Urban Update 7 November 2024

News and Research

Humans, Health, Society

How the Covid-19 Pandemic accelerated the trend towards staying at Home -and what to do about it – Journal of the American Planning Association
This study finds that there has been a lasting impact of COVID-19. The pandemic accelerated permanent changes to our cities, travel, and daily routines, making them less dependent on in-person activities and travel.  The time spent on 13 of 16 in-home activities rose in 2021, and that by 2023, many changes persisted—time spent out-of-home, traveling, and on six specific out-of-home activities remained notably lower than in 2019.

The report goes on to identify actions needed to address the changes:

• Office & Retail Space Repurposing: Due to remote work and online shopping, office and retail spaces may need to be turned into more usable areas for residents.
• Flexible Land Use: Planners should adjust zoning and building rules to allow easy conversion of office buildings into housing or hotels to meet changing demands.
• Focus city centres on Leisure: With fewer office workers, city centres could focus more on recreation, arts, and culture to attract residents and tourists.
• Hybrid Office Design: Offices could evolve with more shared spaces for teamwork, making them appealing rather than mandatory for employees.
• Growing Demand for Affordable Housing: More home time and remote work increase the need for larger, affordable housing options in suburbs, exurbs, and smaller cities.
• Less need to increase road capacity: With decreased personal travel, transportation policy could shift from road expansion to improving pedestrian and cyclist safety and addressing basic mobility needs.
• Provide space for Online Shopping deliveries: With fewer shopping trips, planning needs to adapt to rising home deliveries by allocating curb space for delivery vehicles.

 
Greening urban areas in line with population density and ecological zone can reduce premature mortality - Communications Earth & Environment
This study estimates preventable deaths among adults over 30 from attainable greening levels in dense urban areas globally. Results indicate significant potential benefits, even in densely populated areas, with an average of 54 preventable deaths per 100,000 people annually. This estimate has a 25% margin of error due to model uncertainties, underscoring the potential health impact of urban greening across diverse city environments and population densities.
 
Gentrification can leave residents feeling powerless and alienated in their own neighbourhood, research shows >>>>
This study based in Seoul compared communities that had been displaced, to ones where redevelopment had gone on around them.  These residents felt indirect displacement due to significant changes in their surroundings, causing feelings of powerlessness and emotional distress.
 
 
Women’s perceived safety in public places and public transport: A narrative review of contributing factors and measurement methods – Cities
This study examines how women’s safety in public spaces is affected by multiple factors: their social identities, the built environment, individual traits, and community elements.  It highlights how factors such as gender-power dynamics, inclusion/exclusion, and discrimination shape women’s experiences and perceptions of safety.

Key findings for urban design:

• Street Lighting and Crime Fear: Many studies focus on how lighting affects safety, especially for women at night. Brighter lighting often lowers fear of crime and increases confidence in using public spaces, but lighting alone doesn’t fully address the underlying anxieties people may have about safety.
• Visibility and Openness: High visibility in public areas allows people to see their surroundings more clearly, which can reduce fear. Open areas without concealed spots make streets feel safer. By contrast, poorly lit areas with hidden spaces increase feelings of vulnerability, especially for women walking alone at night.
• Role of Surveillance: CCTV cameras are common, but studies show they don’t directly improve feelings of safety. Women tend to prefer visible police patrols over video surveillance for a greater sense of security.
• Complexity of Safety Perception: Personal safety feelings result from various factors, including physical environment, social context, and individual characteristics. Personal experiences and anxiety levels also influence how safe a person feels in different settings.
• Impact of the Walking Environment: Walking through clean, tree-lined streets with active shops and people generally feels safer. Conversely, litter, graffiti, and low activity areas lower perceived safety. Familiarity also matters—women feel safer in areas they know well, especially if they are well-lit and well-maintained.

According to the study, enhancements in the built environment foster community cohesion, encouraging social interactions, strengthening social ties, and creating a supportive, safer atmosphere.  Integrated urban planning is needed, that addresses both social and environmental aspects of safety.

New technologies (such as smartphone apps, crowdsourced data, and virtual reality) are proposed as tools for gathering nuanced data on women’s safety perceptions.
 

Understanding the wellbeing benefits of urban nature in two inner-city neighbourhoods in London - Landscape and Urban Planning
This study explores the factors that influence interaction with urban nature shapes in two inner-city housing estates in London undergoing regeneration and the impact on wellbeing.   Urban greenspaces and water can serve multiple functions for different people, but this potential is limited in estates undergoing regeneration, where nature is seen mainly as a real estate asset.
The overall impact of the water and greenspaces on the estates was described overwhelmingly as positive (88 %) or neutral (8 %) across the two estates.
Barriers to Access: While greenspaces provide wellbeing benefits, they’re not equally accessible for all groups. The breakdown of community in regenerated estates leads to a loss of nature as a shared space for everyone.
Social Control and Access: Issues such as fear of crime, lack of ownership, and social conflict influence how greenspaces are used, especially in mixed-tenancy estates. These issues reflect broader social divisions.
Impact of Formal Institutions: Housing policies, planning, and spatial allocation tools focus on maximizing real estate value, often marginalizing groups such as social housing residents and young people, whose needs often aren’t considered.
Exclusion of Marginalized Groups: Despite efforts to make estates “tenure blind,” social housing residents and young people struggle to access greenspaces that meet their needs, reinforcing social and economic divisions.
Critique of Urban Nature-Based Solutions: Urban greenspaces aren’t always a “win-win” solution. They can benefit some while excluding others, especially in areas focused on housing and real estate development.
Need for Inclusive Governance: The paper calls for planning approaches that respect the diverse needs of communities and avoid reinforcing social inequalities, especially in areas with high housing pressure.
 
Demographic Change: how low incomes are behind the rise in male childlessness >>>>

Energy and Climate Change

Plan for decarbonising the UK’s electricity supply by 2035 published by the National Energy  >>>>
NB the challenge is not merely to decarbonise the electricity supply, but to decarbonise the energy supply. In terms of annual electricity consumption, Britain uses roughly 280–300 terawatt-hours (TWh).  But in terms of annual primary energy consumption in the UK is around 1,600–1,700 terawatt-hours (TWh) per year. This figure encompasses electricity, natural gas, oil, and other energy sources. 

Decarbonising the electricity supply takes us only 1/6th of the way to a net zero carbon energy supply.  It is completely unclear how the 2050 net zero target can be met.  
 
Study reveals acceleration in Pacific upper-ocean circulation over past 30 years, impacting global weather patterns >>>>
 
 

Movement

Location of Development 4 Study published by RTPI - >>>>
According to the National Planning Policy Framework, major housing developments are supposed to be designed around transport infrastructure. An assessment of the location of 1.6 million homes given planning permission in England from 2012 to 2021, finds that this has not happened. 

The 2022 Location of Development study found that there were no major housing developments given planning permission in the study period, that were within 15 minutes walk of a mix of amenities. 

Dubai turning a major highway into a green movement spine >>>>   Video >>>>

More on the brightness of car headlights >>>>


 

Natural Environment  

Plea to end use of glyphosate weed killer in Cumbria Council >>>>
vs
Glyphosate back in use in Brighton >>>>

 

Built Environment 

Large variation in estimates of urban land area  - Nature Communications
This study compares the estimates of urban land cover produced by a number of currently available products.  All the datasets show a rapidly urbanizing world, with global urban land area nearly tripling between 1985 and 2015.  However there are substantial discrepancies between the estimates produced by the different products.   These differences impact applications like environmental hazard modelling, as varying definitions of “urban” affect model accuracy.

Urban planning and the long legacy of brutalism >>>>
Informed letters in response to last week's article in the Guardian by Simon Jenkins
 

Schemes

A Berlin park atop an office building offers a new model of urban landscaping >>>>
 
Design solutions from the USA to beat summer heat >>>>
 
Polinature – an idea from Harvard for a green tower that supports over 1000 different species
>>>>
 
Arboretum planned for new Darlington housing development >>>>
 
Sittingbourne and Teynham: 8,400 home “garden village” faces rejection >>>>  
 
£1.3bn revamp plan for Lewisham, South London shopping centre >>>>
 
‘A municipal swimming pool’: tourists react to temporary Trevi fountain replacement >>>>
The Trevi fountain may possibly be the world's most famous, but restoration work has produced a negative reaction.