With public finances increasingly unsafe, the private sector has a vital role to play in making streets cleaner, lighter and safer – and London Bridge’s business improvement district is showing how it’s done, says Rob Anderson

Has London got dirtier, darker and more unsafe? As local authority budgets to maintain our high streets, parks and roads have been squeezed in recent years, this is the question policymakers and Londoners alike have asked themselves. Described by Professor Tony Tavers of the LSE as the ‘grotification’ of a city, it conjures up an image of dirty, cluttered streets, poorly lit, unsafe walkways and pollution of all varieties rising.

With one in four Londoners stating they feel pessimistic about London as a whole – according to our recent polling with Savanta – we need to be asking how to ensure our urban environment has a positive impact on those living, working and visiting the city.

London is not yet at this point. However, public finances are stretched to breaking point. However, since 2010, investment in ‘unprotected’ local authority budgets for things like placemaking, leisure and tourism has declined by 55 per cent in real terms. This has a clear impact on local health and wellbeing – from the diminution of community space to the pollution of our streets, Londoners’ physical and mental health is suffering from the sustained squeeze on public services.

© City A.M.