Blog Posts

Building Beautiful, High Quality Urban Places

6/10/2022

If we are to make stronger communities, if we are to make cities more equitable, we need to be building homes and communities that people want to live in, not ones that they just have to accept. And this means delivering quality. We have been hearing a lot about planning reform and a renewed focus on beauty and quality of late, and in terms of urban design there is a lot to be buoyant about in the current national conversation.

But conversation has to lead to action, and action has to lead to improved quality of life for everyone in cities - else we fail. We speak to Nicholas Boys Smith on the Government’s search for quality in the new places we deliver, and what it is we need to do to get there - and move conversation into action.

Nicholas is Director of Create Streets and has written widely on planning, and the links between design and popular support for development. He is chair of the Government’s Design Body Steering Group and was co-chair of the Building Better Building Beautiful Commission, which reported in 2020 to widespread support.

© UDG & Urban Movement.

IdeasSPACE is a collaboration between the Urban Design Group, UrbanNous and Christopher Martin of Urban Movement.

Science and a Quest for the Courteous City

6/10/2022

An ideasSpace presentation with Professor Nick Tyler University College London.

From the Savannah to Copenhagen, to Medellin; from tube trains and vehicle highways to jazz; from rubberised walkways to the effects of dementia on perception. Understanding what we as human beings need to feel comfortable in a space and what we want to be happy is vital to creating successful places, but how do we know what success looks like until it’s too late?

Professor Nick Tyler is the Director of the UCL Centre for Transport Studies and Chadwick Professor of Civil Engineering. His work at the new UCL research facility, PEARL aims to identify projects that make the world more sympathetic to people's needs. This unique facility provides a massive space in which to create life-sized environments under controlled conditions, showcasing how people interact with their environments.

We speak to Nick about how we shape environments that work for us as human beings - acknowledging our biological past as well as our modern aspirations - informed by neuroscience, research and compassion.

ideasSPACE is a collaboration between the Urban Design Group, Urban Nous and Christopher Martin of Urban Movement.

KINTSUGI CHRISTMAS

29/9/2022

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DON’T SHOW ME YOUR TOWER, SHOW ME YOUR TOILET

29/9/2022

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BREAD, BLOOD AND BOOZE

29/9/2022

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PAVING PARADISE

29/9/2022

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SOCIAL STAGES

29/9/2022

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PARADISE CITY

29/9/2022

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CHOOSING TO CHANGE

29/9/2022

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REPROGRAMMING REGENERATIVE CITIES

28/9/2022

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