Meander around Lewisham

Change is coming to our borough Lewisham, with 30,000 new homes planned for the next 20 years, increases in employment space and potential new public transport connections. The local authority emerging planning document sets out aspirations and allocates sites across the borough to enable development. Much of the transformation is expected to happen on current and former industrial sites and in town centres.

To help visualise and reflect on what future change might look like, two relaxed and friendly walk-abouts will explore the North and Central parts of Lewisham, where most of the growth is planned to take place.

Inspired by the Architecture Fringe 2025 provocation Reciprocity - Architectures of Exchange, the walk-abouts will interrogate what future development could give and take from the local area, with a focus on nature, public good and wealth. What alternatives could be imagined?

The walk-abouts will be small group explorations of the two areas, guided by green corridors, waterways and railways. Along the way we will stop around some of the sites designated for development, to observe what’s there now, look at some of the proposals and reflect on learnings and alternatives from community action over the years.

Notes, photos and feedback from the two meanderings will be captured as a method of informal research, and will be shared with participants and more widely with the Architecture Fringe audience through an online discussion.

This is an invitation to local neighbours to join in and share knowledge and experience of living or working in these areas, as well as to architects and planners with an interest in this method of learning.