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MSc UDP and Just Space audio map launched as tool to amplify diverse community voices in London
31 March 2021
Designed as a first step towards the production of Just Space鈥檚 Community-Led Recovery Plan for London, this project captures and amplifies unheard stories of community struggle and resilience in the face of COVID-19.
In Autumn 2020, students from the DPU conducted remote interviews with sixteen听community organisations involved in campaigns听to promote more听just planning in London. Building on a longstanding collaborative听partnership between the DPU鈥檚 Urban Development Planning programme and, a London-wide network of community campaigns and organisations, ,听the purpose of these interviews was twofold: to support the Just Space network in tracking听the impact听that COVID-19 and associated lockdown measures were having on London鈥檚听diverse communities; and to gather听grass-roots ideas to feed into a听broader conversation about how London might build-back fairer after the听pandemic.
The audio map presented 听represents a distillation of these recorded听conversations, bringing together selected听audio clips with brief organisational profiles. Read collectively, the stories听captured in this map underscore the critical听importance of placing the knowledge(s) and听experience of London鈥檚 diverse听communities at the heart of post-pandemic recovery planning in London. In particular,听the听groups鈥� propositional reflections about what needs to change in order for听London to become a more just city in the future,听offer a clear and timely steer for decision makers seeking (re)election in upcoming local, metropolitan and mayoral elections.
Initially听focussed听on Black and Minority Ethnic (BAME) organisations, neighbourhood groups and local economy groups,听the听map is designed as a living resource, with the potential for the听ideas and reflections of听further London-based groups to be added听overtime. It forms the first step of a听larger process being听taken forward by Just Space as they move towards the听production of a听Community-led听Recovery Plan for London.
The project thanks the following community partners for their time, inputs and enthusiasm: , , Calthorpe Community Garden, , , Foundry Asset Management Limited, , , , Pedro Achata Trust, , , Roy Tindle, , ,听 and . Thanks also to Naima Bouteldja, for her work leading the audio editing process, Dana Sousa-Limbu, for her support producing the audio map, and to the MSc UDP 2020-2021 cohort who conducted the initial interviews.
For more听information about the project, please contact Richard Lee at Just Space听(richardlee50@gmail.com)听or Barbara听Lipietz and Tim Wickson at the Development Planning Unit听(b.lipietz@ucl.ac.uk;听t.wickson@ucl.ac.uk).