Making the most of London

On day one we revealed the scale of the middleclass exodus from London, and the many reasons that spark it. Today we set the challenge for the future: how can those who do not want to take flight, and who enjoy London in all its vibrant chaos, cope with life in this crowded and stressful but varied and rewarding city? And what are the policymakers doing now?

The lure of the quiet life can be great - but the capital offers unrivalled facilities, opportunities and cultural interest. The reasons to stay are as many as the reasons to think of leaving. The Evening Standard has questioned the city's leading thinkers on what can be done to make the capital better and retain more of the 150,000 residents who now leave each year.

Here we outline their key ideas - and make our own suggestions.

Mayor Ken Livingstone has vowed to use his second term to make major inroads into crime, and improve services on the Tube and suburban trains. Every neighbourhood is to get its own six-strong community policing team. Decisive action is promised to deliver the best performance possible from private firms modernising the Tube. The Mayor could soon control the North London line, offering longer trains running at higher frequencies.

He has great optimism London will next year win the right to host the 2012 Olympics - kick-starting massive regeneration in east London. And he wants affordable childcare for every London family by

2010. He told the Standard last month: "Given single parents are going to be a major part of the London community for some time you've actually got to put in place structures that allow them to work.

"It's breaking the cycle of poverty by getting kids to arrive at primary school with some basic skills and socialisation."

Liberal Democrat MP Simon Hughes, the party's London spokesman and its mayoral candidate this year, said good secondary schools topped the list of priorities, closely followed by affordable housing and a society that is safe for the middle classes and their children.

He said: "The biggest challenge to government is to build affordable housing quickly so that prices come down and people can afford to stay in London, rather than having to move out to Kent or Essex.

"Unless large numbers of this group stay, we will have a divided community with lots of young single people but very few families with young children, which are needed to keep the community alive."

Mark Field, the Conservatives'

London spokesman and MP for the Cities of London and Westminster, said it was important to target latenight drinking and antisocial behaviour.

He emphasised the importance of recruiting and retaining good staff to work in public services, especially hospitals. But he was wary of simply demanding a hefty "London weighting" pay allowance - saying this would merely "ratchet up" house prices even further.

Richard Bourn, London campaigner for Transport 2000, said more needed to be done to encourage people out of cars, and to promote walking and cycling. Some 51 per cent of journeys in London are less than 2km, while 16 per cent of car trips are less than 1km. He said: "What happens when people move out of cities is that instead of being able to satisfy a lot of their needs locally, they need to get into the car to get a pint of milk."

Harley Sherlock, architect and author of Cities Are Good For Us, said life in rural areas was far more stressful than city living because of the lack of basic facilities.

"It should be possible to bring kids up in London. My kids were brought up in an Islington street, which was a very mixed community," he said. "Because the kids played together the parents got to know each other. But we need to look at the absurd cost of housing. Even professional classes can't afford to move into Islington."

Julia Lalla- Maharajh, transport director at campaign group London First, said: "We need to ensure the working day is a working day and we don't have the culture of keeping people behind. London has this fantastic offer of restaurants and culture, but we don't seem to get enough time to enjoy it."