At heart, Anglofuturism’s challenge to us is this: what if the great limiting factor of our national life in the 2020s isn’t slow growth or escalating debt or even demographic decline, but a smallness of vision?
Front gardens have all but disappeared from new housing developments in favour of concrete drives, yet having a front garden has been shown to contribute to neighbourly relationships and better mental health.
Beautiful mockups of new developments are easy to generate, but even a casual assessment reveals that several of the most important features have been banned under the current building regulations.
Contrary to the NIMBY caricature, the British people are willing to accept new development. But if we want them to accept more of it, then ministers must offer them more in return.
People really care about how their local high streets and town centres look. Their physical degradation upsets them. Higher fines are needed for who dig up roads and fail to provide ‘like-for-like’ reinstatement.
Kensington and Chelsea already has exceptionally high density. But we are embracing creative solutions to increase supply while retaining or enhancing the beauty of our borough.
Instead of a Conservative housing policy that emphasises home ownership and architectural beauty, it will now be done the Labour way. When tower blocks start rising over the Home Counties, I hope that our remaining MPs realise their mistake.
It is designed to tackle a particular problem: the lack of provision for lab space in Cambridge – especially when compared to Silicon Valley – but wrapped in traditional branding.
We should reward developers who seek to design locally distinctive schemes – which boost the economic and social confidence of the places where they’re built.
The Government should empower local community organisations to take ownership of vacant and derelict high street property, so that they can bring them back into whatever use their economies need.
A new paper, and my Private Members’ Bill, would put local communities in control of development in our towns and cities.
Some places might not be able to support a full time shop, pub, or post office, but could support a unit that operates as all three at different times of the day
We can make our village, town, and city centres better places than they were before the crisis: more humane, more beautiful, and more liveable.
Local design codes could be simplified, but based on local tastes and preferences through consultation.
We know that we can do more to ensure that when we expand our housing supply, we do so in the right places, with the right infrastructure, with the support of local people and local representatives.