Urban Update
EVENTS
UDG @ Futurebuild 2022 3 March
Keynote: Do we need a below-ground national design guide?
TRAINING
Foundation Certificate in Urban Design endorsed by the UDG
LATEST NEWS + RESEARCH
Do we need a below-ground national design guide?
Thursday 3 March @ 10:15-11:00
Part of Futurebuild 2022 at ExCel London
FREE - pre-registration required
The Urban Design Group curates keynote session at Futurebuild 2022
Much of the ‘placemaking’ making and working infrastructure that creates value above ground depends on how we manage the spaces below ground. Our design and management of the ‘underworld’ to date has not been impressive.
This session will look at how a ‘national model design guide’ for below-ground could improve the situation for the future and what changes to legislation and regulation would be needed to achieve this necessary change.
A vital topic for all engaged in working on places, buildings and environments for people and nature.
Speakers:
- Robert Huxford Urban Design Group
- Nicole Metje University of Birmingham
- Jim Smith Forestry Commission
- Katja Stille Tibbalds Planning and Urban Design | UDG Chair
Training
Looking for a short course in Urban Design?
3-Day Comprehensive Foundation Certificate in Urban Design
Endorsed by the Urban Design Group
20-22 June 2022 | Newcastle-upon-Tyne
Discounted rate available for public sector workers
This course deals with urban design, but you don’t need to live or work in a city to benefit from it. We welcome all applications from rural areas, as this course benefits anybody with an interest in planning and design for the built environment. Inclusivity is at the heart of what we do.
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Non-UDG Events
Design Surrey
Masterclass: Shaping Liveable Neighbourhoods: Delivering well-designed, higher density neighbourhoods
Tuesday 22 February 2022 @ 9:30-12:00
Stone Digital
Shaping a Sustainable Future online conference
Tuesday 22 + Wednesday 23 February 2022 @ 9:00-16:30
Free to attend
TCPA
Webinar: Planning for education in new places
Thursday 24 February 2022 @ 10:00-11:30
Kent Design
Masterclass: Shaping Liveable Neighbourhoods: Delivering well-designed, higher density neighbourhoods
Tuesday 15 March 2022 @ 9:30-12:00
BOB-MK
Masterplanning now and into the future
Wednesday 23 March @ 13:30-14:30
Speakers confirmed:
- Sarah Murray, Edge Urban Design
- Adrian Bower, ADP Architecture
- Paul Comeford, Prior & Partner
- Thomas Corbin, Prior & Partner
Free to BOB-MK members
Non-members £75 for one place or two places for £100
Online Lectures
Making the connection: urban green space, human health, & climate change
TDAG seminar from Monday 7 February 2022
Access passcode: XG3.ger&
News + Research
Humans, Health, Society
Is increased urban light pollution contributing to disrupted sleep and short and long term health problems that may follow?
Studies have reported that the main source is private lighting: something that is growing dramatically with the availability of cheap LED floodlights, that are poorly designed and badly mounted so that up to half of the energy goes in illuminating the sky rather than the ground
SEE LIGHT POLLUTION MAP
Study finds link between Alzheimer’s and the circadian clock
Particular type of sleep and circadian rhythm found to be required to flush the brain of abnormal plaques linked to Alzheimer’s. 'Sleep hygiene' may be important
READ MORE
GUARDIAN ARTICLE
How the COVID pandemic has demonstrated that humans have evolved to be interdependent - not ruggedly self-sufficient
Exceptionally high degrees of sociality, cooperation and communal care are hallmarks of humankind
READ MORE
Models of mental health problems: Review of the various approaches to understanding mental illness
“Uncertainties about what constitutes a mental health problem have become more pronounced in recent decades due to the increase in the number of mental health conditions being identified in the manuals which are used by general practitioners and psychiatrists.”
SEE RESEARCH
READ ARTICLE
Socioeconomic disadvantage and resilience to COVID-19
READ MORE
Is a universal coronavirus vaccine on the horizon?
READ MORE
Overcoming political differences
Encouraging cross-cutting political discussion based on things that lie outside of politics, but that people have in common, is a potential solution for fostering consensus.
READ MORE
Study of skeletons from Roman London reveals an ethnically diverse population
WATCH VIDEO
Movement
Road pricing could improve the lives of drivers as well as commanding public support, says Conservative think-tank report
The UK government receives £35 billion per in vehicle fuel tax, which will fall to zero as the switch to electric vehicles takes place.
Road pricing could address the collapse in revenues, as well as enabling the more efficient use of highways, and altering land use patterns. It could be a warning to people living in car-dependent locations.
READ MORE
Keeping out of the sun - explaining the routes taken by pedestrian in hot urban environments
Research finds that the distance walked in the shade is discounted by a factor of 0.86 compared to the distance walked in the sun, and that shadows cast by buildings have a stronger effect than trees.
READ MORE
The problems blind people face with pavement parking
READ MORE
Use of airfreight increases dramatically as shipping costs soar
READ MORE
Preparing roads for climate change
Using foamed bitumen to create roads that are more resistant to flooding, tackling increased heat by adding ceramics to road materials, or using heat reflective paints. Low tech options include using recycled tyres (the article does not mention microplastics pollution problems).
READ MORE
Energy, Climate Change
Storing excess windpower
READ MORE
Clean-energy strategies 'dominated by pledges rather than concrete actions'
Energy giants' clean-energy claims not reflected in their investments according to new study
SEE RESEARCH
READ ARTICLE
Impacts of poverty alleviation on national and global carbon emissions
The majority of people living below poverty lines have yearly carbon footprints of less than 1 tonne of carbon dioxide per annum.
Reaching targets under United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 1, lifting more than one billion people out of poverty, leads to only small relative increases in global carbon emissions of 1.6-2.1%.
To ensure global progress on poverty alleviation without overshooting climatetargets, high-emitting countries need to reduce their emissions substantially
READ MORE
Diets and climate change: how circular food systems could reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 42 percent
READ MORE
Increase of Arctic coastal erosion and its sensitivity to warming in the 21st Century
READ MORE
Cost of running a heat pump for domestic heating around one third higher than a gas boiler
READ MORE
Natural Environment
Pharmaceutical pollution contaminates rivers on all continents
There is a strong correlation between the socioeconomic status of a country and higher pollution of pharmaceuticals in its rivers (with lower-middle income nations the most polluted)
The activities most associated with the highest levels of pharmaceutical pollution included:
- rubbish dumping along river banks
- inadequate wastewater infrastructure
- pharmaceutical manufacturing
- the dumping of the contents of residual septic tanks into rivers
The contaminants found at potentially harmful concentrations include:
- propranolol (a beta-blocker for heart problems such as high blood pressure)
- sulfamethoxazole (an antibiotic for bacterial infection)
- ciprofloxacin (an antibiotic for bacterial infection)
- loratadine (an antihistamine for allergies)
READ MORE
Can Lichens adapt to Climate Change? Not easily…
Research examines the previous evolution of Lichen's climatic niches to make projections of their ability to adapt to changing temperatures.
NB do not underestimate the importance of lichens in contributing to the atmosphere, and in releasing nutrients from rock.
READ MORE
Built Environment
Disney building ‘Storyliving’ residential communities starting in California town
READ MORE
Lessons from a Modern Master of Low-Rise Housing – Louis Sauer
READ MORE
How Singapore is pioneering the way for a greener urban environment
READ MORE
Technology
Democratizing the urban planning process using virtual and augmented reality
READ MORE
Politics, Philosophy, Economics
Internet retail is expected to account for around 50 % of total UK non-food sales by 2025 – up from around 40%
In cash terms, this is around £20bn added to UK online home delivery market by 2025.
Working from home means more people are staying away from city and town centres and are more likely to take delivery of internet orders, according to consultancy Retail Economics and ecommerce tech firm Metapack.
More than one-third of shoppers said they will visit physical stores less in the future than they did before the pandemic, as new habits stick.
READ MORE
DOWNLOAD FULL REPORT
World spends $1.8 trillion per annum on subsidies that damage the environment
That is $225 dollars each year for every person on the planet
READ MORE
England
Manchester Piccadilly gardens to be redesigned...
READ MORE
...and the surrounds redeveloped
READ MORE
USA
Illustrating how pedestrian friendly an area is using 'traffic light' street frontage maps
READ MORE
Opportunities: UDG Careers Board
Buckinghamshire Council
Landscape Architect / Urban Designer | Buckinghamshire
Clifton Emery Design
Assistant Urban Designer / Landscape Architect | Exeter
LHC Design
Urban Designer / Senior Urban Designer | Exeter or Plymouth
Origin3
Senior / Associate Urban Designer | Bristol
Planned Resources
Urban Designers / Masterplanners | Melbourne
Savills Urban Design Studio
Associate Director / Director | London
Savills Urban Design Studio
Senior / Associate Urban Designer | Oxford
Sevenoaks District Council
Urban Design Officer | Sevenoaks
Sheffield City Council
Principal Design Officer | Sheffield
Urban Green
Urban Designer | Manchester
For more details visit the UDG jobs board
