Health Category
World Cities Summit: leveraging the science of cities
Posted on September 2, 2021 Leave a Comment
As an architect & urban planner my principal concern is to make cities work for people. This means understanding how their streets connect to either encourage low carbon transport such as walking and public transport. Or, if they’re disconnected, do they lock in car dependence and its carbon impacts?
What will cities look like 30 years from now?
Posted on May 6, 2020 1 Comment
I joined a carbon reduction event yesterday where, by way of introducing ourselves, we were each asked to predict the future: what did we think we would see more of in 2050 – in terms of objects, experiences and services. A neat little ice-breaker if ever there was one. Here are my top-of-the-head responses: 1. […]
Is physical distancing possible on city streets?
Posted on April 28, 2020 Leave a Comment
Until a vaccine is found for COVID-19, and perhaps beyond, it will be important to practise physical distancing in towns and cities. Whether this is possible will come down to the “carrying capacity” of the urban infrastructure: in particular, the relationship between Pedestrian Supply in the form of sufficiently wide footways and Pedestrian Demand in […]
A velvet revolution for the Blue House roundabout – Newcastle City Council to think again
Posted on August 23, 2016 Leave a Comment
Massive popular opposition to plans for a disfiguring roundabout leads to the City Council announcing this evening that it will go back to the drawing board. This is a positive development. A working group will now be established to look at alternative plans. Jesmond Local press article YouTube clip of Cllr Bell’s statement
We don’t guess the structural performance of individual buildings so why do we guess the human performance of entire cities?
Posted on May 8, 2016 Leave a Comment
The structural steelwork of a large and complex building would not be designed without running engineering calculations. Even the smallest of buildings is subject to objective structural analysis. No client and professional team would rely on guesswork, no matter how famous or experienced the architect or engineer. So why do we leave the human performance […]
Sustainable cities of the future – sketch
Posted on February 9, 2016 Leave a Comment
Notes for keynote at UK Green Building Council Annual City Summit, Birmingham. 1. Spatial planning & human behaviour implications of sustainability – reduction of transport carbon through shift towards walking, cycling & public transport 2. A massive shift needed in transport + land use planning, urban + landscape design, architecture. Professional inertia. Turning the supertanker. […]
Building a Smart City modelling team
Posted on July 4, 2014 1 Comment
. Cities planning their future are increasingly turning to the production of Integrated Urban Models. These are tools that bring together various datasets on different asoects of urban performance, from the behaviour of people to the flows of energy, water and other utilities. The aim is to better predict the future of cities by better understanding […]
How should the Transport industry change?
Posted on September 10, 2013 1 Comment
First, by seeing the purpose of Transport as the facilitation of human transaction and not only as the movement of people/goods and the construction of roads, rails and runways. Second, that the economic benefits of transport investments are measured not as savings in time but as the creation of opportunities. Third, that when you say transport, people think […]
Are streets the answer – yes, but…
Posted on January 24, 2013 4 Comments
Yesterday’s launch by think tank Policy Exchange of a report calling for the removal of inner-city high rise estates and their replacement with streets is a welcome contribution to discussions about the design of future cities. The report, authored by Create Streets, concludes that high rise estates are unsafe, antisocial and economically substandard. By proposing […]
Life by a thousand connections
Posted on May 9, 2012 2 Comments
Background The everyday actions of architects and urban planners influence the everyday physical activity of people by creating the networks of streets and public spaces through which people move. Similarly, inside buildings, the layout of space influences the degree to which people move around. The precise mechanisms through which spatial patterns influence behaviour patterns are […]
Notes for AGI Conference talk: Measure, map, model, make
Posted on March 5, 2012 2 Comments
My slides Great placemaking is a process combining art and science. There is a place for both and indeed a need for both. Two problems. First, urban planning is largely an analogue discipline. Too many diagrams and watercolours. Not enough science. And, when science is present, it is seen as an adjunct, not as a […]
IBM Smart Cities, Helsinki – latest notes
Posted on October 18, 2011 1 Comment
9.50 Keynote What will the future city look like? The city of transaction How to plan a socially, economically and environmentally sustainable city The effects of the digital revolution on human behaviour patterns Tim Stonor, Architect & Urban Planner, Managing Director, Space Syntax (UK) _____________ Data is not the solution. Turning data into knowledge is […]
IBM Smart Cities, Helsinki
Posted on October 12, 2011 1 Comment
19th October 2011 Tim Stonor “What will the future city look like?” View the presentation Themes to be addressed 1. How to plan a socially, economically and environmentally sustainable city. 2. Effects of the digital revolution on human behaviour patterns. Summary In addressing the question, “What will the future city look like?” I am less […]
“Loeb Fellows invite…” seminar on Food Systems
Posted on April 3, 2011 1 Comment
Wednesday, 6th April 2011 at 6:30pm Harvard Graduate School of Design, Piper Auditorium 48 Quincy Street, Cambridge, MA 02138
“On your feet, Wellington”
Posted on April 3, 2011 Leave a Comment
An article in the New Zealand Dominion Post, titled “On your feet, Wellington” reports on Space Syntax’s proposals to reconnect the pedestrian infrastructure of the capital.
Millennium Development Goals
Posted on February 15, 2011 Leave a Comment
MDG 1 Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger MDG 2 Achieve universal primary education MDG 3 Promote gender equality and empower women MDG 4 Reduce child mortality MDG 5 Improve maternal health MDG 6 Combat HIV/AIDS and other diseases MDG 7 Ensure environmental sustainability
From landscapes of extraction to creative industries of organic matter & waste
Posted on January 14, 2011 1 Comment
Monday, 14th February 2011 at 6pm Stubbins Room, Harvard Graduate School of Design, 48 Quincy Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 Participants Pablo Rey, Basurama Manolo Mansylla, Trashpatch Robin Nagle, anthropologist of material culture (waste) Scientist doing research in biomaterials (Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering/ Materials Research Science and Engineering Center – School of Engineering and […]
The power of the network 