What couls be done with neglected spaces on housing estates? Why not offer these spaces to the local community?

London is the UK’s economic powerhouse, with global importance as a finance and business centre, yet within its inner city areas high levels of poverty can be found in particular, where social housing is concentrated. An example is Shoreditch, an area that lies immediately north of the City of London.

Inner city housing estates are surrounded by large areas of vacant and neglected land that has no defined use. Sites lay bare, are fenced off or are concreted over leaving gaps within the urban fabric that detach and isolate communities.

The neighborhoods of Cropley Court and Thaxted Court are both grouped around covered car parks with neglected and unused rooftops. While in the 60s planning these roofs were intended as playgrounds they now provide nothing to the local community. These partly empty and run down buildings at the neighborhoods doorstep fuel discomfort and fear.

How could these rooftops be re-appropriated to accommodate the needs of the diverse population? What provisions need to be made to allow children, teenagers, old and young people with diverse cultural backgrounds to flourish in their shared environment? How might you physically adjust these leftover spaces to give them a new life?