National Building Museum’s Post

Great discussion among urban design professionals, developers and industry leaders who are shaping our urban future!

Urban spaces hold immense potential for transformation and revitalization. Check out the article below to learn how small, innovative interventions can breathe new life into neglected parts of our cities. #urbanplanning #cities #transformation #revitalization #design

At the core of experiential offerings is a transformative process. Folks emerge a different person from their interaction with place. In that sense, the city, like Adam said in his talk, is experience design at a massive scale. Leading interventions and projects with how we want the transformation to look like is a worthy endeavour and can be a game changer in the work of Main Street, BID, and downtown managers who seek to transform their places into putstanding destinations and boost their attractiveness.

Future-Proofing Our Cities: The Intersection of Security and Spatial Planning Integrating physical security into spatial planning is the secret to ensure our cities are safe, resilient, and sustainable. Strategic urban design can significantly impact safety. Well-lit pathways, open sightlines, and strategically placed public spaces can deter crime and enhance community safety. A prime example of this is Copenhagen, Denmark. Their success lies in several key strategies: - Well-Designed Public Spaces: Parks, plazas, and pedestrian zones are visible and accessible, encouraging community interaction and natural surveillance. - Effective Lighting: Prioritizing well-lit streets and public areas ensures safety at all times, deterring crime and enhancing the usability of spaces during evening hours. - Integrated Transportation Systems: Seamless cycling paths, pedestrian walkways, and public transport hubs reduce isolated areas and ensure safe, efficient movement. - Community Engagement: Involving residents in the planning process fosters a sense of ownership and responsibility, strengthening the social fabric and enhancing security.

🌳A new guidance report sets out how Leeds parks and green spaces can be used to foster culturally inclusive feelings of "belonging"🌳 Over the course of 2022-23, colleagues from the schools of civil engineering, psychology, geography, law and the sustainability service came together with policy and community partners to address questions about living within diverse communities. They focused specifically on how Leeds' green spaces could be reimagined to promote belonging. The work was informed by the following research questions: ⭐ When do people successfully feel like they belong in green spaces? ⭐ What fosters this feeling? ⭐ How could this be related to policy? The project was created in response to Leeds City Council's 'Culture Strategy for Leeds 2017-2030' and 'the Leeds Parks & Green Spaces Strategy 2022-32'. It was funded by the Research England policy support fund (2022-23). We were thrilled to recently publish the outputs from this project on our website - showcasing the value of this work for policymakers and local people. As part of this, the team produced several informative assets, including a guidance report, an animation, several video presentations and a blog. 👉 Visit our website to find out more about the work: https://lnkd.in/eUQMhd8m 👉 Watch the project animation: https://lnkd.in/exVsj-i7 👉 Read the guidance report: https://lnkd.in/eycc3teY (Gehan Selim, Pam Birtill MA DPhil SFHEA, Rebecca Brunk, Dr Jill Dickinson, Marie-Avril Berthet, Kathryn Holloway, Research England)

Social Mobility Day We all have a role in creating a more equitable society where everyone can succeed, regardless of their background. Social Mobility Day is about raising awareness and taking action—values that should permeate everything we do. In construction design, we have a unique opportunity to enhance social mobility by creating inclusive, accessible, and affordable environments, buildings, and structures. At INVVU, our work emphasises accessible design, including public spaces, travel and community hubs, sustainable infrastructure, educational facilities, and much more. We employ universal design principles to meet diverse needs and ensure equal access for all. Thoughtful construction design fosters equitable communities, paving the way for enhanced social mobility and a more just society. #SocialMobility #Equality #Construction #DesigningEquity #ThoughtfulDesign

Today, the buzzwords of ‘wellbeing’, ‘wellness’, ‘sustainability’, ‘eco’, and ‘regenerative’ lay heavily on the imperatives of developers and placemakers. But how can they make a real difference? In this piece for City Nation Place, we explore five factors for how places around the world are building health – drawing on findings from our global research project Making Sense of Place. 

Social Mobility Day We all have a role in creating a more equitable society where everyone can succeed, regardless of their background. Social Mobility Day is about raising awareness and taking action—values that should permeate everything we do. In construction design, we have a unique opportunity to enhance social mobility by creating inclusive, accessible, and affordable environments, buildings, and structures. At INVVU, our work emphasises accessible design, including public spaces, travel and community hubs, sustainable infrastructure, educational facilities, and much more. We employ universal design principles to meet diverse needs and ensure equal access for all. Thoughtful construction design fosters equitable communities, paving the way for enhanced social mobility and a more just society. #SocialMobility #Equality #Construction #DesigningEquity #ThoughtfulDesign

🏙️ How can we redesign cities for humans? Cities used to be great engines for collaboration and competition – but somewhere along the centuries, we've lost our way. Rapid urbanisation, the loneliness epidemic, bombastic yet homogenous architecture, and soaring real estate vacancy rates are all impacting on the health of our cities and the people that live within them. But according to Adam Scott of FreeState, who's been working on solving these problems through experience design for the last 20 years, there is another way. He thinks our cities need an experience-led approach, and has developed the City-Life-Ecosystem framework to light the path ahead. Experience design currently sits in the Creation-Activation and Software sections of the ecosystem. But Scott believes that experience designers have potential to reach far beyond. In his words: “We need to get involved to bring together our multiple capabilities to create extraordinary stories and experiences. The city needs you: not just as activators, but as experts with the knowhow to create a human-scale city.” At the WXO we think this work represents a real opportunity for the world of experience design to be taken more seriously. There is a problem in our cities – and an opportunity to have an impact and make money. Read the full report in the link in comments below – and tell us, who's in for a WXO City Taskforce...? 👇 (WXO Members: you can also start workshopping these ideas on the collaborative board in your private Circle space. And we'll be running this Campfire again at a US-friendly time soon – stay posted for details!) #wxo #wxocampfire #worldexperiencesummit #experienceeconomy #experiences #experienceevents #experientialretail #realestate #retailrealestate

Plenty of us talk about music, TV, books, clothes, food and films, but we almost never discuss the buildings we like and dislike. Humanise aims to change this. That’s why, over the summer of 2023, we took to the streets of Britain to find out how people feel about buildings. Here's what Londoners Magnus and James have to say about one of the more boring buildings in the British capital. To learn more about the problem of boring buildings and what a more human future might look like, browse our newly commissioned research and evidence at humanise.org. And here are 3 quick ways to join us in humanising our cities: 1) Support the movement by adding your signature at humanise.org/join-us 2) Contribute to the Boring Building Index, our global visual census of dreary architecture: https://lnkd.in/eCK_kqXk 3) Follow and share here & sign up to our mailing list for up-to-date news and upcoming events: https://lnkd.in/e9e63dxQ Help build a future that reflects the best of humanity.