This week, London Centric unpacked the government’s cheerful press release about “50 road and rail upgrades” across the UK - only to reveal that London is hardly on the list. The detail is sobering: a long-awaited upgrade to Peckham Rye station, the country’s busiest interchange without step-free access, has been paused after a decade of work. Meanwhile, London gets a sprinkling of funds to study accessibility improvements at stations like Dalston Kingsland, Gunnersbury and Raynes Park - but not the money to actually deliver them.

​

This is frustrating but not surprising. As London Centric points out, government spending is being throttled across the board, and there’s political pressure to “level up” outside the capital. But it also exposes a simple truth: if we care about creating more equitable, accessible, and sustainable cities, we can’t wait for Westminster to come to the rescue.

 

At Osta, we work at the level of streets, districts and everyday journeys. Whether we’re designing tools for last mile logistics or studying how micro-mobility can reduce van trips, our focus is on the micro-infrastructure that keeps a city moving - things that often fall beneath the radar of grand government budgets.

 

The story from Peckham Rye is telling. A station that serves thousands every day remains inaccessible because it doesn’t hit the thresholds for scarce central cash. But what if we flipped this? What if local authorities, developers, and private operators came together to treat last mile access, step-free connections, and high-quality walking and cycling routes as critical infrastructure in their own right - not just afterthoughts once the big rail or road scheme is done?

 

It’s a shift we’re passionate about. Cities like London need new models of investment and partnership to make local improvements happen faster and smarter. That might mean working with housing developers to integrate better mobility hubs, with business improvement districts to reimagine delivery access, or with tech platforms to manage kerb space dynamically. It also means ensuring design isn’t just about glossy visuals, but about deeply understanding how people actually move through their city.

 

So yes - it would be great if Peckham Rye got its long-promised upgrades tomorrow. But even as we push for fair funding, we can’t afford to wait. The opportunity (and responsibility) to build more liveable, accessible cities sits with all of us: designers, businesses, councils, and communities.

 

At Osta, we’re ready to play our part.