East London Homes

A journey through 30 inspiring interiors in London's most creative and diverse neighborhood East London is known the world over for its creativity, diversity and rich history. Stylist and author Sarah Bagner and photographer Jon Aaron Green have stepped through the doors of the most exciting homes in the area, each one reflecting the individual style of the people who live there. Artists, architects, designers, musicians, restaurateurs and more have transformed both classical and modern spaces to reflect their personal tastes. Combining insightful text based on Sarah's interviews and beautiful photography from Jon, these homes capture the unique and eclectic spirit of a fast-changing East London.

Originally published in 1985, Anthea Holme focuses her study on Bethnal Green in East London and Wanstead and Woodford in outer East London, the areas covered by Michael Young and Peter Willmott in their celebrated books Family and Kinship in East London and Family and Class in a London Suburb. Her aim was to discover how things had changed in the twenty-five years or so since the publication of these classic studies. She makes a four-way comparison, between then and now and between two neighbourhoods of the present, a relatively prosperous outer London suburb and a London East End district carrying its full quota of inner-city problems. The book takes as its starting point a crucial event in a family’s history – the birth of the first child. Housing may contribute to the happiness or the stress of the family at this time. The author looks at the present housing and the housing history of families who have just had their first child and discusses their satisfactions, problems and aspirations. She draws attention to the contrasts in housing – in tenure, dwelling type, condition, surroundings and in the opportunity to acquire a home in the first place – already evident twenty-five years ago. She also shows that while in many ways – in patterns of consumption, for instance – change has brought the two places together, housing has driven them further apart. Owner occupation dominant in Woodford, and council tenancy dominant in Bethnal Green, are rapidly becoming the respective symbols of the have and the have nots. Anthea Holme concludes that in the present political, economic and social climate this division can only grow wider unless or until housing is regarded as the vitally important component it is in inner-city life.

This book brings together a body of new research which looks both backwards and forwards to consider how far the London 2012 Olympic legacy has been delivered and how far it has been a hollow promise. Cohen and Watt consider the lessons that can be learnt from the London experience and aptly apply them other host cities, specifically Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020. The Olympics are often described as a ‘mega-event’ in a way that assumes the host cities have no other existence outside, before or beyond the contexts imposed by the Games themselves. In terms of regeneration, the London 2012 Olympics promised to trigger a mega-regeneration project that was different to what had come before. This time the mistakes of other large-scale projects like London Docklands and Canary Wharf would be put right: top-down planning would be replaced by civic participation, communication and ‘the local’. This edited collection questions how far the 2012 London legacy really is different. In so doing, it brings fresh evidence, original insights and new perspectives to bear on the post-Olympics debate. A detailed and well-researched study, this book will be of great interest to scholars of urban geography, sociology, urban planning, and sports studies.

After two decades of evolution and transformation, London had become one of the most open and cosmopolitan cities in the world. The success of the 2012 Olympics set a high water-mark in the visible success of the city, while its influence and soft power increased in the global systems of trade, capital, culture, knowledge, and communications. The Making of a World City: London 1991 - 2021 sets out in clear detail both the catalysts that have enabled London to succeed and also the qualities and underlying values that are at play: London’s openness and self-confidence, its inventiveness, influence, and its entrepreneurial zeal. London’s organic, unplanned, incremental character, without a ruling design code or guiding master plan, proves to be more flexible than any planned city can be. Cities are high on national and regional agendas as we all try to understand the impact of global urbanisation and the re-urbanisation of the developed world. If we can explain London’s successes and her remaining challenges, we can unlock a better understanding of how cities succeed.

This book provides a unique perspective on the behind the scenes planning of London's Olympic legacy. The author had unprecedented access to the legacy organisations, institutions, and individuals involved with the 2012 Games. This has allowed her, in a highly accessible and engaging style, to capture a sense of the unfolding drama as attempts were made in London to harness the juggernaut of Olympic development, and its commercial imperative, to the broader cause of meaningful post-industrial regeneration in East London. The book argues that London will become the test-case city against which the legacies of all future Olympic Games, and other sporting mega-events, will be judged. The author provides the first in-depth case study of a mega-event legacy planning operation, and sets out a constructive conclusion, which details the lessons to be learnt from London's experience. Exploring the relationship between mega event planning, and post-industrial urban regeneration, this book will appeal to scholars across Sociology, Sport and Olympic studies, Anthropology, Urban Studies and Geography as well as policymakers and practitioners in urban and sport planning.

One of the distinguishing characteristics of London's bid to host the games was its commitment to legacy where it was argued that ’the legacy would lead to the regeneration of an entire community for the direct benefit of everyone who lives there’. This book adopts a critical approach to the concept of 'legacy' focussing specifically on housing. It argues there will be a range of both intended and unintended legacy outcomes and an urgent need for revised strategies if those original objectives are to be achieved. The concept of legacy is explored in a number of ways, including an overview of housing legacy in other host cities; the experiences and perspectives of those residents decanted to make way for the Olympic Park; a critical review of legacy plans; a detailed analysis of the conversion of the Athletes’ Village into housing; and a case study of the emerging area ’Stratford High Street’, which explores issues of social class change and the limitation of planning policies. Whilst taking housing as its focus, this book adopts a sociological perspective by exploring the likelihood of social class change in order to draw conclusions about 'gentrification', 'social polarisation' and the extent to which 'social inclusion' is reflected in housing legacies.

This is an insightful study of spatial planning and housing strategy in London, focusing on the period 2000-2008 and the Mayoralty of Ken Livingstone. Duncan Bowie presents a detailed analysis of the development of Livingstone’s policies and their consequences. Examining the theory and practice of spatial planning at a metropolitan level, Bowie examines the relationships between: planning, the residential development market and affordable housing environmental, economic and equity objectives national, regional and local planning agencies and their policies. It places Livingstone’s Mayoralty within its historical context and looks forward to the different challenges faced by Livingstone’s successors in a radically changed political and economic climate. Clear and engaging, this critical analysis provides a valuable resource for academics and their students as well as planning, housing and development professionals. It is essential reading for anyone interested in politics and social change in a leading ‘world city’ and provides a base for parallel studies of other major metropolitan regions.

Exploration of the relationship between the design of housing and domestic routine.