With planning reform once again on the agenda, now seems like a good time to do something I’ve been wanting to do for a while - write a series of posts about how we can rewire the planning system for the digital era.

I’ll add links to this 🧵 as I post them over this week. Here’s the first one. Imaginatively titled ‘The Future of Planning’.

alastairparvin.medium.com/the-future-of-…

This is a false binary.

Building 300,000 zero-carbon 🏡 🏡 , in dense, 🌳 communities connected to 🚈🚲 🚌 using re-usable timber would *remove* >5m T of CO2 from the atmosphere.
1/3

theguardian.com/environment/20… As @Victoria_Payne says we can do this AND retrofit homes AND shift from homes being used as speculative financial assets towards homes that are built and owned as places to live*.

(*In fact this is probably the only way we’ll do it)
2/3

In response to this question, here is an (amateurish) attempt to explain why I think Christopher Alexander’s ideas are so important, and why - as well as transforming software and the web - they will (eventually) transform the way we make buildings and cities.

https://twitter.com/ldoradodelvalle/status/1505245772991938565

It begins with this basic truth: whether we admit it or not, the development of technology, like the development of knowledge and language is always iterative, cumulative and collaborative. We stand on each other’s shoulders.

Imagine a 🌍 where every child lives in a household with security of tenure, and therefore has somewhere to call home, without fear of eviction or repossession. Imagine a 🌎 where the price we pay for the land beneath our feet is reinvested into infrastructure and services that benefit everyone, instead of being paid to landlords, lenders and speculators.

This is the real question. Here’s three suggestions…

https://twitter.com/DannyHegarty/status/1411282817812602886

1. Repeal the 1961 Land Compensation Act. This will allow communities to capture the huge ⬆️ in land value that they create by giving their consent for development. That’s 💰 that can be spent on infrastructure (🚈, 🧑‍🏫, 🌳 etc) instead of going into the pockets of speculators.

Can’t resist taking a shot to see if I can do it in 5 tweets or fewer…

(Your fault @nicread !)

https://twitter.com/crystalbennes/status/1410659278185275396

1066 - William I establishes a system of land ownership that gives incredible political & economic power to landowners, giving land incredible 💰 value.

We are living in an era of zombie systems. Everyone knows they’re dysfunctional and discredited but we keep operating within them anyway, because it’s so hard to fix the game while you’re a player on the board.

1/5 The great leaders of the 21st century will probably not be high heads of state - but those who, from within old systems finally can no longer sustain such a dissonance between their professional lives and their personal beliefs and values.

2/5

In defence of (arguably) lost causes: have a question / thought on the topic of ‘inclusive growth’. I’d love to hear your take @KateRaworth (Caveat: it’s probably rubbish). Thread:

https://twitter.com/immykaur/status/1083292183363489794

1/The concept of “inclusive growth” is a valid critique of the fact that most growth today is.. not. Extractive monopolies, share buybacks, rent, instead of reinvestment and shared prosperity. But doesn’t scale as an idea, because it it ignores the limits to growth.