Mitcham Play Way is a strategic place‑making and youth‑focused public realm framework for Mitcham Town Centre.

Periscope was commissioned by Merton Council as part of the Mayor of London’s High Street Place Labs programme to produce a local high street strategy for Mitcham Town Centre. The aim is to attract investment to improve the public realm and boost economic activity, with a specific focus on creating a child- and youth-friendly town centre, the project follows sustained and deep engagement carried out through the Mitcham Matters consultation processes in 2023.

The brief was to engage with those who are not consulted often (sometimes referred to as ‘minoritised voices’) to inform town centre interventions. The team positioned themselves in the centre of Mitcham Market over four days and spoke to over 80 young people. We partnered with the ‘Omnibus’, who run a youth centre on Fridays in Mitcham, and Attic, a local theatre company, to deliver a range of engagement activities catering to different age groups and interests.

The engagement process resulted in a series of principles and place themes that set out a vision for the future of Mitcham Town Centre. The Projects Atlas subsequently presents a collection of project opportunities across Mitcham Town Centre informed by theses engagement principles and places themes. The Mitcham Play Way project is intended as an agile framework to deliver these interventions with a flexible approach.