The Good Life - North Kensington

The Good Life North Kensington brought together a team of residents to explore issues that matter to them and their communities.

Cross-cutting all the work in the High-Rise Landscapes project is a central theme about amplifying community voices and making sure those voices get heard in ways that make action more possible. Citizen-led research is one way to do this, encouraging people to develop new skills and get involved in their local area. Just as importantly, it recognises their lived experience as a form of expert knowledge that is really needed, and which can make a meaningful difference.

Over three months in 2023, seven ‘citizen social scientists’ explored what a ‘good life’ means for people in the North Kensington area of west London, and what some of the barriers are to achieving it. They learned about social science research methods and how to put their own knowledge and experience of their neighbourhoods into research practice. They then carried out their own research projects, investigating issues which matter to them and their communities, before analysing their findings and presenting a showcase of their projects to the community, and to local stakeholders and decisionmakers.

Meet the Good Life North Kensington team below and find out more about their research into mental health, learning and skills development, and urban regeneration. In the video of the showcase, we also discuss why we think it’s important to foreground the voices of citizens in research and recognise their expertise as vital to meaningful urban transformation. 

The project was directed by Dr Saffron Woodcraft and Dr Constance Smith, with Dr Hannah Sender as the course lead. Suraya Miah and Sarah Smoured provided teaching and research assistance. The citizen social science team were trained and supported through a collaboration between the Citizen Science Academy at UCL, the University of Manchester in partnership with the Westway Trust. 

Meet the citizen social scientists

  • Aisha Tahliil

    Aisha is interested in how research can contribute to a more sustainable future. Her project for the Good Life North Kensington focused on mental health among young adults in North Kensington.

  • Coco John Baptiste

    Coco is a North Kensington resident and aspiring filmmaker. She was interested to find out how North Kensington creatives make a good life for themselves, and if they can build this within the local neighbourhood.

  • Maysa Mahamoud

    Maysa is interested in the relationship between mental health and housing in her area, and especially the experiences and stigmas surrounding issues of mental health and ill health for Muslim women.

  • Paula Lewis

    Paula’s work explored the importance of community in urban regeneration projects, and how this is or isn’t a focus for different development projects. She was especially interested in how funding for community spaces and engagement could improve residents’ experiences of change.

  • Razan Ali

    Razan is working to research what local residents believe makes a ‘good life’ in North Kensington through a focus on Portobello Market. In particular, she is interested in the different experiences of tourists and local residents.

  • Sarah Smoured

    Sarah is interested in how different members of society can work with researchers and contribute towards improving communities through different forms of data. For this project, she explored access to skills and learning opportunities in North Kensington, and how this relates to ideas of the good life.

  • Zarah Oke

    Zarah got involved with the citizen science research as she believes it is important for the people in her area to be involved in decision making. ‘Citizen science allows the voices of a community to be heard through our research and this research can then impact the decisions made about the area’. Her project focused on the lived experience of an urban regeneration project in Wornington Green, North Kensington.

Meet the team