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At a glance

Future Of Community festival
A one-day event at the Central St Martins School of Art, exploring why there is such a focus on localism, New Urbanism and sustainable communities. Saturday, March 4th 2006

Speakers include: Geoff Mulgan; Ferdinand Mount; Jonathan Meades; David Edgar; Frank Furedi; Richard Sennett; Saskia Sassen; Tristram Hunt; Gloria Laycock; David Goodhart; Howard Williamson; Claire Fox; and many others...

Attitudes to the City
A national questionnaire to discover the real problems and benefits of living or working in an urban environment.

See below for details and ordering copies.

Bookshop Barnies
A new style of book launch... where the author explains the themes of his/her book which are then challenged, debated and argued over.

And a special invite-only festive event:
Bookshop Barnie Xmas Bash with Bookshop Barnie Balloon Debate

Who We Are...
The Future Cities Project has been set up to critically explore issues around the city. From the urban renaissance to the urban village; from sustainable development to under-development; from density to sprawl; from greenfield to green politics, the Future Cities Project seeks to explore why the terms of the debate - especially around cities - have become so fraught. We recognise that all questions around "the city" seem to be more intractable and less clear cut than they once were. But does that mean that city questions have become more complex, or have we become less confident to answer them? Architecture has become more about process, than product - evidenced by the fact that we have interminable quangos and debates about the housing shortage and yet, year on year, fewer and fewer homes are built.

Transport research has found that there is an increasing amount of caravans on the road correlating with the increased caravan sales Northampton among other areas. This continued increase could have other effects relating to reduced expenditure elsewhere in the economy, which will only be confirmed by further research into the subject.

Transport research has discovered that many people due to the economic downturn have either decided to holiday within the UK at i.e. a hotel in Norfolk or postpone their holiday until better financial times. This undoubtedly has an effect on the economy itself, especially that of businesses within the travel sector.

The government have recently decided to enforce new legislation that requires all bus, coach and lorry drivers to be Driver CPC Trained. Driver CPC Training has been rightly introduced to improve road safety among other factors and hopefully this introduction will see a decrease in bus, coach and lorry related accidents.

The current infrastructure including roads and the positioning of buildings, residential and business in some major cities is making it increasingly hard for some vehicles to use the roads. Car transporters are one such example where due to urban development and the increased usage of spare land/space has created situations where vehicles are unable to arrive at their destination.

Transport Research has noticed that with the saturation of available buildings within town and city centres more and more businesses have to locate to alternative locations. UK 0800 Numbers have been used to deal with calls and to establish themselves in out of town retail parks or other viable out of town business premises due to the lack on "in town" property.

Tourism and cities are often closely interlinked, some by their historical past and some because of natural landmarks or features. However due to the nature of some cities a Lunar caravan would find it increasingly difficult to navigate through them due to the increase load on the infrastructure generated by tourism.

Due to the continual expansion of the city, residential and business property is now spilling out into the outskirts of the city/town. This spillage is due to the increased need for space for i.e. a Sterling caravan or the building of a departmental store which has the knock on effect of removing/building on land which previously had an alternate use i.e. farming and agriculture.

When moving homes or moving overseas, it is important to make sure that the gas and electrics in the new house have all been tested. moving overseas We recommend you confirm these with your new landlord before moving in.

Vancouver is widely claimed to be one of the worlds greatest cities & one of our prime sponsors, Westbeach, who manufacture snowboarding jackets are based there. This year they have been kind enough to donate several prizes to our forthcoming auction to help raise money for this site. We'd like to thank them for their ongoing support.

We are all in search of more free time to enjoy the hobbies and individual interests that each person has but the day to day running of your home may be getting in the way of spare time. Try Milton Keynes Cleaners for all of your home and house domestic cleaning needs from ironing to weekly house cleans so you can have back the time you always wanted to get back to enjoying life and all it has to offer.

There is a new site that use GPs to track city traffic. If you go to CityTraffic.com you can find the latest info, about traffic in all of the the world largest cities. The also have a section for the latest traffic news, and if there are any major problems in your city.

Building projects in urban areas, like other areas create a lot of waste, some of which needs to be disposed of in line with legislation, such as plasterboard recycling . Works traffic can also often be a problem in urban areas due to the sometimes slow moving nature of the vehicles and congestion it can cause.

Urban sprawl is the spreading of a city and its suburbs over rural land at the fringe of an urban area. This can often occur due to residential expansion and construction with installations including Grohe showers and other bathroom accessories and equipment. However urban sprawl can have environmental costs including loss of open space, habitats, increased pollution and reduced water quality (urban runoff).

Many urban landscapes are continually evolving and growing through commercial and residential growth. Growth and the resulting construction work results in waste which can be managed by a Boston skip hire company. It’s this effective management of waste which will ensure the preservation of our environment and future generations.

Buildings are now blamed for everything; from global warming, increasing the flood risk, exacerbating demographic fragmentation, personal and societal ill-health, the despoliation of nature, and condoning irresponsible architectural arrogance. Meanwhile, urban design is currently charged with encouraging social engagement, building communities, regenerating value (values), kick-starting economies and engendering a sense of well-being. Can this differentiation be true? If so, is it desirable? And why has the debate taken on such an instrumental turn?

The project of The Future Cities Project is, to a certain extent, to return to first principles, and critique the rise of determinism, instrumentalism, dogmatism and didacticism in architecture, as well as the malign influence of sustainability, the precautionary principle and risk-aversion within the broader social and political environment in which we all operate

If you want to find out more, or join in the project, please contact the Future Cities team.
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The Future of Community festival coming soon...

In partnership with the Central St Martins College of Art, Holborn, London. .............................................

See Events Page

Saturday, March 4th 2006

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Attitudes to the City
The National 'Attitudes to the City' survey

This Attitudes to the City research paper, 'Bingeing on Anti-Social Behaviour' by the Future Cities Project's Martin Earnshaw, investigates the real attitudes that people have towards crime and anti-social behaviour and how their views reflect - or impact upon - their primary concerns of city life in the UK. It explores issues that are often regarded as 'problems' for cities and society.

KEY POINTS
… Respondents under the age of 25 are more concerned about crime and personal safety than are older age groups. Younger age groups are also more likely to demand or support more policing and other interventionist measures in order to regulate anti-social behaviour.

… Londoners are significantly less likely to worry about crime than people who live in cities outside the capital. Londoners are also less likely to support measures that are perceived to regulate peoples' behaviour.

… 'Improvements in transport' is the most important priority of city dwellers. 'Living Costs' are listed second. Anti-social behaviour ranks a poor third.

… Specific measures to curb anti-social behaviour are seldom demanded but are often accepted.

For PDF version, press....Attitudes to the City

NB: For hard copies (£10) and with additional tables (£15) please send cheques payable to: "Transport Research Group" and send to Austin Williams, c/o 45 St Lawrence Court, De Beauvoir, London N1 5TP

*Attitudes to the City is a series of occasional papers exploring a range of contemporary issues relating to the urban environment. Set up by the Future Cities Project, the series comprises a range of independent investigations into the social and political realities of city life. Often these papers will relate to policy initiatives, public consultation or other relevant debates in the public realm relating to inter alia, architecture & planning, community, urbanism and urbanity.

 

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readers' group

.......READERS' GROUP
Monthly meetings to discuss a range of texts in an informal setting.

The next book under discussion is"Multicultural Politics: Racism, Ethnicity and Muslims in Britain" Tariq Modood, (Edinburgh University Press), 2005. 272pp, £16.99

Venue: 151 Rosebery Avenue, London, EC1R 4GB

Free: All welcome.
Please telephone to confirm attendance.

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It's that time again:

The Bookshop Barnie Xmas Bash! was on December 8th, 7:00pm until 9:00pm

at the Waterstones Economist bookshop, Clare Market, LSE/Aldwych

Invite only
In the course of the evening, we had a
Bookshop Barnie Balloon Debate
with some well-known contestants vying to convince you not to throw their choice of "the most important book ever" overboard.

Henry Gee, senior editor 'Nature" and author of "Jacob's Ladder"
defending JRR Tolkien's "The Lord of The Rings"

Dennis Hayes, vice-president NATFHE, author "MacDonaldization of Higher Education"
defending John Stuart Mills' "On Liberty"

Vivienne Parry, journalist, broadcaster and author "The Truth About Hormones"
defending Charles Darwin's "The Voyage of the Beagle"

Ken Worpole, writer on social policy and author of "Here Comes the Sun"
defending John Berger's 'A Fortunate Man'

Piers Benn, lecturer in Medical Ethics and Law, Imperial College
defending George Orwell's "Animal Farm"

Sheila Lewis, director, Management Consultancy, Volanti
defending Karl Marx's "Das Kapital"

Paul Hyett, past-president, Royal Institute of British Architects and chief executive of global architectural company, Ryder HKS
defending John Pilger's "Tell Me No Lies"

Plus: discounted books, good wine, good company... and mini-barnies

Invite only. For more information, please contact the Future Cities Project


NB: For usual 'Bookshop Barnie' listings, go to events page


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The Future Cities Project hosted the discussion: "Sustainability: The Architecture of Low Horizons" at the Battle of Ideas conference, 29th and 30th October 2005.

with: Pascale Scheurer, head of sustainability at Wilkinson Eyre Architects; Paul Hyett, past-president of Royal Institute of British Architects and chairman of Ryder HKS; Henry Oliver, head of planning & policy, Campaign for the Protection of Rural England Austin Williams, director, Future Cities Project and technical editor, Architects' Journal

For more information, visit: www.battleofideas.co.uk

 

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Architects!

When was the last time that you had a crit? Could you really justify your work if challenged? What are your architectural objectives? How do your projects relate to broader social concerns?

The Late-Nite Review is a tough new arena to explore architectural practice as well as the issues that influence it. 

There will be more Late-Nite Reviews coming soon... please watch this space... in the meantime here's details about the first two:          

Set up by the Future Cities Project, Late-Nite Reviews are a place where young architects have taken up the challenge to present their work to a panel of critics, commentators and pundits. This team will grill them to explain their ideas - but also to explore the theme reflected in the work.  
          

Tuesday 21 June 2005
Theme: “SUSTAINABILITY

Friday 24 June 2005
Theme: “COMMUNITY & CONSULTATION”


Late-Nite Reviews:
Part bear-pit, part celebrity wrestling, part rigorous review, the point of the discussion is to see if the architects – and panellists – can convey their ideas successfully, but also to see if those ideas themselves stand up to criticism.

Come along at 7:45pm for a beer, an 8:00pm start, and the architectural challenge of the year.

Venue: The Gallery, 77 Cowcross Street, Farringdon Date: 21st and 24th June, 2005


We would like to thank the kind support of Alan Baxter Associates in helping to stage this event.


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The Future of London Festival

Museum of London
16th February 2005
                                                   Musesum of London

Can we say what London is any more? Is it indefinable? And if so, is that its strength or its weakness?



This conference represented a Metropolitan Millennial Quinquennial - a five year reportback - to explore what really is going on in London, its environs and beyond. Using examples from here and abroad, experts and commentators examined what London can teach - and what should it learn from - other cities, and what the key questions are that need to be addressed for a real urban renaissance?

Sponsored by The Architects' Journal, RIBA Bookshops, the Museum of London and the Future Cities Project

AJ logo
RIBA Bookshops


For further information contact: the Future Cities Project

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BOOKS
"The Macro World of MicroCars"
by Kate Trant & Austin Williams
(Black Dog Publications, 2004)
Forward by Stephen Bayley

NOW ON SALE
see Publications page

E:mail to Austin Williams

The microcar was a common feature in cities across Britain and Europe in the Fifties and Sixties, but by the Seventies, they had all but disappeared. Why? And why now, is there a renewed interest in microcars, in an even wider market? Are the trends driven by the same motives? This book explores for the first time the similarities and the differences between the politics, culture and aspirations from the Sixties and today, through the prism of the microcar.

This book, by Kate Trant and Austin Williams, examines the microcar story in context – from America to Europe – and untangles the many superficial similarities between today's microcar resurgence and the first era of the microcar, to provide a colourful insight into the changing face of 'responsible' motoring.

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PAST EVENTS

Civil Society & The City
Ben Rogers, senior researcher, IPPR and author of "Lonely Citizens: Report of the Working Party on Active Citizenship"
Dolan Cummings, research and editorial director Institute of Ideas and author of "In Search of Sesame Street: Policing Civility for the 21st Century"
David Petch, commissioner, Independent Police Complaints Commission
Rob Allen, director, Rethinking Crime and Punishment
Tim Donovan, political editor, BBC London
Chair: Austin Williams, director Future Cities Project and technical editor, Architects' Journal

For a full report article, click here.

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The Future of Cars
CHELTENHAM SCIENCE FESTIVAL
Austin Williams, Future Cities Project,
Andrew Graves,
analyst
Perry McCarthy, Top Gear's original The Stig
Timandra Harkness, science journalist
discuss the future of the automobile.

Visit www.cheltenhamfestivals.co.uk