Context-sensitive design is part of the Thames Landscape Strategy

See index page for Chelsea to Tower Thames Landscape Strategy

The Central London reach of the River Thames is a very special place. It has some beautiful, dramatic and historic vistas but it also has some humdrum sections, loved by Londoners but not of the high landscape quality they could and should have. New developments should be context-sensitive:

• if the existing visual quality is high, it should be conserved
• if the existing visual quality is middling, a case can be made for dramatic change

The key point is that each design team must, as part of the planning application, explain how the development project will impact on the public realm which the Thames Landscape Strategy seeks to conserve and create.