What the planning blogosphere’s best minds think is coming — and where I land on all this good stuff On Tuesday evening I was thrilled to join the celebration of Simon Ricketts’ ten-year anniversary of Simonicity — one of the most consistently authoritative planning law blogs in the country. Simon gathered some of the sector’s […]
This is not a minor offence. It is the latest instalment in a decades-long project to pollute British housing discourse with bad economics dressed up as moral conviction, and the BBC, to its considerable shame, has just published it. Alice Roberts of CPRE London, the capital’s arm of the countryside-protection lobby that has spent the
The architect’s new job is not to produce. It’s to know what problem you’re actually trying to solve. Rick Rubin does not read music. He does not operate a recording console. He co-founded Def Jam Recordings in a New York University dormitory room and went on to become, in MTV’s words, “the most important producer
A functioning housing ladder is critical to our towns, cities and society. It means people can move in and move on when the time is right. Yet we all know the ladder in Britain has plenty of rungs missing. That absence puts pressure on society in multiple ways. People stay in homes that no longer
London needs an anthem. Something properly earwig-y that just sticks with you all day. In a world of nano-attention spans and forever scrolling on social media, London’s brand perception is a kaleidoscope of petty theft, fat cat business leaders, feral teenagers, political bickering, overcrowded tubes, and sometimes ostentatious global wealth. It is an embellishment and
Over the past year I’ve had the opportunity to spend time in some of the world’s most active development markets — Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Riyadh in the Middle East, followed by Brisbane and Sydney in Australia. These visits were not about site tours or individual projects, but about understanding how different systems think about
When pub landlords mobilised against proposed changes to business rates, they did something the private rental sector has conspicuously failed to do: they won. Faced with a tax regime that threatened the viability of thousands of pubs, the sector organised, framed its case clearly, and secured political attention — including from a Labour government not
As the UK renews its ambition to deliver a new generation of towns, there is understandable pressure to get them right. These places must not only address the chronic need for housing, but also set a new benchmark for liveability, sustainability, and economic resilience. Rather than looking solely inward for inspiration, we can gain valuable
Local government has been fraying at the seams for some years now. In 2018, Northamptonshire County Council issued a section 114 notice – the first local authority to do so for 20 years. Since then, Slough, Croydon, Thurrock, Woking, Birmingham City and Nottingham City have issued notices. The drama continues. Just last week, the Director
The Victorians were a peculiar bunch. Frequently unable to communicate their emotions on a personal level, they found alternative means to do so. The forefathers of the Industrial Revolution are a case in point. These industrialists expressed their gratitude to their workers via the means of bricks and mortar and thereby heralding the era of