People Wanted

Our public realm strategy will create memorable and pleasant spaces, increase levels of active travel, and provide a seamless interchange experience for everyone using Victoria as a transport hub.

The living wall on the side of City Hall in Victoria Street SW1

Our public realm strategy, People Wanted, was published in January 2020. It updates and extends our previous strategy issued in 2015, Public Realm Vision for Victoria, and drives all our place shaping activity.

The vision, developed by BDP and Urban Flow, focuses upon creating transformational improvements to the public realm in Victoria. It’s about creating a place where the public realm makes people feel welcomed and wanted, but it’s also about enhancing Victoria as a place where people want to be. To live, work or visit.  Informed by the changing ways in which people are living, working and shopping, this includes an increasing emphasis on peoples’ positive experience of the public realm, as well as health and wellbeing, and a recognition that everyone needs to play their part in being more sustainable and addressing climate change and air pollution.

A major theme across the new strategy is the reduction of traffic and an increase in green infrastructure to improve air quality and more amenity spaces. The objective is to help people who live, work and visit Victoria to really enjoy its public spaces and surroundings. People Wanted has been created in direct response to the needs and concerns of the residents and businesses in the area.  It puts forward some potential concept ideas for placemaking improvements to the public realm.

Ruth Duston, OBE, OC, Chief Executive of Victoria and Victoria Westminster BIDs, said:

“We are thrilled to be revealing our new public realm and placemaking vision for Victoria. We believe that public spaces play a vital role in strengthening our societies and should be designed to function with people at their very heart.

“We know our vision in ambitious but we think it’s achievable and we’ve already set a precedent – the transformation of Christchurch Gardens was included in previous vision documents produced by the BID and works are now underway to create a public park for everyone to enjoy. With its unique role and mandate, the BID is able to pull the right people together from across the public and private sectors to get these bold projects moving.”

People Wanted is intended to provide a framework for stakeholders to work together towards an ambitious future for placemaking and public space in Victoria. It has been developed alongside dialogue with Westminster Council and other stakeholders, and the vision document will form part of Victoria’s future Place Plan, which is being led by the Council.