With localism in the autumnal political air again, and some people's thoughts turning to housebuilding targets, here's an article on 'deprivation in the suburbs' by Ben Kochan on Planning Resource. Includes comments from Nick Falk, on the need to give suburbs a distinctive character, and the HCA's Jim Bennett arguing for greater planning diversity and flexibility:
'Bridges between existing and incoming populations can be built through the provision of social facilities.'
You might be thinking, social facilities have a few other uses as well. But the idea is not to play 'Spot the Simplification,' the idea is to get people thinking about how to turn suburbs into sustainable social environments.
