Since the publication of that weighty 139-page tome, City Hall has been quietly doing much of the work to turn the strategy's vision into a reality.
And the announcement this week that under-16s will travel for free on London's buses and trams will make the strategy a lot more real for the capital's teenagers.
The demand for free travel was something that came directly from the city's young people, says Caroline Boswell, head of the Greater London Authority's children and young people's unit.
"Since the unit was formed in April 2004, we've been pushing ahead with the strategy," says Boswell. "The unit's primary focus is to lead on the implementation of that strategy and a particular focus within that is ensuring young Londoners have a voice. So we went to find out what young people's priorities for change were and one of the main ideas was making London more affordable and accessible."
She adds: "The free travel will make a big difference to young people, especially those from lower income groups."
But the travel changes, which come into force from September, are just one aspect of the unit's work. Back in May it published guidance for London's local authorities designed to encourage them to develop play strategies (YPN, 25-31 May, p4). The guidance, which was co-developed with London Play, aims to make London more youth-friendly and is designed to influence the work of planning departments in London's local authorities.
The play guidance is indicative of the way the Greater London Authority works to improve the capital's services for young people. The authority has no legal powers to influence the work of local authority youth services, but through a variety of methods it hopes to inform and influence local services on how best to serve their young people.
Boswell says the guidance is part of a wider effort by the Greater London Authority to make London a young person-friendly city. "We need to address young people's concerns about traffic, policing and the local environment, so young people feel welcome outside," she says, adding that the authority has no objection to young people hanging around on the streets.
"We're very positive about young people getting together and making the most of their time. They do have a right to assembly under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and we're very supportive of that."
One of the ways the authority hopes to help young people influence local services is through the embryonic Young Londoner's Network.
"The strategy mooted a young people's forum of some kind and after we consulted young people it was felt that a network would be a more accurate description," says Boswell.
"We plan to launch the network in September. It will enable young people to get involved in specific parts of its work, from event planning to designing adverts. We want it to be flexible and not to require regular involvement, since not all will want to do that."
The Young London web site, which launched this week, will also give young people a way to feed into the work of the unit and the network (www.london.gov.uk/young-london). Boswell hopes the unit's participation work will make a difference to policy.
"The Association of London Government has been very supportive," she says. "We might not be in a position to implement an issue a young person raises, but we can at least help them raise that issue."
FYI
- The Greater London Authority's children and young people's unit was set up in April 2004 to implement the Mayor's Making London Better for All Children and Young People strategy
- The unit consists of a five-strong team that answers to the Mayor's policy director
- Boswell and her team are currently reviewing the Mayor's strategy and looking into creating a London-wide advocacy service for young people.
