watt, Paul, ‘It's not for us’, City, vol. 17, no. 1, 2013, 99-118 Whitechapel Gallery, ‘About’, whitechapelgallery.org, 2020, https://www.whitechapelgallery.org/about/ Accessed 20 December 2020 Whitechapel Gallery, ‘History’, whitechapelgallery.org, https://www.whitechapelgallery.org/about/history/, Accessed 14 December 2020 Figures: Figure 1: Google satellite image overlaid with author’s diagrams Diagrams based on Mayor of London, Opportunity Areas, https://www.london.gov.uk/what-we-do/planning/implementing-londonplan/opportunity-areas 13th December 2020 Figure 2: Photograph by author, November 2020 Figure 3: Photograph by author, November 2020 Figure 4: Photograph by author, November 2020 Figure 5: Photograph by author, November 2020

Figure 6: Google Street View Images, 225 Threadneedle Street, 2020, https://www.google.com/maps/

@51.5144007,-0.0836857,3a,75y,31.59h,77.14t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1shzsAF1UJ-keWb_4IIRM77A!2e0!7i16384!8i8192 Accessed 01 January 2021 Figure 7: Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, ‘An Area of Innovation’, https://www.queenelizabetholympicpark.co.uk/invest/an-area-ofinnovation, Accessed 02 January 2021

Figure 8: Photograph by author, November 2020 Figure 9: Plan edited by author, base map from OS MasterMap, November 2020, Ordnance Survey, using Digimap Ordnance Survey Collection, https://digimap.edina.ac.uk/, created 20 November 2020 Figure 10: Plan collaged by author, base map from Ordnance Survey County Series 1:10560, 1st Edition 1849-1899 [TIFF geospatial data], County/Tile: , Published: 1870s, Landmark Information Group, Using: EDINA Historic Digimap Service, <http:// digimap.edina.ac.uk/>, Downloaded: December 2020

Figure 11: ‘Whitechapel High Street’, London Metropolitan Archives, City of London Photographs, 1899, Record no. 35177 Figure 12: Plan collaged by author, base map from Ordnance Survey County Series 1:10560, 1st Revision 1888-1914 [TIFF geospatial data], County/Tile: , Published: 1910, Landmark Information Group, Using: EDINA Historic Digimap Service, <http:// digimap.edina.ac.uk/>, Downloaded: December 2020

Figure 13: The Victorian Web, 2012, http://www.victorianweb.org/art/architecture/townsend/1.html Accessed 01 January 2021 Figure 14: Photograph by author, November 2020 Figure 15: Whitechapel Gallery, ‘History’, 2021, https://www.whitechapelgallery.org/about/history/ Accessed 01 January 2021 Figure 16: Plan edited by author, base map from OS MasterMap, November 2020, Ordnance Survey, using Digimap Ordnance Survey Collection, https://digimap.edina.ac.uk/, created 20 November 2020 Figure 17: Fluid Architecture, ‘High Street 2012 Project Evaluation’, 2013 Figure 18: Fluid Architecture, ‘High Street 2012 Project Evaluation’, 2013 Figure 19: Fluid Architecture, ‘High Street 2012 Project Evaluation’, 2013 Figure 20: Fluid Architecture, ‘High Street 2012 Project Evaluation’, 2013 Figure 21: Fluid Architecture, ‘High Street 2012’, 2008-2010 Figure 22: Plan edited by author, base map from OS MasterMap, November 2020, Ordnance Survey, using Digimap Ordnance Survey Collection, https://digimap.edina.ac.uk/, created 20 November 2020 Figure 23: Fluid Architecture, ‘High Street 2012 Project Evaluation’, 2013 Figure 24: Photograph by author, November 2020 Figure 25: Photograph by author, November 2020 Figure 26: Photograph by author, November 2020 Figure 27: Plan edited by author, base map from OS MasterMap, November 2020, Ordnance Survey, using Digimap Ordnance Survey Collection, https://digimap.edina.ac.uk/, created 20 November 2020 Figure 28: Photograph by author, November 2020 Figure 29: London Development Agency, Altab Ali Archeological dig - High Street 2012, 2010, https://vimeo.com/16247826 Accessed 03 January 2020 Figure 30: Fluid Architecture, ‘High Street 2012 Project Evaluation’, 2013 Figure 31: Photograph by author, November 2020

Figure 32: Plan edited by author, base map from OS MasterMap, November 2020, Ordnance Survey, using Digimap Ordnance Survey Collection, https://digimap.edina.ac.uk/, created 20 November 2020

Figure 33: Photograph by author, November 2020 Figure 34: Photograph by author, November 2020 Figure 35: Mayor of Tower Hamlets, ‘Whitechapel Masterplan Supplementary Planning Document’, Tower Hamlets Council, 2013,

https://www.towerhamlets.gov.uk/lgnl/planning_and_building_control/consultation_and_engagement/whitechapel_vision_spd.aspx Accessed 25 September 2020 Figure 36: Plan edited by author, base map from OS MasterMap, November 2020, Ordnance Survey, using Digimap Ordnance Survey Collection, https://digimap.edina.ac.uk/, created 20 November 2020 Figure 37: Mayor of Tower Hamlets, ‘Whitechapel Masterplan Supplementary Planning Document’, Tower Hamlets Council, 2013, https://www.towerhamlets.gov.uk/lgnl/planning_and_building_control/consultation_and_engagement/whitechapel_vision_spd.aspx Accessed 25 September 2020

Figure 38: Photograph by author, November 2020 Figure 39: Photograph by author, November 2020 Figure 40: Plan edited by author, base map from OS MasterMap, November 2020, Ordnance Survey, using Digimap Ordnance Survey Collection, https://digimap.edina.ac.uk/, created 20 November 2020 Figure 41: Photograph by author, November 2020 Figure 42: Photograph by author, November 2020 Figure 43: Photograph by author, November 2020 Figure 44: Plan edited by author, base map from OS MasterMap, November 2020, Ordnance Survey, using Digimap Ordnance Survey Collection, https://digimap.edina.ac.uk/, created 20 November 2020 Figure 45: Photograph by author, November 2020 Figure 46: Screen capture from the SoftHub COVID recovery project, June 2020, https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=dT2GOEyP2O0&feature=youtu.be, Accessed 10 September 2020 Figure 47: Photograph by author, November 2020 Appendix: All photographs taken by author in November 2020