PROGRAMME 3: ENVIRONMENTAL & PLACE

PUBLIC REALM

The BID has worked hard to create and maintain a district which is attractive and experiential for business, their employees, residents and visitors.

It has provided additional street management services, working in partnership with the local authority, and explored innovative approaches to create a cleaner, safer and more welcoming place. Importantly this has included enhanced security to tackle anti-social behaviour and street crime.

The BID is a leading voice on the wellbeing of our street environment and public space. Understanding a quality streetscape is essential for the area to attract businesses, retain staff, appeal to residents and enhance the visitor experience by offering a place to relax whilst increasing dwell time.

THE FITZROVIA PARTNERSHIP WILL:

Propose and promote the adoption and delivery of public realm and street management improvements, to include:
- Streateries
- Al fresco dining
- Green Space
- Enhanced seating
- Additional bike parking
Seek to enhance and encourage owners and developers to deliver more permanent greening including additional trees, to support biodiversity and climate adaptation, whilst creating a more attractive streetscape for all in Fitzrovia.
Progress the priority public realm projects on Charlotte Street, Fitzroy Street and Warren Street, which will also provide more cycle parking and electric vehicle charging points.
Install a seasonal lights display and support London-wide installation campaigns / programmes.

Employ and extend our uniformed Street Team service. Their core services will encompass safety and security, customer service, the provision of information, event management, enhancing the street environment, helping to manage anti-social behaviour, working with the Police to provide intelligence and reduce crime, providing an additional presence to enhance visitor wellbeing, and generally supporting the statutory services in maintaining the quality of the street environment.
Promote and provide additional street management services in partnership with the local authority. Work with Camden to improve cleanliness and maintenance across the district judged against a baseline agreement.
Promote and deliver active travel plans with particular regard to cycling, e-scooter rental schemes and walking.
Explore options for appropriate digital infrastructure (Smart Cities) to support the growth of businesses in Fitzrovia and retain London and national competitiveness.
Set up a Sustainability Steering Group with businesses which meets quarterly and commits to help drive sustainability projects forwards.

TRANSFORMING FITZROVIA’S PUBLIC REALM

Our Fitzrovia Liveable Neighbourhood proposition complements the West End Project which has recently been delivered and would complete the transformation of the district’s public realm for everyone in the area.

Today, people expect much more from public places than ever before. Rather than wanting purely functional and safe places, the public realm needs to be a place for people to meet, to relax, to enjoy public art, for informal play and for alfresco dining. A place for trees and planting and one that mitigates the impacts of climate change.

To complement these large infrastructure projects our plans for Fitzrovia are designed to ensure the area’s public realm is fit for purpose and to delight workers, visitors and residents alike. Our ambition is to work with partners and stakeholders and to help deliver the following:

Deliver alignment and transition between the large UCLH and UCL campus areas, commercial hubs of Tottenham Court Road and Charlotte Street and the eclectic mix of businesses operating with the heart of Fitzrovia.
Increase pop-up parks and tree planting throughout the district.
Create a network of walkable streets with places to dwell and relax.
Reimagine Warren Street as a garden gateway to Fitzrovia.
Embed as a permanent feature the successful ‘Streateries’.
Improve safety at junctions to reduce collisions and casualties.
Improve connections and wayfinding from Oxford Street.
Widen footways and create better facilities and routes for walking and cycling.
Introduce more electric vehicle charging points.
We will reference Camden’s ecological emergency monitor which discusses the delivery of public spaces.

Fitzrovia will benefit from an enhanced public realm. The area’s unique charm and proximity to high footfall areas, in particular Oxford Street, together with its connectivity to wider London, the rest of the UK and internationally, makes Fitzrovia an ideal place to invest.

It is because of these factors that the case for investment in Fitzrovia’s public realm is strong too and will directly contribute to attracting visitors, workers and further inward investment, thereby creating a virtuous cycle of new businesses and jobs.

Sustainability is an increasingly important factor for a multi-campus organisation in Fitzrovia but we can’t do it on our own. To deliver sustainable solutions, we need to work collectively as an area. The Fitzrovia Partnership is making this happen.