To increase security, speed and for a better experience when using our website, we recommend upgrading your browser

Suggested Searches
Section
    0 Results Found
    See all results
    • Blog
    • Park Hill
    • Celebrate the past, make sense of the present and reimagine new futures

        Buy or Rent

        Buy or Rent

        Residential or Commercial
        Buy or Rent
        Location
        Scheme
        Search all homes

        Enquiry

        Enquiry

        Get on the list

        Get on the list

        Get the latest news on property development, placemaking, architecture, careers, new homes and workspaces straight into your inbox.

        Guest blog by Trevor MacFarlane

        Celebrate the past, make sense of the present and reimagine new futures

        01 October 2024
        A 4 minute read by Trevor MacFarlane

        Trevor MacFarlane – former advisor to senior politicians and Founding Director of Culture Commons, discusses the vital role of culture, creativity and heritage within the built environment and how regeneration companies like Urban Splash can support their cultivation.

        Culture Commons is a not-for-profit organisation combining cutting-edge research and policy development to help clients influence decision makers at all levels. Their work is evidence-informed, collaborative, and inclusive, ensuring that often-excluded voices are heard in policy-making processes.

        Here, Trevor tells us more…

        Culture Commons is a not-for-profit organisation combining cutting-edge research and policy development

        At Culture Commons, we care deeply about the creative and cultural life of the UK. That’s why we are currently leading an open policy development programme in partnership with 30 major organisations from England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

        By convening the creative, cultural and heritage sectors, along with local and regional governments and researchers, we’re challenging the overly-centralised decision making we see in this country to really make the best of the ‘devolution revolution’ that’s underway.

        Our aim is to help the new UK Government and the devolved governments in the four nations, to empower local leaders and communities to have more say about how culture in their areas develops. This could be setting budgets for culture and deciding what’s being programmed, to reviving and taking ownership of much-loved heritage buildings. We know these activities can enhance the sense of pride that people feel about where they live, but also promote social cohesion and bring economic spillovers that benefit society as a whole.

        We don’t have a preconceived notion of how ‘culture’, ‘creativity’ or ‘heritage’ should manifest in a place: that’s something for the communities who live in them to decide. But we do believe that people need physical spaces that allow intercultural dialogues to take place.

        Park Hill in Sheffield

        The vital role of place-shapers

        We think it’s vitally important that visionary place-shapers like Urban Splash and others are embedded in conversations about cultural policy – the built environment influences the ways in which people experience a place and how their cultural life evolves. Companies like Urban Splash are already helping communities to celebrate the past, make sense of the present and reimagine new futures too.

        This approach is perfectly embodied in the transformation of Park Hill in Sheffield, England – deservedly recognised in this year's Stirling Prize shortlist. It’s become something of a regeneration pin-up because of the way Urban Splash has responded so respectfully to both the historical fabric of the building but also the socio-cultural story it represents, reworking iconic elements to make them relevant to the here and now. The scheme has come to symbolise the renewed confidence that Sheffield is now enjoying and has undoubtedly contributed to the upswing in investment and desirability that the city is benefitting from.

        Park Hill in Sheffield

        Get Britain Building

        The new UK Government under Labour has set a goal to build 1.5 million new homes before the end of their first parliament. That’s a hugely ambitious undertaking, and will need considerable momentum to deliver, but one that is sorely needed: far too many people can’t find affordable places to rent and far too few can get a first foot on the housing ladder. A fresh government will rightly want to don the hard hats and high vis jackets and see shovels in the ground sharpish. But quality and sustainability must be a consideration if we’re to learn the lessons from house building projects of the past.

        New homes at Mansion House, Port Loop in Birmingham

        I see an opportunity now for place-sensitive developers, local authorities and our national governments to come together and collaborate much more closely. We encourage developers to think carefully about how they are incorporating cultural infrastructures into their schemes so that the creative workforce and local communities are able to come together and share in the fullness of their cultural lives. After all, vast swathes of new houses without meaningful cultural spaces for the people that live in them will never truly feel like homes.

        Urban Splash Newsplash

        Want to be kept in the loop about all things Urban Splash? Then sign up for Newsplash!

        Our monthly news round-up with the latest and freshest news on property development, place-making, housing, architecture, events and careers sent straight to your inbox.

        Looking for something else?