The key components of a mixed-use and integrated neighbourhood, from Towards an Urban Renaissance, Final Report of the Urban Task Force (1999)
Articles
Herbert Manzoni now has a largely negative reputation in Birmingham. He had the roles of City Engineer, Surveyor and Planning Officer from 1935 to 1963, and his vision effectively determined the shape of the postwar city.
In September I attended an online talk by the architect Peter Barber, which he called Street: Who owns the city, part of the Architects’ Journal AJ100 Festival.
A wide historic street and car park has been transformed into a temporary park in the city centre, one of the city’s largest public spaces.
This edition draws together some of the most useful documents and research launched or promoted at COP26.
Berlin Planwerk Innenstadt, 1999 | Source: Berlin, Senatsverwaltung für Stadtentwicklung und Wohnen
This is a very brief summary of the UDG event organised to coincide with the COP26 meeting in Glasgow. The day’s proceedings were recorded and are available on the UDG website.
Wei Yang is the President of the RTPI 2021. We talk to her about the future of planning, how it can remain relevant and drive innovation in facing the combined challenges of climate change, the loss of biodiversity and social inequality.
Ten years ago I wrote a piece about Digbeth for the March 2011 issue of Context, the journal of the Institute of Historic Building Conservation. I had just moved my office from one listed building in the conservation area to another, the Custard Factory.
A former 2004 Olympic Games car park has been transformed into a cultural and educational destination by Renzo Piano Building Workshop. It houses the National Library of Greece and the National Opera beneath a sloped park.
This edition highlights work that will be emerging at COP26 in November, and new research and guidance.
This packed event was attended by urban designers from around the world.
Despite having one of the world’s most extensive cycling networks, car ownership in Copenhagen has increased by some 30% in the past 20 years. Should this trend be reversed? Join a journey through backcasting, prototyping and other city planning techniques to find out.
Run in partnership with London Living Streets and chaired by the UDG’s Katja Stille, this event explored walkability, from strategic planning to the nitty-gritty of design measures.
Concerns about the depletion of urban design skills in local authorities are not new. Chairing this well-attended online meeting, Laura Alvarez (Nottingham City Council) said the subject cropped up at almost every professional event.
In 2018 the Place Alliance, supported by funds from the UDG, conducted a survey of Design Skills in local authorities, finding a serious design skills shortage.
“Almost half of local planning authorities had no dedicated in-house design capacity at all.”
A strip of land along the former Eastern Curve railway line was transformed into a much-needed public green open space for Dalston by local residents together with muf architect/art and J&L Gibbons Landscape.
The Government has adopted the Climate Change Committee’s Sixth Carbon Budget in full. The Budget charts a course to net-zero emissions via a target in 2035 for reducing emissions by 80 per cent compared to 1990 levels. This decision will require significant follow-up changes in policies and guidance affecting the built environment.
The County of London Plan 1943, coloured plate 1, Social and Functional Analysis





