Manual for Streets! The DMRB! Women! And… A Bob Ross Painting? Or, why we’ve spent twenty years obsessing over bin lorries while ignoring the "forever hum of fear”

Motonormativity invites isolation and intimidation. Designing specifically for women invites safer streets for everyone else.

Find out more in this week’s Sketch…

#urbandesign #womenssafety #manualforstreets #equalityact #motonormativity #placemaking #amirite #placemakers #nppf #urbandesigngroup

LTNs! Green Spaces! Active Travel! Pubs! The “Norm” For New Development? Or, finally, some common sense on LTNs

It’s official! Don’t mess with LTNs. Leave them be. It’s good to see the law finally sticking up for something that saves lives.

Get all the juice in this week’s Sketch!

#lowtrafficneighbourhoods #ltn #filteredpermeability #urbandesigngroup

NPP-Festive Traditions, Cycling, An Elephant… And A Disappearing Tank? Or, the thing that’s blatantly obvious by its omission

A quick look at the revised NPPF with only a mug of weapon’s grade coffee and some ulcer-inducing trepidation between me and the transport planning elephant in the room.

Get all the juice in this week’s Sketch!

#placemaking #walking #cycling #activetravel #newyearresolution #urbandesigngroup #udg

Infrastructure! Build, Baby, Build! And… A Scandal? Or, how we have to start collectively planning for infrastructure if Steve Reed’s housing dream is going to become a reality

Even engineers are now calling for joined up working, placemaking and a recruitment drive for built environment professionals.

But are they just fuelling the war on the motorist?

Find out in this week’s Sketch…

#urbandesigngroup #newtowns #placemaking #cykelslangen

73%, New Towns… and Roundabouts? Or, when it comes to new towns, can we actually learn from the mistakes of the past?

We know 20mph limits save lives. But how does this tie in to the government’s plans for “well-connected, well-designed, sustainable and attractive” new towns?

Find out in this week’s Sketch…

#20mph #urbandesigngroup #newtowns #manualforstreets #pedestrians #cyclists #motonormativity

Life Saving, 7,000 Steps and… Where’s The Pub? Or, why it’s odd to encourage people to walk more when you can’t give them anything to walk to

Why are we building new housing estates with no facilities? The NHS wants to get Britain walking and cycling more, but what’s the point if there is nowhere for people to walk or cycle to? Let’s investigate in this week’s Sketch…
#LTN #LTNs #walking #cycling #publictransport #20mph #urbandesigngroup

Bratislava, 300 yards and Sidewalks Or, the need to design with children and young people in mind

Perhaps when Manual for Streets 3 is finally published it should call for pavements to be a minimum of 3m wide rather than the current 2m?

#placemaking #urbandesigngroup #udg #cities #urbandesign #janejacbos #children #motonormativity #streets #streetsforpeople

Urban Designers, 10,000 years and the Smart ForTwo Or, an ode to good placemaking

✅ Investing in good design will increase the value of your scheme! Find out how in this week’s Sketch...

#placemaking #urbandesign #urbandesigners #officeforplace #urbandesigngroup #udg #manualforstreets #walking #cycling #nowheresville

theurbansketchwriter.substack.com/p/urban-desi...

A Bill, Some Insanity and a Conspiracy Or, how a lack of control over some highways authorities will crash the government’s new towns aspirations

Why are highways authorities able to continue using outdated guidance when this puts vulnerable road users at unnecessary and potentially fatal risk?
#placemaking #janejacobs #jangehl #manualforstreets #urbandesigngroup #udg #LTN1/20 #nationaldesignguide #nationalmodeldesigncode #gearchange #NPPF

Massive thanks to #UrbanDesignGroup for hosting last night’s event in #AlanBaxterGallery for our book #AppliedUrbanDesign 📕!

Fab chatting w. practitioners across the #builtenvironment- thanks so much for coming! PhilBlack BobPhillips & I had a blast!

Very cool to see our 📕 in #RIBA bookshop too 😎

Our #UrbanDesignGroup talk on Cumbernauld Town Centre is online if you'd like to take a look: www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_jj...

The book can be bought here: concretedreams.org.uk/book/

@chrislesliephoto.bsky.social @dialectographer.bsky.social @librariesnl.bsky.social #Cumbernauld #Brutalism