An image of a person with a pushchair down a residential street near inconsiderately parked cars. The person is wearing striped clothing and walking past a black car. The setting includes brick buildings and a view of houses on a hill in the background.

It's happening! 📢

On Tuesday, MPs will consider an amendment to enable local leaders to ban pavement parking in their area. We need you to help us get this amendment on to the Bill.

Ask your MP to agree to Amendment 265 when it's considered on Tuesday: https://bitly.livingstreets.org.uk/4tMU2Uq

Scientists at The University of Manchester have developed a new way to measure how traffic contributes to rising urban temperatures, revealing that everyday vehicle use can play a measurable role in making cities warmer.

doi.org/10.1029/2025...

New paper with @profjtwhite.bsky.social & Gareth James has been finalised in Progress in Planning. We explore Scotland’s placemaking agenda compared to rest of the UK, identify several implementation challenges, and consider how best to deliver placemaking through planning doi.org/10.1016/j.pr...

Final couple of days of the MUD-Lab MSc Urban Design & International Planning study tour complete. We finished the week with Donau City, campus of the University of Business and Economics, and Aspern Seestadt. Now a bit of time for everyone to finish exploring Vienna before heading home tomorrow

Great first few days of the MUD-Lab Study Tour in Vienna with MSc Urban Design & International Planning students. So far we’ve visited the Ringstrasse, historic centre, Mariahilfe Strasse and Museumsquartier, Nordbahnhof development and Alterlaa. No better place to consider design, past and present

It was fun taking first years round Fallowfield last week as part of my placemaking module. Gathering observations and ideas for their SWOT analysis coursework. My recce earlier in the week was much sunnier than the field visit itself!

“Not a drive to the future we imagined” SCI annual lecture with Professor Dame Henrietta L. Moore. A reflection on Dame Henrietta L. Moore’s SCI lecture on car dependency, urban design, and why car‑centred lifestyles no longer fit the 21st century.

🚗 SCI Annual Lecture Highlights

Professor Henrietta Moore explored the hidden costs of car dependency in Roadkill: Unveiling the True Cost of Our Toxic Relationship with Cars.

The talk challenged car-centric planning and called for “social collectivity at the core of urban design.”🌍

🔗Read more 👇

This is good advice every day, assuming of course that your local city or suburb hasn’t been specifically and deliberately designed to make you essentially car dependent… #UrbanTruth

Really sad to see, in a city centre which has already had so much fire damage in recent years. Huge relief that it looks like the fire service managed to prevent major damage to Central Station.

Wait, we’re afraid of walkable distances now?

#UrbanTruth

Now exhibiting in the Samuel Alexander Glass Corridor: MossWorlds – Re-Storying Urban Lives

📅 Until 2 March 2026
📍Sam Alex Glass Corridor

The exhibition is based on an interdisciplinary research project undertaken at The University of Manchester during 2024-5, supported by Creative Manchester.

Stockport traders fear parking charges increase that 'defies belief' Traders in Stockport fear an increase in parking charges will have a negative effect on business.

Meanwhile bus fares to the excellent interchange/many other town centre stops remain frozen at £2, for those put off by the extra 40p/hour.

Town's parking charges increase 'defies belief' www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

There’s one month left to enter the RTPI North West Awards for Planning Excellence. If you have a project, plan, or team that deserves recognition, do consider a submission:

www.rtpi.org.uk/find-my-rtpi...

Top 100 in ten subject graphic

✨ Big news!

We have been recognised again in the @timeshighered.bsky.social World University Rankings by Subject 2026 with ten subjects in the global top 100 and four in the world’s top 50.

Huge thanks to our amazing community who make this possible 💜

www.manchester.ac.uk/about/news/t...

How Paris Breaks All the Rules to Be the Best City for People Paris is an incredible example of a city “getting it right” because of how it breaks many of the rules set forth by car culture so as to create the best city for people.

Paris's Peerless Placemaking: How the City of Light Breaks the Rules to Get Things Right (new article)
www.sociallifeproject.org/how-paris-br... by Fred Kent and @drtpanova.bsky.social

@carlosmorenofr.bsky.social, @placemakingx.bsky.social

#PlacemakingParis #PlacemakingEurope

Placemaking in post-devolution Scotland: The gap between aspiration and implementation This paper investigates the framing and implementation of a distinct placemaking agenda that emerged in Scotland after devolution. Developed over a pe…

New long form paper published on Scotland’s ‘placemaking’ agenda within planning and urban design policy, with @profjtwhite.bsky.social and Gareth James. We identify a progressive commitment to placemaking at policy level, but implementation needs to catch up

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Sidewalk Resource Guide: Restoring Social Life in Our Communities A guide to our best articles about creating better sidewalks to revive social life, build great neighborhoods, grow economic activity, and save the planet.

The best way to create world class streets is to start with world class sidewalks. Sidewalks are the foundation of what make cities affordable, accessible, and loved.

Our resource guide: www.sociallifeproject.org/sidewalk_res... by Fred Kent & @drtpanova.bsky.social

#UrbanDesign #Placemaking

These are both train stations.

Photo shows the campus of Manchester University dusted with snow

🎉Happy New Year Everybody! 🎉
As we return to a snow-dusted campus, we hope you’ve had a wonderful festive break filled with rest, celebration and time to recharge. We're looking forward to seeing all our students and staff back on campus soon. Here’s to new opportunities and achievements in 2026!

Is a post-growth future for the New Urban Design possible? A response to Cuthbert and Suartika’s ‘Ideology, science and the New Urban Design – critique and evolution’ Published in Journal of Urban Design (Vol. 30, No. 6, 2025)

📰"Is a post-growth future for the New Urban Design possible? A response to Cuthbert and Suartika’s ‘Ideology, science and the New Urban Design – critique and evolution’" by James T. White in The Journal of Urban Design 🛋️ doi.org/10.1080/1357... #postgrowth

Cities aren’t built for older people – our study shows many can’t walk fast enough to beat a pedestrian crossing Many older people with reduced mobility say they feel ‘hurried’, ‘rushed’ and ‘unsafe" when walking around their city.

The onus should not rest on individuals with reduced mobility to keep pace in a fast-moving world. We urge cities to prioritise urban design that puts pedestrians first – creating environments that enable physical activity, especially among vulnerable groups.
theconversation.com/cities-arent...

This time of year can be difficult for some.

Spending time in nature, including street trees, can make a huge difference to our mental health, giving us a much-needed boost during the colder, darker months of the year. Have you tried soothing your worries by surrounding yourself with greenery? 🌲🌳

RTPI commends the significant funding announced in today’s #budget but urges that long-term investment is key to building capacity.

The chancellor has pledged an extra £48m to boost capacity in the planning system.

Read reaction from @victoriartpi.bsky.social:
www.rtpi.org.uk/new-from-the...

Third Brian Robson Lecture YouTube video by Spatial Policy and Analysis Lab at UoM

Pleased to share the recording of the 3rd Brian Robson Lecture, delivered by Professor John Goddard OBE. His talk 'High Hopes, Hard Realities: Civic Universities at the crossroads' examines how UK civic universities can reconnect with their places.

📺 Full lecture: www.youtube.com/watch?v=uevw...

Count me in

Aideen is sitting in a wheelchair with one of her sons on her knee, the other child standing behind her. They are on a residential street.

Woman with dark hair in a wheelchair, positioned in front of a black SUV parked on the pavement of a residential street.

“As a mum and a wheelchair user, pavement parking puts me and my children in danger every day. I don’t understand why drivers think they can block pavements — they’re for pedestrians.” - Aideen, campaigner

Join our campaign against pavement parking https://bit.ly/4hWpLxM

Most politicians ignore the massive costs of car-centric mobility and still pretend pushing cars is somehow a win for society. Meanwhile, the proven benefits of active mobility get dismissed and every cent invested is scrutinized. Feels like a severe case of #CarBrain gripping our collective mindset

Valuing What Matters: From Tick-Box to Stewardship – Reclaiming Social Value as a Driver of Trust, Equity, and Lasting Change

Mark Swift, LPIP Hub Place Fellow, argues that social value in public spending must move beyond compliance and tick-box exercises.

https://ow.ly/mp9x50Xtqok

Coming up in a couple of weeks!