For the fifth year in a row, Islington has been crowned the healthiest streets champion of all the inner London boroughs.
The 2025 Healthy Streets Scorecard has named Islington the healthiest inner borough, recognising our bold, people-first approach to transforming streets into greener, safer, and more welcoming spaces for everyone.
Islington Council is making it easier than ever to walk, wheel, and breathe easy in Islington. Highlights include:
- Continuing to deliver school street improvements - most recently at Christ the King school in Tollington making school runs safer and healthier for children.
- Greener streets with more planting, biodiversity, and community-led eco projects – they've planted over 900 trees across the borough in the last year.
- New walking and cycling routes, encouraging healthier, more active, ways to travel – an upgraded pedestrian and cycle crossing is currently under construction on Essex Road and a safer cycle crossing has been implemented at Southgate Road as part of Cycleway 27. They've also made improvements to Cycleway 50 on Caledonian Road and from Nag's Head to York Way.
- Continuing their borough wide Liveable Neighbourhoods programme shaped by local people, for local people – work is currently under way on their Cally and Mildmay Liveable Neighbourhoods, with more in the works.
Cllr Rowena Champion, Executive Member for Environment, Air Quality, and Transport, said: “This is about more than just transport — it’s about creating streets that people enjoy, communities feel safe and welcome, and the air is cleaner. We’re committed to more environmentally friendly streets, through our tree planting and greening programme including Liveable Neighbourhoods - making it easier for more people to walk, cycle and wheel.
“We’re taking a holistic approach to our planning and our work to tackle to the climate challenges we face in Islington. This means thinking about local people’s whole health and experience of the borough. We want Islington to be a safe, healthy and welcoming place where people can really thrive.
“We’re proud of what we’ve achieved, but we’re not stopping here. The journey to a greener, healthier Islington continues — and it is one that involves everyone in Islington from local people to businesses.”
Image credits: London Borough of Islington
