Whitechapel Night Walk

As part of the Greater London Authority’s ongoing campaign for a 24-hour London, Publica and the GLA’s 24-hour team are delivering support to boroughs working on evening and night-time strategies. As part of this initiative, a night walk of Whitechapel took place on Tuesday 22nd March 2022.

The walk brought together a range of stakeholders from the local area to explore their experiences of the area at night and understand what the aspirations, priorities, issues, and opportunities are for Whitechapel’s evening and night-time economy.

We visited several points of interest including; Whitechapel Market, Whitechapel Ideastore, the New Town Hall site, Royal London Hospital, the new Life Sciences Site, local business establishments, East London Mosque, Aldgate Connect, and the Whitechapel Gallery.

Some of the discussions included:

• What the current evening and night-time offer in Whitechapel is.
• How Whitechapel is changing and what that would mean for different stakeholder groups.
• Importance of active street level uses and illuminated building frontages in animating streets and spaces after dark.
• Community safety.
• Partnership working between the Council, local businesses, workers and community groups.
• Understanding the pattens of use from day to evening to night helps identify pressures, demands and opportunities.
• Amenities for night workers and supporting their wellbeing and quality of life.

To read the GLA's summary of the night please click on the link, or visit the key documents library on the side bar.

In terms of next steps, the GLA will be in touch with resources and support they could give the Council to help shape an evening and night-time strategy in Whitechapel.