News and blogs

by Colin J Davis, of Streetscapes.online and author of Streetscapes: how to design and deliver great streets

 

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Our campaign is for healthier, happier and more livable streets. What could be more uplifting than the splendid displays of flowers in, on and around the shop fronts of Chelsea during the week of the flower show?

Picking up the theme of love, emphasised at the royal wedding at Windsor the previous weekend, the Chelsea in Bloom displays were very individual but with firm coordination.

Continue reading “Flower power: Chelsea’s streets come alive in bloom”

One of the many noteworthy announcements from Hackney’s seventh cycling conference was that next year it will add ‘walking’ to its title.

This is welcome, not simply because this was one of Hackney Living Street’s demands in its campaign manifesto for the May elections, but also because it reflects an understanding that cycling is just one ingredient in a liveable city. If cities are for everyone — and not just motorists — they must encourage walking and living as well as cycling. Or as Andreas Røhl, Gehl Architects’ biking expert put it, ‘cycling isn’t the goal, it’s a means to an end’.

Listed below are some other key announcements and inspirations from last week’s event, many of which – we are happy to announce — originate from London Living Streets campaigns. Continue reading “Walking news from Hackney’s Cycling Conference”

London Living Streets and Urban Design Group are hosting a public event this month to celebrate the progress in improving London’s public realm.

The event will take place on Wednesday 23 May 2018, 6.15–8.15pm at The Gallery, 70 Cowcross Street, Farringdon, London EC1M 6EJ. Continue reading “London’s Public Realm”

So far 46 local party leaders have supported London Living Streets, Living Streets and London Cycling Campaign’s My Liveable London campaign, by pledging to submit a high-quality Liveable Neighbourhood bid. Continue reading “Have your party leaders pledged to deliver a liveable London?”

As the council elections in May draw near, now is the moment to ask your next council leader to help bring your borough to life. Continue reading “Take action for a Liveable London”

by Rosalind Readhead, Ban Private Cars in London

Barcelona is blessed with amazing natural infrastructure: backed by mountains, flanked by two rivers and with a horizon stretching across the blue sea of the Mediterranean.

My wonderful guide, Carlos Orti of Barcelona Camina, took me up to the mountains by funicular train for a strategic view across the city.

Here we found locals picking the tender stems of wild asparagus. Whilst the foragers were picking out the delicate green shoots of spring, we were picking out the crucial points of infrastructure in the city. Continue reading “Barcelona: the walking city”