Create Streets Head of Research Ben Southwood explains why street votes goes with the grain of British care for place and neighbourhood. Place is emotional and rightly so. Britons are conservative about their neighbourhoods. They take pride in them. They wish them to remain green and pleasant. Many planning reformers have failed because they misunderstood […]
London YIMBY’s John Myers explains how localism can be harnessed to deliver more homes. The current planning system is not popular. Residents who would be happy to support improvement of their area are often frustrated when their wishes are overridden. Councils feel that they lack powers and resources to do the best for their communities. […]
Create Streets head of research Ben Southwood explains how agglomeration is the key to economic success, and why this means that more gentle density in the UK can help us Most value in the world today is created by people working together. Natural resources like oil, or agricultural land, are still responsible for a substantial […]
Create Streets head of research Ben Southwood explains why low traffic neighbourhoods seem to be popular. Road use is a paradigm example of the famous ‘tragedy of the commons’. Most goods have prices, so consumers think twice before using them. When goods are free at the point of use, like roads, people tend to consume […]
Create Streets director Nicholas Boys Smith explains why long term sustainability depends on time honoured solutions not gimmicks. The bad news is that there is no single answer to developing sustainably. Anyone who says there is, is selling you snake oil. Passivhaus in the middle of the countryside anyone? A ‘sustainable’ building made out of […]