The way we shop may be changing but London’s high streets are still at the heart of local communities. They are the city’s hardest working streets – having to accommodate through and local traffic while also being great places where people want to spend their time and money. Finding the right balance between those competing demands is essential if high streets are to thrive.

We hope you can join us for Street Talks on 1st April when Tom Platt from Living Streets and Louise Duggan from the Greater London Authority will be exploring the roles of place and movement in creating successful high streets.

6.30pm, Tuesday 1st April at The Gallery, 70 Cowcross Street, EC1M 6EJ – in partnership with Living Streets and Sustrans London

Louise Duggan has a strong track record in linking strategic thinking with effective programme development and project delivery at local national and regional levels in the public sector.  In her current role at the GLA she is responsible for delivery of £28m support for regeneration in Tottenham. She is helping deliver complex projects which promote urban renewal and economic growth by working with partners to secure physical change and support enterprise. Louise also is also leading on development of strategies to addresses the complex challenge of accommodating 1 million new Londoners while maintaining space for jobs and growth on London high streets. In previous roles at CABE Louise defined and led an innovative street design and placemaking programme. She represented CABE at a senior level, brokered multi agency agreements, and influenced national policy agendas.

Tom Platt specialises in city design and policy, with a particular interest in how people get around. In his role as London Manager, Tom oversees Living Streets’ policy and campaign work aimed at making London a safer and more inviting place to walk. Tom is a champion for 20 mph speed limits in London and has played a key role in its greater roll out within the capital.  He currently sits on the Mayor’s Road Safety Steering Group and Better Junction’s Review Group. Before joining Living Streets, Tom studied Urban Design at the JCUD in Oxford and worked as a regeneration consultant for URS. Between roles, he set up and ran his own fruit business, before selling in 2006.