We would like to thank everyone who has contributed to the making of this report.
What are modern, successful Community Developments and what can we learn from them as we seek to create better places?
ADAM Architecture and Farrer & Co launched the report ‘Placemaking — a patient approach to creating communities’ in February 2020. The research, undertaken by Future Places Studio, explored modern successful community developments and the lessons they can teach us as we seek to create more convivial and resilient communities. As the country strives to build 300,000 new homes per year, new neighbourhoods should draw from the best examples from our recent past that can challenge the status quo; the UK’s housing crisis is as much about the quality of our homes and communities and the places that are being created as it is about lack of numbers.
If the UK is to avoid the blight of poorly designed, soulless dormitory towns and suburbs in coming decades, landowners, developers, and local authorities need to prioritise a more patient and collaborative approach to community development. That involves:
01 Taking a long-term view at the outset of a project.
02 Accepting a deferred return on investment, which can lead to greater long-term revenues.
03 Measuring the success of developments through a social and environmental lens (in addition to return on capital or profit).
04 Prioritising the design and community building of a scheme through a long-term masterplan and design codes.
05 Placing greater emphasis on community and local authority co-creation, as well as meeting local needs.
06 Re-thinking the business-as-usual approach to social housing, streets, mixed-use, green spaces and social infrastructure.
07 Putting in place a stewardship model to maintain the ongoing quality of the place.
08 Prioritising community health, wellbeing and social cohesion through best practice design solutions.
As part of the UK’s effort to bounce back from Covid-19, the government has proposed radical reforms to planning policy in the Levelling-Up and Regeneration Act 2023, which aims to create a more fit for purpose and efficient planning system that can help the country build its way out of the housing crisis. Within the context of these changes, this sequel to Placemaking One revisits the subject of patient development, reflecting on the impacts of Covid-19, the evolving environmental, social and governance standards, and the challenges of the current planning system.
The issues highlighted in this report are deeply ingrained in the UK planning system. Within the next 12 months, there is likely to be a general election and we hope that our politicians give careful thought to the fresh ideas brought together in this research, which we believe could play a crucial part in addressing the housing crisis more imaginatively and sustainably.