Social Regeneration

“Social regeneration is about ensuring that the places where people live, now and in the future, create new opportunities, promote wellbeing and reduce inequalities so that people have better lives, in stronger communities, and achieve their potential” - Southwark Council

Wellbeing

The personal wellbeing of individuals in Newham is currently very low with poor to mid anxiety applying to over fifty percent of the population, poor to mid happiness coming to over twenty five percent, poor to mid life satisfaction at thirty three percent, a third of the population, and poor to mid worthwhile being at twenty five percent of the population (figures taken from the office of national statistics.)

These worrying figures show the state of repair which Newham's wellbeing is in. It can be explained using several key factors, which arguably all stem from the closure of the docks in 1981. This closure led to an economic depression and mass unemployment in the East of London and the affects of this are still being felt in Newham today.

The Proposed development aims to tackle these issues. The issues stem from feeling isolated, unemployment, lack of suitable jobs and also high house prices. The use of integrated affordable housing in high density blocks with included community facilities open to the wider area would greatly help residents feel apart of a community and less isolated in the sense that there would be less of a socio-economic gap and the mass generation of affordable housing would put a dent in the housing crisis within the area, meaning people can afford to stay in London as opposed to being out priced and forced to relocate elsewhere.

Employment

The proposed development is well equipped to handle this issue however, with ample employment opportunity at a variety of different levels from unskilled labour to professionals, as well as the potential for apprenticeships.

With the creation of the bar, gym, adaptive space, and foodcourts on top of the Millennium Mills, there are possibilities for degree equivalents in sports coaching or bar tending, further benefiting the local community, as well as entry level unskilled work. This combined with the vast number of potential jobs at all levels in retail and hospitality provided by the multiplex centre and the museum and local art gallery in the Silo would all together put a large dent in this issue across the site and the wider area.

There is therefore a direct correlation between the new proposed physical developments and the improvement of unemployment rates in the area, as the physical regeneration is setting up the infrastructure for the social regeneration to follow.

Unemployment has been a critical issue in Newham since the closure of the Royal Docks in 1981. Unemployment across Newham is fourteen percent, which is double the figure for the rest of London, with numbers standing at 14'000 to 15'000. This combined with a large 57'100 people in Newham who are economically inactive has created a crisis.