Over the last few years, we’ve experienced a series of technological, societal, commercial and cultural changes that have quite rightly caused us to rethink our built environment. Our lives look quite different; we can seamlessly glide from a medical appointment to a university lecture to ordering our weekly grocery shop, all from the comfort and convenience of our kitchen table.  The boundaries have shifted, and we are all thinking far more carefully about how and where we spend our time.

This shift in boundaries means we, as built environment professionals, need to think differently. We need to be creative and courageous about how we can shape a better future for our towns and cities, putting people and climate at the heart of all we do. So how do we think beyond boundaries? What does that look like? These questions formed the basis of a provocation I put to fellow expert panellists at a recent NLA Charrette. It was felt that thinking beyond boundaries looks like;

• Responding to the shift in lifestyle patterns by ensuring we look carefully at how neighbourhoods and their uses are clustered, so that the circuitry acts as the connective tissue.
• Reinforcing the dynamic between buildings and streets to repurpose and reimagine the existing buildings, adapting them in terms of uses, which then manifests in how they are retrofitted.
• Shifting people away from the car by making them the priority through tightening street geometry so space is liberated.
• Taking a nature-based solutions approach for surface water management, biodiversity and people
• Adopting a systems thinking approach, recognising that we need to look beyond the red line administrative boundaries, so we can design systems that serve everyone

Getting to this sophisticated new environment is complicated and we recognise the challenges we face. We need to be honest about them. We know people are more understandably concerned about the financial pressures they face and getting to the end of the month. That doesn’t leave them much bandwidth to fret about the end of the planet!  This change will span a number of political cycles and to really achieve it, pan-political consensus is required to give some semblance of stability. We need a clear set of policy, regulation and investment strategies, as well clearer decision-making processes and the ability to work across the red line administrative boundaries.

As built environment professionals, thinking beyond boundaries requires us all to lead and to be creative, courageous and truly collaborative about the solutions. We have to work together, not in silos. There is some incredible work taking place that is best practice and demonstrates the art of the possible. This work needs to be showcased and made mainstream, so it becomes the norm, not the exception. We’ve got to create positive momentum that will fortify the plan and capture hearts and minds. We need to bring people on the journey with us to a much brighter, more sustainable future for everyone.

Read Stephen’s piece here.