As many of us do, I started the year with a resolution to give up terrible reality tv and hopefully spend more time reading. This meant cancelling my Netflix subscription and opting for a lighter dose of better-written tv through Disney+ and AppleTV+. Well, a friend recommended the show “Paradise” and if you haven’t watched it yet and don’t want a spoiler probably stop reading. I won’t spoil the storyline too much but it is set in an underground city full of people (chosen to be there), following a so-called doomsday event three years prior.

This blog is named after an episode where one of the characters talks through how she helped design the psychological aspects of the city, coining her role as “the architect of social wellbeing,” one about ensuring that the community don’t just survive but thrive there. It made me think about Barking Riverside. This new town, being designed around me, and I wondered whether the various planners and developers have been walking through similar thought processes. A desire to create a town that isn’t just for surviving but for thriving.

This will be my last written blog for a while in my capacity as Communications Lead, as I head off on maternity leave. As my young family grows once again, I can’t help but think about how living here makes me feel. I love walking around and knowing that I’m likely to see a familiar face. Living around people you know provides a feeling of safety and community. In my opinion, this isn’t the result of high-density living but a major effort of community organisations to bring people together, to spark dialogue between the diverse population and to bring fun to a place that can sometimes feel like a ghost town.

I also love having access to the River Thames. It makes such a difference walking along the shoreline and experiencing nature amongst the back drop of the development. Travelling on the Uberboat has also been an easy way for my family of four to get to Central London without the daunting tube stations and stairs. It’s meant lovely mornings, with a hot drink in hand, watching swans race against us, as my kids are mesmerised by their speed. A planning decision I applaud and am grateful for. However, there are many times where I wish I didn’t need to travel far to engage with interactive spaces.

Thinking of the future of my family and as the architect of social well-being for my own life, it’s important in deciding where one lives to think about what makes people thrive. For me, it’s the smell of freshly baked bread in the morning at a local bakery. It’s access to a hub of activity – a place for sport, art, culture that isn’t seasonal. It’s the Barking Food Forest, a community-gardening, resident-led space that has genuinely changed my lifestyle in allowing my family and so many others to get outdoors and enjoy nature every weekend. And ultimately, it’s living in a home built to last, with character and scope to grow, as our family grows.

Zainab Jalloh

Communications Lead