London Legacy Development Corporation at our Housing 2024 forum

Image: courtesy of Stanton Williams - UCL East's new Marshgate building on the Queen Elizabeth Park, part of the education and cultural district developed by the London Legacy Development Corporation

Future Cities Forum is delighted that Rosanna Lawes, Executive Director of Development, at the London Legacy Development Corporation, will be contributing to its housing discussion event this October.

Rosanna will be joined by TfL's Head of Growth and Master-planning, David Christie who will be discussing the extension of the DLR to Beckton Riverside and Thamesmead, while Hackney's Deputy Mayor for Housing Supply, Culture and Inclusive Economy, Guy Nicholson and Cllr Jake Short, Chair Housing, Economy and Business from Sutton Council will describe the important housing developments taking place in their London boroughs.

Questions will be asked on how more co-operation between City Hall, developers and the London boroughs can be achieved on the development of affordable housing and how private sector funding might support this?

The London Legacy Development Corporation is the organisation behind Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. Formed in April 2012, the London Legacy Development Corporation’s purpose is to use the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity of the London 2012 Games and the creation of Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park to develop a dynamic new heart for east London, creating opportunities for local people and driving innovation and growth in London and the UK.

Rosanna described to Future Cities Forum in July this year, the important legacy of the Olympic Games that the LLDC has already given to east London:

'Our bid for the games in London was always about the promise to transform this part of the capital. We kept our promises and we now have new neighbourhoods, a new education district, new homes. The brief was very different to other cities hosting the Olympics. For us it was always about legacy. Our venues have been retained. We have had around 15 million visits to the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park a year and that keeps rising. We were keen to have a sustainable and environmental legacy too and we put millions of pounds into transforming the area with its redundant rail yards and bringing the rivers and waterways back to help increase wildlife. We also wanted to allow for natural flood plains. The climate emergency has caught up for all of us and times have changed since 2012. There is a lot more to do but we are seeing that around the world too.

'Different cities bid for different reasons. Our reason was to catalyse growth and investment, other cities want to showcase their soft power. Building permanent venues carry responsibility, but where there are legacies there are opportunities. We knew that our plans had to be flexible and leave space to innovate. East Bank is an example of that. Paris will do this. The trick is to be open-minded and leave that space for innovation. There will be opportunities for communities and this is something that Paris should capitalise on and make sure there is investment for those local residents.

Rosanna was asked how long it took for the community to feel the benefits:

'We started years before the games and our objective was to think carefully, but act quickly. We were ready to go from day one with transformation. We wanted to move from the elite mode of the games to the community mode. It took about a year after the games when we were taking temporary venues away and building schools within a year or two. We wanted to create infrastructure on the edge of the Olympic Park and build places of exchange. It was really market making and a case of London's growth shifting east. This was part of our vision and for Paris, there will be the opportunity to shift growth also in a number of different directions.

'It is now just about individual partners but working collectively. Students for instance will bring a special emphasis to the place and help to create a sense of the richness of opportunity. Residents do feel that they own the place and we were very careful to bring the voices of young table to the table to help the corporation make decisions. They feel an ownership based on place and pride. It's been an exchange. Good comes from debate and disagreement.

'The place is a great story in the sum of its parts. No one venue has made it, but collectively it is a phenomenal piece of London. The connectivity will continue to take time and deliver connections across ribbons of waterways. We built many bridges post games and improved cycle paths. We continue to invest and help Stratford Station expand, so that east London can grow.'

Below: view of Here East, the Olympic Stadium, the wider QEOP and Stratford (courtesy Jason Hawkes)