How our research has developed

Prosperity in east London 2021-2031 builds on research with citizen social scientists AND community organisations that has been underway since 2015. READ ABOUT HOW THE WORK HAS DEVELOPED.

Stage one: What does prosperity mean to residents in east London?

In 2015, citizen social scientists and IGP researchers collected over 250 interviews with people living in Hackney Wick, East Village in the Olympic Park, and Forest Gate in Stratford. We asked people three questions:

1. What does prosperity mean to you?

2. What supports you to prosper and live a good life?

3. What prevents you from prospering and living a good life?

Research identified the determinants of prosperity for people living in these communities and started a new conversation with decision makers about how to define and measure prosperity.

Read a summary of the research findings here.

Stage two: Piloting a Citizen Prosperity Index

In 2017, the research was expanded to five neighbourhoods - Hackney Wick, East Village and Canning Town in Newham, Heath in Dagenham and Coventry Cross Estate in Tower Hamlets.

IGP commissioned a survey of 750 households in these areas to pilot a new Citizen Prosperity Index measuring what local communities say matters. Read about the results of the pilot here and look at the pilot Citizen Prosperity Index data here here.

Citizen scientists carried out further qualitative research exploring what prosperity means to people in different areas and from different backgrounds. Read stories from this research here.