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PLACES

Safer Parks: Design only goes so far – we need to tackle harassment

We must create a community of active bystanders to make our parks safer and more inclusive, writes Dr Anna Barker on the launch of a new campaign. Professionals in the built environment have a vital role to play

First speakers announced for Festival of Place: Climate Resilience 2025

Speakers at Festival of Place: Climate Resilience explore mitigating climate impacts from soil to skies on our environment

Call for action after deaths of children falling from windows

The National Child Mortality Database has published a briefing on child deaths from windows and balconies which reveals problems of overheating, lack of ventilation and overcrowding. Christine Murray reports

Entries are open for The Pineapples awards for place 2026

The Pineapples awards have launched their call for entries with 16 categories designed to showcase excellence in place-shaping from Community Engagement to Place of the Year

Toxic towns: What if the houses are built on contaminated land?

Brownfield and greybelt land has been presented as a solution to the housing crisis but it is often land awash with materials proven to harm human health,
writes Harriet Saddington

"Not just good-looking neighbours”: How the Olympic Park's East Bank cultural institutions are welcoming the public

The fruits of a £600m investment from the Mayor of London into culture at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park are ripening on the East Bank, as more institutions open, Kimberley France reports

Great buildings face outwards not inwards: So do great organisations

We need a more open, evidence-based culture in the built environment that allows professionals to build on one another’s research and knowledge to make better decisions faster, write Dr Valentina Marin Maureira and Tim Stonor

Search the Place Database for key information on UK places undergoing development

Caregivers and young children rarely consulted in community engagement despite representing a third of the population Sponsored by Van Leer Foundation

Gender and climate change: How addressing gender equality could help tackle the climate emergency Sponsored by WSP

Building bridges to biodiversity Sponsored by Muse

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Toxic towns: What if the houses are built on contaminated land?

Brownfield and greybelt land has been presented as a solution to the housing crisis but it is often land awash with materials proven to harm human health,
writes Harriet Saddington

Fighting for a Feminist City in Glasgow: How to move from activism to policy

Holly Bruce, Scottish Greens councillor for Langside in Glasgow on how the Scottish city became the UK’s first feminist city and what comes next in the struggle to put policy into practice

We must follow the science and put an end to political grandstanding when it comes to Low Traffic Neighbourhoods

Cities are not ideological battlefields; they are human habitats and living systems. We must not allow political theatre to dictate the design of the environments in which we live, work and raise families, writes Christopher Martin

Wellbeing refocuses the agenda from growth to stuff that really matters to people’s lives

A new measure of economic success, the wellbeing economy generates, circulates and retains wealth within local communities while protecting human and environmental health for generations to come,
writes Clare Goff

Can the East Bank Urban Village revitalise Hull’s rundown riverside?

The plan is for homes, offices, retail and leisure facilities on this long-neglected part of the city. But can they come to fruition where previous schemes have failed? Angus Young reports with photography by Jacquie Baron

"Totally on point": Festival of Place crowd share the best talks and experiences from the day

There was a palpable sense of collective purpose among delegates, chairs, and speakers alike with facilitators fostering questions and enriching discussions of urban health, spatial justice, feminist planning, inclusive design, climate resilience and affordable homes.

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Allford Hall Monaghan Morris	Homes England	Quintain
a-r-c-s	HUB	Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park
BDP	ITP by Haskoning	Related Argent
Broadway Malyan	JDDK Architects	Ryder Architecture
Buro Happold	LDA Design	shedkm
BWB Consulting	LocatED	Stride Treglown
Cadogan	Medway Development Company	Studio Egret West
Civic	Morris+Company	Tectonix
EPR Architects	Muse	Tibbalds
Essex County Council	National Trust	The Earls Court Development Company
Fathom Architects	nghomes	Urban&Civc
Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios	Notting Hill Genesis	Vestre
Farrow Walsh	Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation	West Northamptonshire Council
Furnitubes	Places for London	Whittam Cox Architects
Gillespies	Peabody	West Northamptonshire Council
Hawkins\Brown	Poplar HARCA	Whittam Cox Architects

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