Sadlers Wells at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, Newham ©Official London Theatre

Newham

Lesson: Attracting major cultural institutions and improving everyday infrastructure can be pursued simultaneously.

• –Population: 360,000
• –Relevant characteristics: Outer London borough with acute economic and social disparity
• –Total cultural spaces: 106

Like Ealing, London Borough of Newham experiences severe economic disparity and has recently renewed a focus on ensuring inclusive growth. Newham's new Community Wealth Building Strategy is supporting the council to tackle injustice with a focus on poverty and addressing racialised and gendered disparities. A particular focus has been on supporting Newham businesses to improve productivity and ensuring wealth created locally is held democratically. This has directed a number of new culture-focused commissions, with an emphasis on local centres. For example, in Green Street Town Centre, a series of improvements to Queen's Market will upgrade the look, feel and function of the market, a new meanwhile-use affordable workspace will enable employment and business growth for residents and small businesses, vacant retail units are being converted into new creative and cultural space including a café and gallery, and an uplift in public space will create more opportunities for residents to host cultural events. Key to this is a focus on the civic day-to-day, and opportunities for culture close to home for Newham's residents. Ealing should pay particular attention to the everyday cultural opportunities Newham has unlocked through its Community Wealth Building approach, including:

We Made That

Ealing Cultural Infrastructure Plan

Key to this is a focus on the civic day-to-day, and opportunities for culture close to home for Newham's residents. Ealing should pay particular attention to the everyday cultural opportunities Newham has unlocked through its Community Wealth Building approach, including:

• –10 libraries, which have seen a 46% increase in footfall and 7,000 new library memberships since they introduced extended opening hours in 2022-2023
• –3 major cultural institutions based in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park

Blackhorse Lane, Walthamstow ©V&A

Waltham Forest

Lesson: Creating a welcoming home for London's creative production activities can raise cultural profile.

• –Population: 278,000
• –Relevant characteristics: Outer London borough with strong creative production ecosystem and transport links into Central London
• –Total cultural spaces: 101

London's first Borough of Culture in 2019, London Borough of Waltham Forest has leveraged its position as a major contributor of industrial land to raise its cultural profile. Like Ealing, Waltham Forest hosts a significant cultural production ecosystem, although its specialism is in artist workspace, makerspaces