A Gentle Conversation about Density

Where should we build 300,000 new homes every year? We could build tall buildings, which can have transformative effects on city centres and their skylines, but might not necessarily match delivery with need. Or we could build urban extensions and new settlements, which could be imbued from the outset with the highest possible design and build standards, but are very difficult to deliver. Or we could densify, gently, existing suburbs. We could incentivise LPAs, residents and SME builders to upgrade older, less energy-efficient housing stock, especially in those parts of the cities with the greatest potential to reduce car dependency. This too though is a challenge. Centre for Cities found that over a fifth of neighbourhoods outside city centres have built no new houses since 2011, while half have built, on average, less than one home each year. Why are our suburbs the way they are? What are the barriers to densification and how might they be overcome? Sam Stafford puts these question to Samuel Hughes, Hana Loftus and Ben Woolnough Samuel (@scp_hughes) is a Research Fellow at the University of Oxford and a Senior Fellow at Policy Exchange and Create Streets. Hana Loftus (@hanaloftus), is a Director at HAT Projects and an Associate at Public Practice. Ben (@benhoward_w) is Planning Manager at East Suffolk Council.  Some accompanying reading ‘What have been the impacts of the introduction of the standard methodology for calculating housing need on planning for housing?’ A report for Barratt Developments by the University of Liverpool https://www.barrattdevelopments.co.uk/~/media/Files/B/Barratt-Developments/materials-and-downloads/uol-standard-methodology-final-report.pdf ‘New settlements in local plans: Not everything in the garden is rosy’ by Matthew Spry at Lichfields https://lichfields.uk/blog/2020/may/26/new-settlements-in-local-plans-not-everything-in-the-garden-is-rosy/ ‘Sleepy suburbs. The role of the suburbs in solving the housing crisis’ by Anthony Breach and Elena Magrini at Centre for Cities. https://www.centreforcities.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Sleepy-Suburbs.pdf ‘Intensification and how to achieve it’ by Hana http://virtualhana.blogspot.com/2022/04/intensification-and-how-to-achieve-it.html ‘Street Votes - what's the big idea?’ by Hana http://virtualhana.blogspot.com/2022/04/intensification-and-how-to-achieve-it.html ‘Strong Suburbs’ by Samuel and Ben Southwood for Policy Exchange https://policyexchange.org.uk/publication/strong-suburbs/ ‘Learning from History’ by Ben Southwood for Create Streets https://www.createstreets.com/projects/learning-from-history-december-29th/ ‘New Suburbia: What is a suburb?’ by Simon Cooke https://theviewfromcullingworth.blogspot.com/2022/04/new-suburbia-1-what-is-suburb.html Supurbia by HTA Design https://www.hta.co.uk/project/supurbia The Croydon Suburban Design Guide https://suburbandesign.croydon.gov.uk/ ‘Mayor Perry delivers on planning promise to protect Croydon’s local character by removing planning design guide’ https://lbc-app-w-newscroydon-p.azurewebsites.net/mayor-perry-delivers-on-planning-promise-to-protect-croydons-local-character-by-removing-planning-design-guide/ Some accompanying listening Skirmish in the Suburbs by Snapped Ankles https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s714eMCbdX4 50 Shades T-Shirts! If you have listened to Episode 45 of the 50 Shades of Planning Podcast you will have heard Clive Betts say that... 'In the Netherlands planning is seen as part of the solution. In the UK, too often, planning is seen as part of the problem'. Sam said in reply that that would look good on a t-shirt and it does. Further details can be found here: http://samuelstafford.blogspot.com/2021/07/50-shades-of-planning-t-shirts.html