19 Oct Reaching the heart of Public Realm at Real Estate Live
At Real Estate Live, October 2021, the BID led a panel session focusing on public/private regeneration; and the value of working in partnership to improve the public realm.
The panel, chaired by the BID’s Director of Public Realm Livia Caruso, and including Allan Baird, advisor to Hammersmith BID; Denean Rowe, Senior Development Director, Centre for London; and Elaine Jackson, Director of office management and post production, A+E Networks; examined the role of the public realm.
Engaging and attractive public realm is key to the success of a town or city, as investment is made and businesses are based in places that people want to spend time in.
Both private businesses and the public sector can play a role in delivering fantastic community spaces; and for cohesion, speed and consistency, it is often preferable to create partnerships to spearhead strategy and improvements.
Livia Caruso explained the process that Hammersmith BID is going through to develop a new, green Public Realm Vision for Hammersmith; outlined our partners; and gave some examples of emerging designs for Hammersmith from architects Rogers Stirk Harbour and Partners. These can be reviewed here.
Elaine Jackson commented that these developments are going to bring renewed footfall and interest in the town centre: “Hammersmith is a destination … people are going to be excited about being there, you’re going to want to share that experience”.
Additional sessions that the BID team contributed to included: “How can the 20-minute neighbourhood help achieve carbon-neutral ambitions?“; and “Can Culture and Community revive the high street?“. The former session explored what regeneration would be needed for high streets, and how the concept of a more localised town centre could contribute to a lower carbon world. The latter examined what opportunities there are for culture and community partnerships to help bring people back to the high street.
If you were unable to attend the virtual conference but are interested to learn more about any of these topics; videos of the panel sessions are available here.