If the state of the economy and society during 2012 has taught us anything, it is that new thinking is needed to bring us through times that are already a lot harder than anyone imagined at the onset of the financial crisis five years ago.
Yet much of that thinking remains on the margins of public debate, and at national and government level we have seen a retreat into risk-averseness and the repetition of vacuous slogans about growth, coupled with a widening divide between the haves and have-nots.
Wherever we have had the opportunity, Urban Pollinators has sought to stimulate debate and challenge some of the assumptions that hold sway in both central and local government, as well as in much of the private sector.
Our work focused on three key areas in 2012: the future of high streets and town centres; housing and neighbourhoods; and green spaces.
Building on our successful input into the Portas Review, we have kept the debate on the future of our towns alive with numerous events and presentations, and by giving evidence to two separate inquiries organised by the London Assembly – one on empty shops, and the second on the future of town centres within the capital.
The overarching theme has been to consider how ‘me towns’ can become ‘we towns’, where co-operation and shared local benefits take precedence. Julian’s presentation to the Built Environment Forum Scotland (see above) summarises this thinking. Our provocation for Architecture + Design Scotland earlier in the year on ’20 things to do in the high street without shopping’ proved very popular, with well over 5,000 views on Slideshare, and picks up on the themes developed in 2011 in the 21st Century Agora paper.
We also worked with several of our colleagues who had been involved in our input into the Portas Review to organise High Street Camp, a stimulating and inspirational day of workshops for community activists and others interested in rethinking the high street. As one business improvement district manager said: ‘Had far more interesting conversations than at other conferences, congrats on hitting on a winning formula!’
As well as featuring a flying visit from Mary Portas and a thoughtful conclusion from RSA chief executive Matthew Taylor, the day created spaces for real engagement with some of the key issues facing town centres, from making space for innovation to creating a people-friendly built environment.
We were also pleased to be involved in Townstock, another great event organised by the irrepressible Jane Johnston and highlighting the work of Totally Locally, which is helping a growing number of towns to celebrate and support local business. We helped produce the ‘book of the day’ which brings together 80 ideas and suggestions from 50 towns.
Following our previous work with New Start magazine, we have spent much of the second half of the year working on a project with the think tank ResPublica on how to develop a people-centred approach to regeneration and disadvantaged neighbourhoods. The report, due to be published early in 2013, examines how we can build from the assets that already exist within poor communities and work with the grain of people’s lives rather than punishing them for the circumstances in which they find themselves.
It has also been good to spend time working with Groundwork UK on a major report on the future of green spaces. Grey Places Need Green Spaces brings together a wealth of evidence on the social and economic benefits our ‘green infrastructure’ contributes to society, and advocates a commons-based approach to the protection and care of these invaluable assets.
Another key project in 2012 was an update of our research project with the Bill Sargent Trust, Forces for Good, examining how community ownership and new community rights can be applied to the disposal of surplus military land. This issue will grow in importance over the next few years as the British military scales back its landholdings.
More recently, we’ve worked with the Centre for Local Economic Strategies on a study of Belfast’s ‘anchor institutions’ such as universities, hospitals and airports and the contribution they can make to the wider wellbeing of the city. In a city which is still known internationally more for its problems than its successes, it has been encouraging to see a determination to address deep-rooted issues among many of the city’s leaders.
We’re looking forward to developing many of these themes in 2013, and continuing to work with other innovative thinkers and practitioners to stimulate and share new ideas about how the places we live in can be better and fairer. Please get in touch if you’d like us to work with you or speak at an event – we’d love to hear from you.