Participatory Practices in London Urban Strategies: The Example of Bankside in the Borough of Southwark: Fid-Bau Portal

Participatory Practices in London Urban Strategies: The Example of Bankside in the Borough of Southwark

Leccis, Francesca

Abstract In the United Kingdom people have realized that the traditional centralized government, characterized by a top-down approach, does not improve people lives. On the contrary, it generates bureaucracy and makes people feel constrained and deceived rather than included in the decision-making process and among the makers of their future, as it should be in a healthy democracy. For this reason, great power was devolved from the central government to local authorities, local communities, neighborhoods, and individuals through the approval of the Localism Act of 2011. This paper briefly introduces the act and analyzes Community’s engagement in the planning process and in the regeneration program in the district of Bankside, in the London Borough of Southwark. It is articulated via the following parts: the introduction, the description of the Localism Act, the presentation of the process of definition of the Neighbourhood Plan, the illustration of the Neighbourhood Plan of Bankside, the exposition of the experiences with the Bankside program, the regeneration program of Bankside, which includes the description of the various organizations that operate in the area, and the illustration of the various activities carried out in the area to involve the local community, the evaluation of community engagement with a particular focus on the case study, and the conclusion. The paper shows the positive impact of community involvement in planning processes and provides recommendations for policy makers based on the successful practices in the neighborhood of Bankside. In addition, recommendations for further research are provided at the end.