Place Category
“7Ls” of urban planning & design
Posted on July 7, 2020 Leave a Comment
Location – where is the site and what’s around it Linkage – where are the principal ways into the site (can any new ones be established?) Layout – the pattern & hierarchy of streets Land use – more than housing? Landscape – the look and feel of the place (covers a lot eg materials, blue/green) […]
Ten top tips for community campaigning
Posted on July 2, 2020 Leave a Comment
1) expect it to be a long run 2) celebrate small victories 3) gather the opinions of local people (local people are local experts) 4) gather the opinions of non-local experts 5) don’t accept “no” as an answer (“no” is an excuse, not an answer) 6) keep a record of everything (because people will come […]
Office or home – where’s the best place to work from in the New Normal?
Posted on May 4, 2020 Leave a Comment
The question about when we return to work is also a question about how we return to work. For many, remote working has been a revelation. Perhaps not ideal in every respect but certainly helpful in many: the convenience of not commuting, the realisation that Zoom, Teams, Miro, Skype, Whatsapp and other platforms mean it’s […]
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 […]
Silver linings: how design can exploit the virus
Posted on April 13, 2020 2 Comments
A “to do” list for urban planners, architects & interior designers, in response to the coronavirus. In towns & cities: reduce traffic speeds to 20mph/30kph to discourage speeding on empty streets during lockdown & to keep the air clean, the sound low & the accidents down after the “return”. On wide streets: broaden footways to […]
Beyond placemaking: 7 dimensions of “Place Performance”
Posted on April 25, 2019 1 Comment
Notes from a talk at the Bartlett Real Estate Institute, University College London, 24th April 2019. Placemaking is the art and science of planning and designing spaces for human activity, however that is done: – by a single hand (usually not a good approach) or by multiple hands (usually a good approach) – […]
This town is big enough for the both of us
Posted on December 8, 2011 Leave a Comment
Independent newspaper, UK I am standing at the junction of two of the busiest streets in central London – High Holborn and Shaftesbury Avenue. In one direction is Centre Point and the start of Oxford Street; in another Leicester Square; to the south-east is Covent Garden; behind me is Bloomsbury and the giant hulk of […]
The power of the network 