108 ENLIGHTENED PLANNING
HOW WE LIVE in cities – together and individually – has never endured such close scrutiny as over the last 18 months. During the rigours of a global pandemic, our homes, our neighbourhoods, our parks, our local shops and takeaways have never played such a vital, physical part in sustaining health and well- being and in connecting us to our communities. In terms of health and economic impact, the UK has been one of the worst affected of all developed nations, which has only thrown a sharper spotlight on the woefully variable quality of our cities, revealing the last few decades’ substandard, piecemeal approach to regeneration/gentrification, driven by opportunistic development and a willingness to sell off valuable public land to enrich overseas development corporations (and their clients) or volume house builders. Te quality of our homes, neighbourhoods, parks and public realm has suffered massively. As Covid- 19 vaccines continue to roll out, and the prospect looms of businesses returning to normal – or whatever will pass for normal in 2021 – there is a collective sense across the political, civilian and built environment spectrum that we have to do better. Te BBC World Service’s excellent radio programme and podcast My Perfect City provides valuable insights into what that ‘better’ might look like. Cherry-picking aspects of cities from around the world that have got some aspect of the formula right – and it’s worth noting that not a single UK city is featured – the series showed us how, for example, to design for high-quality, inclusive housing (Vienna), optimal mental health (Singapore), full employment (Toronto), social cohesion (Rotterdam) and female entrepreneurship (Kochi, India), concluding with Barcelona, a city deemed to have transformed its gridlocked streets into the most liveable neighbourhoods. Among those that assisted the show in its assessments was Professor Greg Clarke, urbanist and global city adviser. In the last episode, broadcast in January 2021, presenter Fi Glover asked Clarke how Covid-19 and the pandemic has highlighted the liveability of cities. To which he replied, ‘Tis is probably the most fascinating thing that any of us who think about cities are now engaged with. Of course, Covid-19 has been a massive shock – a public health shock, an economic shock. It has really dented city finances. At the same time, Covid-19 holds out the promise of change.
‘It has provided an opportunity for cities to rework their public space, to think again about their transport systems, to focus on air quality. It’s allowed cities to start thinking about using their real estate in different ways in the future, and it’s created a catalyst for reimagining the city so that they could emerge even better after Covid-19 than they were at the start.’ Many in the built environment professions have had the time, the energy and the opportunity – thanks to the ease of online meeting and conference tools – to brainstorm a blueprint for the future. In many of these
debates, social sustainability now rides as high as environmental. Which means greater access for all to decent quality housing, expansion of green infrastructure around and between neighbourhoods, better and more plentiful outdoor and recreational facilities, and more flexibility around how we live, work and play. Given the lead times of major regeneration projects – usually several years in the planning, then taking a decade or more to deliver – any schemes completing now don’t have the benefit of this thinking. However, a handful
of ambitious projects planned in the last five years do. Sunderland’s Riverside regeneration scheme, Ebbsfleet Garden City and Enfield’s Meridian Water all stand out for the degree of joined-up thinking that has gone into creating liveable, walkable neighbourhoods, richly blessed with open parkland and recreation space, with green infrastructure linking residents to vibrant civic, cultural and economy-boosting facilities, and a diversity of generally high-quality housing, designed by thoughtful architects, and built by an
This image The garden city in Ebbsfleet is designed to offer retail, work and civic convenience within relatively easy walking distances
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