IGP launches pioneering longitudinal study of impacts of regeneration of east London

A new 10-year study will observe how households in 12 post-industrial neighbourhoods in east London self-report their prosperity over the decade 2021-2031. 

The study mainly focuses on neighbourhoods that have been directly impacted by the regeneration of Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and Royal Docks.  

Using the IGP localised citizen-led ‘Prosperity Index’ and self-reporting will enable the IGP to accurately assess the long-term effects of social, economic and physical change on individual and community prosperity.  

The first findings are due to be published ahead of the tenth anniversary of the London Olympics in 2022. 

The Olympic Legacy regeneration has been aiming to share the benefits more evenly by closing the gap in prosperity and prospects between the poorest and wealthiest parts of the city. However, this will be the first time that people, rather than abstract metrics, are used to evaluate the impact of regeneration. 

The study will address the following questions: 

• How are ‘prosperity gains’ from regeneration distributed within and between neighbourhoods? 
• How is prosperity experienced by people from different backgrounds and living in different neighbourhoods?  
• What are the local, short, medium and long term issues that enable people to prosper? 

Professor Henrietta Moore, Founder and Director of the IGP, said: “We need a redefinition of prosperity that is less concerned with economic wealth and growth, and more attentive to the things that people care about and need – secure and good quality livelihoods, good public services, a clean and healthy environment, planetary and ecosystem health, a political system that allows everyone to be heard, and the ability to have rich social and cultural lives.” 

Read more about the project