A vision for a new biodiverse and connected community
Prachi Rampuria introduces Low Line Commons, a unified approach for ensuring green infrastructure is at the heart of the Low Line.
In a bold move towards making half of London green by 2050, this landscape-led vision could provide a solution for achieving this goal.
Low Line Commons is a bold vision for ensuring that urban greening and nature are at the heart of the Low Line, a route alongside the mighty Victorian viaducts which stretch from Southwark to Bermondsey into a robust piece of green infrastructure. Small interventions at a local level can incrementally provide a new green space of boundless cultural value that is as large as Southwark Park.
The project is undertaken on behalf of and developed in collaboration with the Low Line partnership, and a multi-disciplinary consultant team which includes Macfarlane and Associates, Greengage and Studio 4215.
The streets and spaces around the viaduct currently divide neighbourhoods, block access, and create dark and oppressive spaces. There is a lack of accessible nature spaces and the existing ecological value of habitats is low. Land ownership is carved up, fenced off and forgotten. Traffic moves freely and easily, lorries parked on walking routes, cyclists squeezed.
Healthy communities can be created in these existing areas
The vision will turn the tables around by enriching it with verdant greenery enjoyed by healthy communities. To this end, there are three key themes: establishing biodiversity and ecological connectivity; building a climate resilient city; connecting people with nature, people with people.
Three key themes underpin the vision
To achieve this vision, Low Line Commons targets enable the viaduct to become a strong unifying ‘green’ element across the diverse neighbourhoods it straddles; tying them together into a coherent whole while celebrating the diversity and unique characteristics of each.
A series of specific targets will become a unified element
Interventions could be big and small, by great visionary designers or through local acts of love and care. Together they will make up a natural and cultural resource that offers value comparable to the River Thames, as well as community space where residents and businesses coexist because they are supporting each other – a commons approach.
A Design Toolkit is in development and is envisioned as an enabling framework of collective action. It is a bank of inspiration for local stakeholders to draw from. It is not prescriptive, but is intended as a springboard for creative ideas and discussions amongst community groups, businesses, landowners, stakeholders and design professionals. The Toolkit can be adapted for place-specific solutions.
At a minimum level, Low Line Commons is a joined-up approach, creating a truly participatory approach to urban space, a positive environment for shared benefits and synergic socio- economic ecosystems.
Interventions can vary from small through to medium size and larger areas
The strategic vision offers city agencies, community groups, local businesses, developers, and designers a guide to planning, designing, and realising projects along the Low Line route with a focus on integration of nature-rich spaces with everyday life. It is also about creating a cohesive piece of the city’s green infrastructure making the whole greater than the sum of its parts through shared action and engagement.
Shared actions can deliver the ‘Commons’ approach