The Portman Estate is both a property company and a place, historically located in west Marylebone and bordering Oxford Street and Edgware Road. Baker Street is its economic heartland. The freehold ownership remains largely intact with 110 acres of streets, squares and property. The Estate itself has maintained a sense of stewardship throughout its history whilst control of its public realm has moved to the local authority and then in parts to Transport for London. Local residents’ groups have always had a strong representation in the area and the new Neighbourhood Forum creates a focus for all sectors of the community to come together. The wider area has seen the arrival of Business Improvement Districts, mandated to represent businesses and their employees.
The Estate is therefore an organisation that once had almost unilateral control of its holdings in the 1760s and which now finds itself in a complex but typical arena of stakeholders with often competing and diverse interests. Positive progress of the public realm therefore requires strong relationships, good conversation and importantly, trust.
In the early 1960s, a then “temporary” traffic scheme was implemented to change the Georgian avenues of Baker Street and Gloucester Place to a one-way traffic gyratory. The aim being to facilitate higher volumes of faster moving traffic as part of the national A41 route through the Marylebone neighbourhood. Whilst such a move would not be countenanced today, any suggestion of reversing these changes rightly brings new concerns over motives and consequences, both from representative groups and individual stakeholders.
It is a truism in public life that those who might support or be neutral towards change proposals generally abstain from public debate and are less likely to become involved. On the other hand, those who are strongly motivated against a proposal can create a movement that may be disproportionate to their case. Progress in placemaking and the improvement of our cities depends critically on the ability to understand perspectives, satisfy arguments and to balancing opposing views with wider benefits. Strong leadership ultimately may have a pace too.
When developing a solution to a problem it can be natural to be too aligned with one’s own argument and unconvinced by the merit of either the status quo or other alternatives. Before taking forward proposals for solutions, it is imperative to agree on the problem and that those solutions are worth pursuing. In the case of the removal of a major one-way system, the opportunity to reduce traffic speeds, noise, pollution and improve the quality of the space for local users all had to be balanced by the perceived risks or even threats involved. Whilst the benefits may seem attractive, unless they can be communicated clearly and a collaboration developed amongst all stakeholders, then subsequent consultation will inevitably be at risk.
The Baker Street Two-Way scheme was completed in 2019. It has delivered an incremental improvement to over 2km of streetscape, upgraded over 40 crossing points, created 1,600 m² of new pedestrian space and is now widely acclaimed as a success in social, environmental and economic terms. Post implementation reviews have shown the traffic modelling to be accurate, predictions around safety and access for cycling to have been fully delivered and the fears of traffic displacement to have been unfounded. Given this, could it have had a less contested gestation? The answer is probably yes and lies ultimately in communication.
Cities need continuous improvement to remain successful and sustainable. In the West End there is still a huge amount of rebalancing needed between space for people and cyclists on one hand and traffic still present as a legacy of past transport policies, on the other. Proposals in the public realm (because it is public after all) need to be brought forward in an environment of openness and trust engendered through early communication, meaningful collaboration and only then, through the formal consultation processes.