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Glancey on the warning of Lakanal

Our lethal estates    The Lakanal House deaths cast shame on Britain. We urgently need to audit all similar blocks.

The fact, however, that Lakanal House is no more unsafe than many other housing blocks of its type is not cause for concern but for a public outcry. How can such a wealthy country as Britain still house its people in lethal settings? Why is our housing stock so poor when Britain's public housing, a century ago, was often held up as a model to be copied across Europe?

...if Lakanal House is typical then we can expect more fatal fires in the future. Of course, there should be fire drills in such buildings, and of course residents should be offered the best possible information on how to survive a fire. But we urgently need to hold a national audit of these and similar buildings, to investigate their weaknesses, and to equip them with secondary fire escapes.

Architects Journal 

Research finds no bias in allocation of social housing

Social housing allocation and immigrant communities

The independent research by ippr found that social housing policies are targeting those in most need including the homeless, the elderly and families with children. It found no evidence to support the perception that new migrants are getting priority over UK born residents. Nor was there any evidence of abuse of the system, including 'queue jumping' or providing false information.

"Much of the public concern about the impact of migration on social housing has, at its heart, the failure of social housing supply to meet the demands of the population. The poorer the area, the longer the waiting lists, therefore the greater the tension. Government and social housing providers need to work with the communities they serve to address these issues.”

“I’m sorry, you can’t drink here.”

A Public Nuisance:  Tim Abraham investigates the increasing control of public space.

“Something is lost when our understanding of the public is reduced to consumers on best behaviour.”

“Who Cares About Estates?”

The National Estate Churches Network National Conference 2009

How you can make a positive impact on the Estate you serve….
Effective estate projects – examples and stories…
The Struggles and Challenges (and the solutions we use…)

Speakers: Lynsey Hanley author of “Estates: An Intimate History” and
Sister Margaret Walsh

Where: Birmingham, Carrs Lane Conference Centre, B4 7SX
When: 10:00 a.m. – 3:30 p.m., Thursday 12th November 2009

Castells at LSE

Event: Communication Power
Speaker: Professor Manuel Castells
Date: Thursday 9 July 2009, 6.30pm

This event marks the launch of Manuel Castells latest book, Communication Power. In this wide-ranging and powerful book, Castells analyses the transformation of the global media industry by the revolution in communication technologies.
Ticket release date: Tuesday 30 June, 10am

Further information about the events and how to request a ticket can be found online.

Our city centres are turning into secure enclaves that erode trust

Can we banish fear and loathing from the city?

While the centres of our cities are turning into secure enclaves, high security is also becoming an ever bigger feature of the homes we live in.

The real issue is that most people simply don’t know what is happening, presuming that because the streets have always been public, as far as they are aware, they will continue to be so.

Wasteland war is won with guerrilla tactics

Joe Swift on guerilla gardening

The green warriors whose direct action transformed a bomb site into an inner-city garden that a whole community can now enjoy.

 How I transformed concrete tubs into a flourishing garden 'I became a guerrilla gardener over a decade ago. My family had moved to a kind of North London San Andreas fault where gentrification meets desolation...'

GLA-LSE research on the impact of an amnesty for irregular migrants

Economic impact on the London and UK economy of an earned regularisation of irregular migrants 

In 2007, the UK provided a home to an estimated 618,000 irregular migrants - of these 442,000 live in London. GLA Economics commissioned the London School of Economics to research the potential economic impact of allowing those with an irregular status to become regularised.

Summary

Which social problems pose the greatest threat to British society in the 21st century?

JRF publish Contemporary Social Evils

A hundred years after its philanthropist founder identified poverty, alcohol, drugs and gambling among the social evils of his time, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation initiated a major consultation among leading thinkers, activists and commentators, as well as the wider public.

Radio series on post war public building

Britain in their sites BBC RADIO 4 series

Tristram Hunt tells the story of architectural change in Britain over 60 years, tracing the country's changing idea of itself through three controversial public building projects.

In 1948, Peterlee was the future, an exciting New Town planned by architect Berthold Lubetkin for the Durham miners he idolised. Tristram asks why Lubetkin, most famous for London Zoo's Penguin Pool, left Peterlee before a single house was built.

As he looks back at Peterlee's troubled birth, Tristram dissects the furious debates which Lubetkin's failure sparked, and which marked the beginning of Britain's post-war architecture wars.