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Neighbourhood Watch – new UEL research reveals residents' views on Thames Gateway housing developments

Friday 25 July 2008

With thousands of homes set to be built in the Thames Gateway, a major new report, commissioned by the charity Shelter and produced by the London East Research Institute at the University of East London (UEL), has uncovered the real views and experiences of residents living on new housing developments in the region.

Neighbourhood Watch – Building new communities: learning lessons from the Thames Gateway, was launched to an audience of key planners and policy-makers at St Albans Conference Centre in Holborn on Tuesday 22 July.

The report focuses on the views of residents living in the Thames Gateway region, exploring what they like about their housing developments and surrounding area and how they think their neighbourhoods could be improved in the future.

By comparing master-plans with the real-life experience of residents, the report aims to positively influence the planning of future developments in the Thames Gateway and across the UK.

Penny Bernstock, Senior Lecturer in Social Policy at UEL, was principal researcher behind the report. Penny said: “The fieldwork for this project was carried out earlier this year at three new developments in the Thames Gateway region: Gallions Reach Urban Village, Greenwich Millennium Village and Ingress Park.

“We were particularly interested in finding out why people moved to these new developments, their perspectives on living there, and the effect that housing management has on successful regeneration.

“The study found that, contrary to popular assumptions about the poor quality of housing built in the Thames Gateway, residents appreciated their new homes, commenting in particular on the spacious accommodation and the high quality public space that surrounded these developments.

“However, residents wanted vibrant neighbourhoods with good services, and in general these were lacking. There was both a time-lag and failure to provide key services. The study argues that the current model is too dependent on market solutions and social enterprise needs to be incorporated as a key resource in new developments.”

Other key speakers at Tuesday’s event included Richard Garlick, Editor of the magazine Regeneration and Renewal, Michael Clegg, Deputy Director for Investment Policy, Analysis and Planning at the Housing Corporation, and Lord Andrew Mawson, Founder and President of the renowned Bromley by Bow Centre in east London.

Adam Sampson, Chief Executive of Shelter, said: "With the promise of 3 million new homes to be built by 2020, this research highlights the importance of ensuring essential services such as public transport, shops and doctors' surgeries are in place before people move in.

"Shelter hopes developers and planners will use this new research as a blueprint to address the key challenges in delivering communities that people will want to live in."

Penny Bernstock is a member of the management team of the London East Research Institute (LERI). Based at the University of East London, LERI provides a regional network for research and consultancy on issues of urban regeneration.

In 2007, Penny was the principal researcher for LERI’s Davies Arnold Cooper Housing Study, a detailed report on housing in the Thames Gateway. She is currently developing LERI’s work on the Olympics and the Thames Gateway with particular reference to housing.

For further information on LERI, visit www.uel.ac.uk/londoneast. To read the full Shelter and LERI report, visit http://england.shelter.org.uk/professional_resources/policy_library/policy_library_folder/research_report_-_neighbourhood_watch

For details and pictures contact Daniel Cherry: 020 8223 2194

Notes to Editors

The University of East London (UEL) is a global learning community with over 28,000 students from over 120 countries world-wide. Our vision is to achieve recognition, both nationally and internationally, as a successful and inclusive regional university proud of its diversity, committed to new modes of learning which focus on students and enhance their employability, and renowned for our contribution to social, cultural and economic development, especially through our research and scholarship. We have a strong track-record in widening participation and working with industry.

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