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Or, why it takes 50 years to build seven villages but only ten seconds to realise the pavements are too dangerous to walk on

“Gilston is more than just a construction site – it is a test of whether Britain can still build communities that last.” – Jamie Grierson

Let’s face it, Gilston has much to do if it’s going to successfully provide the proof of concept for the government’s 1.5 million-home target. But if it takes 20 years to clear the legal hurdles and another 25 to finish the job, hopefully without the value engineers getting their mitts on it in the meantime, we aren’t solving a crisis, we’re now managing a multi-generational legacy project.

Find out more in this week’s Sketch…

#gilston #placemaking #newtowns #janejacobs #womenssafety #urbandesign101

Or, why our new town driveways are at risk of turning into a staging area for the Texas Rangers

“This boom in US-style pickup trucks is lifestyle over practicality in exchange for parking mayhem and dangerous roads. City leaders must act to discourage these menacing vehicles from our streets. How is it acceptable to have a vehicle so tall that children cannot be seen?“ – Oliver Lord, Clean Cities

There’s nothing childish about designing places to create community.

So, why are we actively putting children at risk?

Find out in this week’s Sketch…

#carspreading #motonormativity #placemaking #SUV #roadsafety #janejacobs #walking #amirite #jangehl

Or, how the draft NPPF just gaslit half the population

“[The draft NPPF has] no references whatsoever to women, girls, gendered safety, or violence against women in the built environment. This omission matters. The places we design and build shape how safe women and girls feel when they travel, work, socialise and grow up. Planning policy is one of the most powerful structural tools the state has to prevent harm before it occurs. If the NPPF is silent on gendered safety, we embed risk and inequality into the fabric of every new development.” – Anna Sabine MP & Gideon Amos MP

Is it really true that, in the eyes of the government, if you’re a woman or a girl, your safety and any misogyny you might encounter while out and about has nothing whatsoever to do with planning?

Find out in this week’s Sketch…

#placemaking #womenssafety #NPPF #urbanism #janejacobs #amirite #newtowns #urbandesign

Or, finally, some common sense on LTNs

“[LTNs are] simple and cheap infrastructure which protects our public realm from the worst impacts of cars and drivers’ behaviour and encourages and supports people who choose or have no choice but to walk, cycle or get public transport. We need to do this to support vulnerable members of our society, to reduce isolation, to improve safety and accessibility.” – Campaigners for Save Our Safer Streets

It’s official! Don’t mess with LTNs. Leave them be. It’s good to see the law finally sticking up for something that saves lives.

Get all the juice in this week’s Sketch!

#lowtrafficneighbourhoods #ltn #filteredpermeability #urbandesigngroup

Or, how something as simple as a side street crossing can support broader transport initiatives andhelp keep us moving

“[The side road zebra crossing is] a rare unicorn… effective, popular and cheap. I would like all boroughs to engage with it.” – Cllr Max Sullivan, City of Westminster Cabinet Member for Streets

I know they’re not enforceable, but, side-street zebras are still making a big difference for pedestrians. A war on the motorist? Hardly. Plus, longevity advice from a 96-year-old lady called Jean.

Get all the juice in this week’s Sketch…

#zebracrossing #westminstercitycouncil #exercisesnacks #sideroadzebra #continuousfootways #nppf

Or, why getting your homework checked and listening to feedback is really important, Keir

“Many of the areas designated for the fourth generation of new towns are not actually standalone new towns at all – they’re modest expansions of existing communities, and some are regeneration projects within existing towns and cities. So the challenge will be to bring the prosperity, the excitement and the vision.” – Lee Shostak

From Bournemouth to Milton Keynes to Adlington… from cronyism to new town corporations to protests… what the heck is going on with planning at the moment?

Get all the juice in this week’s Sketch…

#futureplaces #newtowns #newtownstaskforce #designcodes #affordablehousing #socialhousing #poole #bournemouth #miltonkeynes

Or, the thing that’s blatantly obvious by its omission

“Freedom is having a choice of different things, not just having one really bad choice. Freedom is living in a city like here, where you can breathe clean air and choose your lifestyle.” – Zorana Jovanovic Andersen

A quick look at the revised NPPF with only a mug of weapon’s grade coffee and some ulcer-inducing trepidation between me and the transport planning elephant in the room.

Get all the juice in this week’s Sketch… 

#placemaking #walking #cycling #activetravel #newyearresolution #urbandesigngroup #udg

Or, making the case for active travel

“There are issues on our roads. I obviously spend a lot of time thinking about this in relation to the work that we’re doing in developing the road safety strategy, and some of it is about trying to create that culture of mutual respect between everyone using our roads.” – Lilian Greenwood, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the Department for Transport

It’s about time that active travel was given an equal helping of funding to bring it in line with road and rail.

Here’s to safer streets for all!

Get all the juice in this week’s Sketch…

#activetravel #walking #cycling #waronthemotorist #manualforstreets

Or, what the winter months can teach us about placemaking

“Every year when the clocks go back, women everywhere see their world get smaller – not because they want to, but because they don’t feel safe going out after dark.” – Kate Dale, Marketing Director at Sport England

Night culture is something that tends to get completely overlooked in the race to provide homes and employment areas, but of course, it’s just as important to creating a rounded place that caters for everyone.

You may have your executive five-bedroom house, but if there’s nowhere to go in the evening and it’s a drive to the nearest pub, might you just decide to stay in and rue the fact you’re living in an overpriced open prison?

Find out in this week’s Sketch…

#nightculture #culture #newtowns #activetravel #sustainability #culturalquarter #manualforstreets

Or, how do we keep the placemaking dream alive in the harsh reality of the real world?

“There is something going wrong between the masterplan and what happens on the ground.” – Katja Stille

When it comes to placemaking will the wheelie-bin operators continue to have the final say, ensuring that a vehicle that visits a place once a week is given more prominence in decision making than the people who will actually live there?

Find out in this week’s Sketch…

#place #placemaking #vision #masterplanning