Here and There

I’ve seen a number of briefs coming out recently seeking an exploration of the impact of COVID -19 on town centers/high streets, along with guidance about what to do in the future. As my colleague David Rudlin opined it’s nigh on impossible to get good data or develop robust plans for the future when we are still very much in “the eye of the storm”. There’s a phrase that’s quoted in various forms and most commonly attributed to something that Plato may have heard Socrates possibly say at one point or another. The clearest articulation is something like: “Wisest is the person who knows they do not know” It’s difficult at the moment to take anyone who claims to know what will happen or that has the perfect solution very seriously. In respect of town centres, but more generally in relation to anything at this moment in time.  So, if you find yourself in a world of known unknowns, and you don’t want to just sit back and do nothing, what are you supposed to do?  There are a few dif...

In the aftermath of the killing of George Floyd and the resulting resurgence of interest in the Black Lives Matter movement, many of us have reflected on what more we could be doing to fight for an equal and fair society. There is no one-size-fits-all approach to this. Everyone has different levels of influence, different spaces in which they can affect change and different resources (money, energy, time) to contribute. As individuals I think everyone at URBED is personally reflecting on what role they can play, but we are also examining what more we can do as a business. It shouldn’t be necessary to explain why representation in the built environment profession is important. We all live in this world, and the groups of people designing places should reflect the people living in them. As Jane Jacobs said: “Cities have the capability of providing something for everybody, only because, and only when, they are created by everybody” It also makes sense for us commercially. Statistically sp...

Living with Beauty is the final report of the Building Better, Building Beautiful Commission; an independent body set up to “advise government on how to promote and increase the use of high-quality design for new build homes and neighbourhoods”. Personally, I thought “Living with Beauty” sounded like a semi-fictional memoir about sharing an apartment with a drag queen (named Beauty) in 1980’s New York. I don’t think this a view shared by many and is likely due to the speed with which I consumed the Netflix show “POSE” rather than any flaw in the Commission’s report titling. What’s good about it? Title notwithstanding, the report sets out many positive and diverse ideas about how to improve the design of new development in the UK. Interestingly a lot of the recommendations in the report are far more structural than they are aesthetic. So, it does talk about introducing design codes at both national and local level, but it also talks about stewardship, land value capture and a gre...