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Sep 10, 20243 min read
Changing Places: the Life Sciences industry in London
The Life Sciences industry is comprised of companies and organisations that research, develop and manufacture pharmaceuticals,...
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Aug 14, 20244 min read
Planning is messy – but reducing it to binary choices will not give us the sustainable places we need
Earlier this year I visited Singapore and wrote about how government interventions have led to some remarkable outcomes on housing,...
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Jun 27, 20244 min read
Making London more swimmable
There’s an ad going round social media this week by the city of Oslo, presented with irony by a droll Norwegian who asks if Oslo is “even...
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May 29, 20243 min read
Supermarkets and Healthy Placemaking
Earlier this month, Asda unveiled plans for a “transformational Mixed-Use Redevelopment of its ten-acre Park Royal site in North West...
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Apr 25, 20243 min read
Vulnerable in the city
“Vulnerability” comes from the Latin word for wound – vulnis. It’s the state of being open to injury, or appearing as if you are. Feeling...
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Nov 21, 20234 min read
Be part of a community-led approach to assessing health impact
I’m delighted to share this blog from Josh Artus at Centric Lab. What they’re doing in rethinking and redesigning Health Impact...
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Nov 7, 20233 min read
Developers, health and place – connecting the dots
At a time when evidence is fast increasing on how the built environment impacts our individual and collective health, it is regrettable...
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Oct 12, 20234 min read
Borrow some medical practice to build healthy homes and places
This past year has seen real progress in demonstrating how our built environment - the homes & places where we live – impacts our...
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Sep 29, 20234 min read
Connecting generations through houses & places
Earlier this week I came home to find on my doormat a “special invitation” from Audley Villages to visit a newly developed “luxury...
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Sep 7, 20233 min read
We all deserve to live in a Blue Zone
A new docuseries dropped on Netflix last week called “Live to 100: Secrets of the Blue Zones”. The series is conceived, produced, and...
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Aug 24, 20233 min read
We need to talk about Toilets
When I wrote over a year ago about the need to rethink public toilets, a journalist I know told me that the issue would not attract wider...
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Aug 9, 20232 min read
First, do no harm
Anyone involved in medicine and the provision of healthcare will recognise this phrase and its origins in Hippocrates – it embodies the...
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Jul 26, 20235 min read
The Stag Brewery regeneration –a planning test for our time?
A planning application to redevelop the Stag Brewery in Mortlake was approved by Richmond Council last week. The largest regeneration...
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Jun 23, 20234 min read
The coalitions are coming
Just when I thought it wasn’t possible, not one but two coalitions of Built Environment organisations have announced their arrival in the...
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Jun 9, 20234 min read
When dots don’t connect
Earlier this year when Secretary of State for Levelling up Michael Gove suggested that a rethought approach to planning education could...
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May 3, 20235 min read
How do we sustain multigenerational communities in London?
“We often hear about stepping outside ourselves, but rarely about stepping outside our generation.” ― Criss Jami, Killosophy...
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Apr 17, 20236 min read
Translating knowledge & bringing clarity to Londoners
An interview with Leanne Tritton, chair of the London Society As Chair of the London Society, Leanne Tritton has developed a formidable...
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Apr 6, 20234 min read
Health services must be prioritised in communities undergoing regeneration
Some recent events in Kent illustrate a disconnect between planning for new housing development and providing essential health services...
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Mar 27, 20233 min read
Show me the Evidence
The recent consultation on the National Planning Policy Framework (now closed) has brought forth diverse opinions from across the...
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Mar 7, 20234 min read
Everybody’s talking about planning
“There is only one thing in life worse than being talked about”, said Oscar Wilde, “and that is not being talked about”. Events in the...
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