How do you create a city for all? The answer lies in West Norwood ...

Resilient people: Can local community cooperation be scaled up to create a participatory city? Neighbourhood-led pilot project the Open Works thinks so

In February 2014, a pilot project was launched in West Norwood, south London, mobilising 1,000 people to reconfigure their neighbourhood for everyday benefit. In partnership with Lambeth Council, the Open Works united residents of the neighbourhood to create 20 new, community-led initiatives - from orchards and gardens to a youth ideas incubator; from craft groups to communal kitchens.

"The idea was to test whether high-density, mass community participation can be scaled up to create a participatory city. And we believe it can," says Laura Billings and Tessy Britton, co-founders of the Open Works. "Community participation should be the starting point in any community development, not an afterthought."