Urban Update 6 December 2024

Friday 6 December 2024

News and Research

Politics, Philosophy, Economics, History

Fixing the foundations: A communities strategy for Britain – report claims that UK towns that saw rioting last summer have ‘torn social fabric’ >>>>
The report identifies a correlation between areas that score badly in Onward’s “Social Fabric Index” and those where riots occurred.
Recommendations:

  1. Invest in community cohesion: new and improved funding to support community ownership of places and spaces where people can connect and meet.
  2. Empower communities: give more control to local people over certain state spending decisions in their area.
  3. Support community-led growth: create a new institution or arms-length body to support community-led institutions contribution to local growth.

Full report pdf  >>>>
 
Restarting housebuilding I: Planning reform and the private sector – Centre for Cities report >>>>
This report reflects on the performance of the planning system since 1947 and makes the following recommendations:

  1. Replace the current discretionary planning system with a new rules-based, European-style, flexible zoning system.
  2. Release some green belt land for development, especially in walking distance of railway stations with connections to England’s most expensive cities.
  3. Pursue an “Economy First” approach in the English Devolution White Paper to simplify planning.
  4. Work with the Mayor of London to overhaul the London Plan and reduce restrictions to development in the capital.
  5. Review all of the “anti-supply measures” of the previous Government, including Biodiversity Net Gain, nutrient neutrality, the delays with Building Safety Gateway 2, height limits for single stair residential buildings, and minimum space standards.


Restarting housebuilding II: Social housing and the public sector – Centre for Cities >>>>
This report argues that public sector investment in housing should be focussed in cities, which is where the need is greatest.
To match rates seen between 1956 and 1979, the Affordable Homes Programme would have to grow to £16.6 billion every year.  
Recommendations made to the Government:

  • Reform Right to Buy, enabling combined and unitary authorities to set the terms in their areas  
  • Make the Housing Revenue Account system more secure and predictable 
  • Public housebuilding capacity will need to increase and should be developed within a system that rationalises responsibilities for managing demand and new building.  
  • All Metro Mayors should be given responsibility for delivering on public housebuilding targets within their areas 
  • Public housebuilding targets should be set according to a predictable formula based on housing affordability and demand for local authority housing 

 
House prices and sales across UK expected to rise in early 2025 >>>>

 

History

Night-time photographs of London in the first half of the 20th century >>>>
What is striking is how dark the capital was – similar to the subdued lighting one sees in villages today.
 
Photographs of the Streets Of Old London >>>>
Glass-plate photographs over 100 years old.  Compared with the same views now, the modern capital seems simplified, sterilised and much less busy.

The forgotten Edinburgh street found behind a hidden library door >>>>

‘Concrete Dreams’: rethinking Newcastle’s brutalist past >>>>
 
The Roman maritime Villa of Sant Gregori in Burriana (Spain) specialized in viticulture >>>>
Viticulture = growing grapes.


Natural Environment 

Air pollution abatement from Green-Blue-Grey infrastructure – The Innovation Geoscience
This paper provides a comprehensive overview of research on green-blue-grey infrastructure (GBGI) and its relationship with air pollution.  The pdf is worth downloading. Key takeaways include:

  1. Fragmented Research Base: Despite GBGI's recognized potential, quantitative data on its impact on air pollution is limited.
  2. Variable Effectiveness: Pollution reduction by GBGI depends on multiple factors, including:
    • GBGI Type: Linear features (e.g., hedges, street trees) and constructed elements (e.g., green walls) showed the highest average pollution reduction percentages.
    • Deposition vs Dispersal : Mitigation of pollution is dominated by deposition (deposition of pollutants on leaves and surfaces) at the city-scale and dispersion along roads (dispersal = the pollution being diluted by air currents)
      • Feathery or narrow leaves are better for pollution removal of particulate pollution by deposition.  There is relatively little research on the removal of gaseous pollutants such as NOx and Ozone.
      • Grey infrastructure such as low-boundary walls, noise barriers, and street ventilation systems primarily affect air quality through enhanced dispersion and mixing of pollutants
    • Urban Context: How the infrastructure is introduced makes a great difference. Street trees, for instance, can worsen air quality in street canyons but improve it in open areas.
    • Pollutants: GBGI has differential impacts across particulate matter (PM1, PM2.5, PM10, UFP, BC) and gaseous pollutants (CO, O₃, NOx), with varying degrees of reduction.
  3. Challenges and Opportunities:
    • Urban Morphology: The effectiveness of GBGI depends heavily on the surrounding urban environment and configuration.
    • Climate Change: Shifting climate zones could alter the effectiveness of certain GBGIs, particularly in Europe and China.
  4. Future Research Needed: 
    • Expand quantitative studies to underexplored GBGI types.
    • Investigate how different configurations optimize pollution reduction.
    • Evaluate GBGI resilience under climate change scenarios.

Hyderabad ventilation crisis sparks concerns over urban planning >>>> 

Bee-harming pesticides found in majority of English waterways >>>>
 
Car tyres shed a quarter of all microplastics in the environment – urgent action is needed >>>>
 
Government launches Tree Planting Taskforce to oversee planting of millions of trees across our four nations >>>>
 
Ash dieback will kill ‘more than 180,000 Northumberland trees’ >>>>
 
Largest UK seagrass restoration project to end >>>>


Movement

School Streets: how to set up and manage a scheme GOV.UK

Developer applies to pull £30m funding for dual carriageway and millions more in Section 106 payments >>>>
 
Pavement parking should be banned in England >>>>
 
 

Energy and Climate Change

Countdown to an ice-free Arctic: Research warns of accelerated timelines >>>>
According to modelling, the first ice-free day in the Arctic could happen between 3 and 20 years from now.  The most likely time is in late summer.

Woodborough: Flood-hit village welcomes ‘natural’ defence work >>>>
 
Could Tenbury Wells be the first UK town centre abandoned over climate change? >>>>
The high street has been built right across the flood plain.  Floods have occurred several times over recent years, so that insurance for the shops is now extremely expensive if available at all.
 
Council holds workshops for the public to map out a route to net-zero >>>>
  
Bendy solar panels to meet energy demand of 20 nuclear reactors >>>>
 

Built Environment 

Reimagining Urban Spaces: The Role of Makerspaces in Regenerating 'Maker City Sewoon' - Urban Governance
A "makerspace" is a collaborative workspace where people can access tools, resources, and technology to design, create, and innovate. These spaces often support hands-on learning and foster creativity, experimentation, and skill-sharing among individuals from various backgrounds. 
 

Describing and defining Urban Sprawl, and the policies that can be used for control 
or...Dissecting multidimensional morphology of urban sprawl: Framework for policy intervention - Cities

This study by researchers based in Australia and Belgium seeks to develop a framework for describing urban sprawl integrating physical characteristics with policy interventions for better management and prevention of this unsustainable form of development.

This paper suggests three broad types of sprawl:

  1. Peripheral accretion – residential development at the periphery of the urban area – with commercial and recreational facilities concentrated at the centre
  2. Sprinkling – sites disconnected from existing urban area (also called Leapfrogging in the paper)
  3. Ribbon development – along transport corridors

     Morphological features associated with sprawl at city level include:

  • Segregated land use
  • Transport – with radial routes leading to ribbon development, and poor accessibility by public transport leading to high levels of car use

     Morphological features associated with sprawl at the neighbourhood scale

  • Buildings – typically detached or suburban
  • Open space – largely yards/back gardens in private ownership
  • Street patterns with limited connections that favour car use, and disadvantage walking and cycling
  • Uniform land-use

     Sprawl Management: Policies identified include:

  1. Land Development Policies:
    • Regulations such as limiting building permits or imposing development moratoriums can control rapid urban expansion.
    • Strategies such as cluster zoning encourage compact urban development, while large-plot mandates in some regions have reinforced sprawl.
  2. Urban Containment Policies:
    • Greenbelts restrict construction to preserve open spaces (e.g., London, Seoul).
    • Urban Growth Boundaries (UGBs) manage expansion by reassessing boundaries periodically (e.g., U.S., China).
    • Urban Service Boundaries limit service provision, but lack of accompanying regulations reduces effectiveness.
  3. Land Use and Zoning:
    • Single-use zoning leads segregation and urban sprawl traits like low density.
    • Built form regulations, such as height limits, garden size, shape urban morphology and can lead to sprawl.
  4. Spatial Concentration Policies:
    • Revitalizing city centres (e.g., Belgium) or promoting suburban growth poles (e.g., Netherlands) addresses scattered development.
    • Multi-centric strategies (e.g., Istanbul) decentralize urban density effectively.
  5. Transportation Policies:
    • Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) aligns growth with public transit, reducing private transport dependency (e.g., Portland).
    • Integrating transport planning with land use enhances accessibility and reduces congestion.


The role of polycentric urban structures in shaping low-carbon lifestyles – study in China - Cities
Figure 7 shows the comparative carbon emissions of rural dwellers and urban dwellers in polycentric and non-polycentric situations. 

Decompose in this paper is used to mean “breakdown” as in a "breakdown of the figures", as opposed to the conventional meaning of decompose. 
 
A citizen science toolkit to collect human perceptions of urban environments using open street view images - Computers, Environment and Urban Systems
“We offer to the research community a free and open-source toolkit for downloading, processing and filtering VSVI from a given geographic region, and deploying a mobile-friendly human perception survey web app with a specially customized user interface on the resulting images.”
VSVI=Volunteered Street View Imagery
 
Councils try to stop the 'grotification' of London >>>> 

 

Schemes


Consultation on garden villages at Lidsing and Lenham as residents vow to continue the fight >>>>

Tackling a 'biodiversity crisis' by creating open spaces in Bolton and Greater Manchester  >>>>

Renovate or demolish - what should be done with a Dumfries art deco industrial edifice? >>>>

Crystal Palace property named RIBA House of the Year 2024 >>>>

 

Humans, Health, Society

Study finds American, Canadian universities vary widely in preparing future urban planners for climate change >>>>

A University of Kansas-led study has assessed how American and Canadian urban planning programs incorporate climate change into their curricula, surveying over 100 universities.

  • Findings:
    • Canadian programs often integrate climate science basics into electives and related fields such as geography, focusing on justice, equity, and local solutions.
    • U.S. programs offering standalone climate courses nearly doubled from 2010 to 2023, spanning both liberal and conservative regions.
    • Climate adaptation is emphasized over mitigation, with faculty and students driving curriculum inclusion more than administrators or employers.
  • Challenges: Programs face difficulties in deeply integrating climate content and balancing mitigation, adaptation, and resilience themes.
  • Recommendations:
    • Make core climate courses mandatory.
    • Monitor accredited programs’ compliance with climate content.
    • Encourage cross-program collaboration and equity-focused approaches.
    • Promote urgency and integrate climate topics across urban planning education.

The mortality impacts of greening Italy - Nature Communications
This study used satellite data to identify municipalities with greenery within  300 meters of homes to estimate health benefits across Italy's 49 million adults.

The researches estimate that if all of Italy achieved the residential greenness level of the top 25% of areas, 28,433 deaths and 279,324 years of life lost could have been prevented in 2022.  This reduction represents 5% of the country's total deaths that year. 

Promoting sustainable cities through creating social empathy between new migrant urban populations and planners - npj Urban Sustainability
 
Socioeconomic and ethnic segregation in Finland: A multi-scale analysis of diverse urban sizes - Cities
This study observes that increasing levels of segregation are linked to the relative deprivation of residential mid-rise areas built from the 1960s until the 1990s and to the increasing positive selection by income and education in the residential low-rise areas built after 2000.