Thoughts

The London Borough of Brent recently announced a participatory budget of £2.25m to be used by local community groups. What can participatory budgeting projects teach us about creating social value in the built environment?

After decades of steadily increasing uptake of the concept of wellbeing, what has it come to mean to communities today? What does it look like? And how can we change the way that we view wellbeing to improve lives at scale?

For some time those that assess the impacts of new public policy have not considered how wellbeing metrics support a better policy formation. Could this be wellbeing's moment to create change?

Getting the public’s input into the design of a place is crucial to creating better places. If you believe in community engagement - but have been frustrated with the process and results - we hear you.

How ADP Architects are using societal value to create a campus that supports innovation and enterprise for the University of Leeds.

A housing design audit for England released this month has determined that the majority of housing developments in England are poor or mediocre in quality.

Working as an intern is a desirable addition to a CV and is valued by employers in the recruiting process. But what is the actual value of completing an internship and how can employers maximise benefits to create a worthwhile opportunity for both intern and employer alike?

In his book, A Country of Cities: A Manifesto for an Urban America, architect Vishaan Chakrabarti, argues that improved urban outcomes are created by better environments and economies which in turn lead to increased social equity.

Social value is a key consideration for the built environment, but it’s still frequently overlooked. Many surveying and valuation practitioners either ignore it completely or adopt a rather narrow interpretation of the Red Book/International Valuation Standards. 

One year ago, The Lancet published the findings of its Commission on Pollution and Health. The report should have resulted in immediate action by governments and regulators on a worldwide basis.

It’s been a while since the Financial Times (October 16th, 2017) reported that the UK National Advisory Board for Impact Investing (a group of charities and investors), asked the government to come up with a £2bn catalyst fund to ‘jump-start private sector investment in economically-deprived communities’.

There have been many attempts to define the components that together make up places that support people and the environment.