--- description: Find out why Design District, London is on TIME’s 2021 list of the World’s 100 Greatest Places. title: Design District, London: The World’s 100 Greatest Places of 2021 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt827da3f1519889e9/698a1e09011682807e981114/worlds-greatest-places-2021-001-Greenwich-Design-District-London-UK.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Jul 20, 2021 # Design District, London An affordable artistic incubator by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close  Greenwich Design District, pictured mid-construction in May 2021. Greenwich Design District, pictured mid-construction in May 2021.Courtesy Taran Wilkhu On the south side of the River Thames lies the Royal Borough of Greenwich, a buzzy neighborhood known for its maritime history and for being the home of the prime meridian, from which the world’s time zones are measured. It’s also home to the brand-new Design District, a car-free area comprising 16 buildings intended to provide an affordable home for creatives. For the first 12 months of its operation, creators can rent a desk, a floor or an entire building for just £5 ($7) per sq. ft. The area is gearing up after 16 months of lockdowns and restrictions in the U.K. to welcome visitors once more with the plan to host the Greenwich+Docklands International Festival, which will showcase climate-­related art ­installations—including artist Dan Acher’s _We Are Watching,_ a 10-story-high flag featuring an image of a giant eye—ahead of the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow in November. In early 2022, the charity Queercircle will open the U.K.’s only permanent art space dedicated to LGBTQ+ artists, in the Design District. _—Suyin Haynes_ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/worlds-greatest-places-2021/6079240/design-district-london/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/worlds-greatest-places-2021/6079240/design-district-london/"},"headline":"Design District, London","datePublished":"2021-07-20T10:33:40.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-02T23:50:31.967Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/worlds-greatest-places-2021/6079240/design-district-london/","keywords":["franchise","Magazine","World's Greatest Places"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt827da3f1519889e9/698a1e09011682807e981114/worlds-greatest-places-2021-001-Greenwich-Design-District-London-UK.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"creator":"TIME Staff","articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt827da3f1519889e9/698a1e09011682807e981114/worlds-greatest-places-2021-001-Greenwich-Design-District-London-UK.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/worlds-greatest-places-2021/6079240/design-district-london/","name":"Design District, London"}}]}] ```