Building utopia
- Rebecca Fraser
March 2022
How can new housing developments work for everyone?
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We’ve emerged from the last two years excited to get out into the world again. With two of the us team living in London, they’re busy bees taking up every opportunity to learn about the latest thinking in areas relevant to our work. Earlier this month, our Content and Research Strategist, Stephanie was in her happy place, learning about housing. Here she explores how housing could deliver better outcomes for communities…
The panel was made up of:
James Kirkup, Director, Social Market Foundation (Chair)
Dr Caglar Koksal, Contributing Author of Building Utopia, The University of Manchester
Dr Daniel Slade, Policy and Projects Manager, Town and Country Planning Association
Dr Sue Chadwick, Strategic Planning Advisor, Pinsent Masons
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It starts with a dream
It starts with a dream
Encouraging private business to think health
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Dr Koksal made it clear that developers need to be compelled to include health outcomes in their projects. This can be achieved with public pressure, legislation, incentive, or tax. Dr Chadwick put forward that the public should not underestimate the power of good PR as a driving factor for developers to undertake community consultation processes and embed health and wellbeing outcomes in their projects.
A PR driver should not be seen as problematic. Whatever leads to good outcomes, eh? Optics can matter and when that publicity is backed by action, things can actually improve.
Overall, the panellists and the report impressed upon those of us in the audience that these changes really are doable. Building with good health outcomes in mind is achievable with the right will and the right methods – and should not be dismissed as an exercise in ‘pie in the sky’ utopian thinking. This event gave hope that public pressure on the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities and continuing to encourage the good PR and ethical investment machines out there could achieve tangible improvements in our neighbourhoods and communities.