13.09.17
Developing London’s stations key to catering for population growth
Developing London’s rail and tube stations could provide an innovative and sustainable solution to accommodating the capital’s huge population growth, a new report has found.
Think tank Centre for London said that immediate action from the mayor and central government should be taken now to make the most of these opportunities.
The report, ‘Ideas above your Station: Exploring the Potential for Development at London’s Stations’, explains that even though developing over-stations is complex and commercially challenging, projects can be viable if decision-making, governance and design works together properly.
Researchers also found that developing stations had the added benefit of cross-subsidising improvements to stations and infrastructure.
However, the report stated that realising these opportunities will not only take a long-term approach to investment, but also integrated methods of planning and delivery that bring together public and private investment.
The Centre for London research also called for more active support for station development in planning policy, for devolved powers over taxation and land value capture, and a new strategic focus to realise the potential of new and existing infrastructure.
Other recommendations set out in the report include for the mayor, the Greater London Authority (GLA) and other scheme promoters such as HS2 to ensure that new stations include provision for over and around station development.
It added that the GLA should explore establishing Mayoral Development Corporations or specific project development vehicles to provide the resources, expertise and certainty required to make the most of station development opportunities when new rail schemes are being developed.
“In a city that is growing fast, but short of space and short of funding to maintain and enhance its rail networks, developing at and around new and existing stations cannot be neglected,” Richard Brown, research director at Centre for London said.
“As a sustainable form of development, as a source of funding for new and improved infrastructure, as a means of creating mixed-use urban centers at transport hubs, and as a way of strengthening and connecting communities.”
Brown added that it was a struggle to make complex over-station developments viable when funded simply using the proceeds of property development, even where land values are high.
“But planning such development alongside new rail lines, including adjacent land, allowing higher densities, or ring-fencing some of the tax revenues resulting from new development, could enable such projects to deliver a return on investment,” he concluded.
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