Creative Currents: Regenerating London’s hidden infrastructure
Creative Currents is a social enterprise revitalising London’s waterways through two interconnected pathways: Fastream, a skills accelerator and a replicable Floating Market.
Delivered full-scale live pilot combining stakeholder alignment (council/traders/residents) with strategic analysis, community outreach, permitting, logistics, and on-site coordination.
Oct 2024 - Dec 2024
First Place Service Design Category, Zlin Design Week
Overview
London’s canals powered the city during the Industrial Revolution but fell into decline throughout the 20th century. Today, the number of Londoners living on boats has quadrupled since 2010, and the waterways are re-emerging as spaces for living, commuting, culture, and wellbeing.
Identify and design interventions that accelerate the regeneration of London’s canals and unlock their full potential.
100 km
Underused and unsupported urban infrastructure
+300%
Rise putting system under pressure since 2010
£1.5bn
annual economic value from waterways
This Stakeholder Map uncovers key relationships that currently shape London's canal network.
Research & Discovery
We conducted in-depth interviews with total of 25 participants: 15 boaters and 10 boatrepreneurs to deepen and enriched our understanding about the issues. This led us to several key insights:
Economic sustainability: Decades of underfunding and government cuts left canal businesses with little support.
Visibility and awareness: Traditional crafts and heritage undervalued, ofter dismissed as irrelevant
Infrustructure and operations: Fragmented regulations and inadequate facilities slow down growth + boaters feel disconected from decision makers
Community engagement: A generational gap grows as young people disengage
Boatpreneurs Archetypes
The Roving Canal Traders Association has 130+ member trading boats nationwide. Entrepreneurs working on London’s canals bring creativity and resilience, yet their growth is limited by systemic barriers. Our research identified four interconnected challenge areas:
Through interviews and observation, we identified four broad archetypes within the canal’s economy:
From these archetypes, we uncovered strong signals of talent, creativity, and community spirit across the canal network.
Framing the opportunity
These insights led us to several key assumptions:
Skill-sharing will strengthen canal-based businesses and increase collaboration.
A structured, replicable market model can generate new revenue streams to fund canal regeneration efforts enhance visibility and profitability for canal entrepreneurs.
Positioning the canals as a “third space” can bridge the gap between land and water communities, raising awareness of history and culture.
How might we empower local entrepreneurs along the canal network to collaboratively build a vibrant canal-based economy while preserving its cultural and environmental heritage In order to create an economically and socially sustainable canal system?
Solution strategy
Creative Currents is a service platform with two flagship interventions:
Fastream: A tailored skill-sharing program designed to equip ‘entrepreneurial boaters’ with the tools and knowledge needed to succeed in their businesses.
Floating Market: A replicable market model along canals, combining commerce, culture, and experiential workshops to showcase entrepreneurs and engage wider audiences.
Faststream
Faststream
Matchmaking: Links boaters, suppliers, and venues along the route.
Toolkit: Lightweight templates for permits/compliance, pricing, and checklists.
Market ops: Shared calendar, bookings, comms, and promo so events actually happen.
Floating Market
Built the experience and a pragmatic 12-month progression (pilot → monthly → seasonal).
Testing & Prototyping
Pop-Up Market Experiment: Tested the viability of a floating market model through a land-based pop-up and analysis of UK markets like Columbia Road Flower Market.
Boater Engagement & Feedback: Explored business owners’ willingness to participate through flyer distribution and Instagram prototype testing.
Consumer Interest Survey: Assess public interest in experiential markets and canal-based businesses through an online survey.
Awards & Recognition
“Creative Currents stood out for its clarity and realism. Rather than stopping at concept, the team prototyped in context, tailored communications for diverse stakeholders, and produced the operational backbone. This is service design that can start tomorrow: inclusive, feasible, and ready to scale along London’s canal network.”
Jury Statement of the Project