An interesting article, which looks at the shape of planning and urbanism today and some of the challenges which we will face tomorrow. In sum, the following challenges were identified:

• The public will reclaim the private.

In some ways this is already happening with private shopping centres incorporating leisure activities so that people feel like they could be on the high street in public spaces.

• Our perception of ‘good or suitable’ places to live will change

Again in some ways this is already happening , Manchester and Birmingham are great examples of where city centre living has become more desirable. In addition there is still the tendency to want to live in an inner-city up and coming with all the grit and sense of chick, remember what we used to think of Brixton, Shoreditch, New Cross, Forest Hill, Peckham??? Its funny how more people are wanting to live there these days.

However in future, this maybe challenged more, with ‘private’ spaces becoming prime locations (no not squatting!) but interesting building like Pinewood Studios where proposals for re-dovelopment have been submitted. We have already seen schools, churches and hospitals as well as prisons converted in this way so why not?

• High Rise living

High rises are controversial but in the future, there maybe little choice. Besides they are already making a come back with support for a 53 storey residential building in croydon getting approval from academics, architects and sustainable designers.In the future, we could see challenging designs which enable direct street access (without the need for a lift) to the 10th or 30th floor…

• Third world regeneration projects by urban regeneration companies like Urban Splash

With growing populations at a time when they are becoming world class economic leaders and thus attracting a new work forces, slums in Brazil and India may welcome western urban regeneration companies input and we in the west could be moving to a rejuvinated mumbai slum for work.

• Greening of space

To some degree this is already happening, take the southbank centre, growing food in parks projects and roof top gardening (as planned by Renewal in their design for the new London Sports Village in South London). But could this become more militant, with work place garden or allotment terraces? car park conversions or more high rise roof gardens as intended by the developers Renewal?

• More interesting Architecture

Obvious? Well take a look at recent winners and runners up in the RIBA awards, I think the look of a building and its relationship to its surroundings will become a greater concern. Although this article does not mention it, I think the design of urban transport and layouts will also change in future. I did an article on some of the bicycle design competition in the USA and they certainly aim to challenge how we will use bicycles in the future.

• Fear of Suburbia

With inner London experiencing riots, why did it all kick of in Croydon- its a suburb! Well perhaps its loosing its suburban village identity with all the big chains? or perhaps opportunities are as limited as the inner-city areas? how about transport- any issues there? have housing officers finally got it right with mixing communities? Gentrification of the inner-cities pushed those on lower incomes out? Perhaps the answer is all of the above?

But whatever the correct the answer we are seeing some of our suburbs become increasingly ‘challenged’ places.

This is a really interesting article that looks at how the history and contribution of the gay and lesbian community in city centres and some of the challenges which are arising out of the blurring lines between the city centre and suburbia. What is interesting about this article is that it focuses upon the political impact that the gay and lesbian community have had upon city centres and their success in suburbia and the potential for continuing political advocacy in the urban realm if more communities relocate to suburbia and beyond.

It is clear that while some of the stereotypical ‘small mindedness’ ‘villager’ ‘homo’ attitudes maybe tackled in suburbia and beyond, there maybe a dilution of political advocacy in cities, where diversity, difference and variety are in abundance and perhaps the gay and lesbian community have some of the most difficult challenges.

In addition, where there is a vibrant gay and lesbian community there is also a local thriving arts, culture and local business economy as well as political advocacy. The question is can inner citiy areas cope without these- Manchester? vauxhall? clapham junction?, san francisco?…what would these places be like without the gay community and is suburbia appropriately equipped with the infrastructure and social support structures to cope with an influx….with changes to planning laws, these issues may become increasingly significant in the UK

Mindmixer aims to bring community participation on a whole new level and as a community engagement in local planning enthusiast, this could be a great new way to get people involved. Yes we already have online communities and local forums, but I think this is different. As the article states ‘its like sharing a FB like button’ to planning policy initiatives online. The results so far look have shown some success too from improving transport policy, creating a city budget and getting ideas on policy.

Achieving this through civic incentives like free bus travel, ideas being publicly displayed etc, sound so exciting. I am definitely thinking of watching this closely and following it up in some way.

It offers an interesting insight into planning issues and their impact upon women. The way we plan our cities affects every aspect of women’s lives from accessing work, training, social activities, leisure and employment. Some great examples of policy making a difference include:

Lewisham’s citywide planning =There is a lot more emphasis built within local planning to reduce long distance travel and greater interest in generating local jobs for all levels. Lewisham, catford, Deptford, New cross and surrey canal road are all sights targeted for new town centre regeneration / development.

Midlands and Yorkshire = Women have been involved in directly saying where childcare should be provided around employment and major transport sites.

Thames Gateway = Used innovative ways to get the views of women who identified toilet provision and staffing at stations as major issues in their planning proposals.

More work needs to be done:

• More women in planning and other built environment sectors
• LA tech departments need to focus on incorporating gendered issues effectively into street management, maintenance, public toilets and street management
• More local statistical data on gendered transport use, travel, access to education and employment
• Gender should be taken more seriously in relation to all aspects of planning and environmental issues.