keen on there being more houses for everyone. crunching numbers and thinking about urban problems @centreforcities.bsky.social; community unionising @acornunion.bsky.social; other bitshttps://bsky.app/profile/mauricelange.bsky.socialhttps://bsky.app/profile/mauricelange.bsky.social/post/3mum6qht7z22dIn new research from @Centreforcities published yesterday, we find British big cities are broadly rubbish at putting houses near transport. Densities are the same (and sometimes lower!) near to rail stations than further away. France and Japan show that much better than this is possible. 🧵 [contains quote post or other embedded content]03 Sep 2026 09:57 +0000at://did:plc:33b6jripiw3garcbw4dndg23/app.bsky.feed.post/3mum6qht7z22dhttps://bsky.app/profile/mauricelange.bsky.social/post/3mr3vy3krlk2rHave a listen to @antbreach.bsky.social @andrewcities.bsky.social and I chatting about council housing: - what is it? - what could Burnham's plans be? - and where should we prioritise for more building? (hint, big cities) [contains quote post or other embedded content]20 Jul 2026 18:22 +0000at://did:plc:33b6jripiw3garcbw4dndg23/app.bsky.feed.post/3mr3vy3krlk2rhttps://bsky.app/profile/mauricelange.bsky.social/post/3mncg6adcks24Will the new towns programme fall at its first major hurdle? I sincerely hope not! At Centre for Cities we've done a lot of thinking about where it makes sense for public sector intervention to get large-scale building happening, and Crews Hill ticks all the boxes as far as we can see. [contains quote post or other embedded content]02 Jun 2026 10:47 +0000at://did:plc:33b6jripiw3garcbw4dndg23/app.bsky.feed.post/3mncg6adcks24https://bsky.app/profile/mauricelange.bsky.social/post/3mlsfqruxw22gI had a lot of fun making the graphics for this one! As you can see, we identify a clear post-war 'collar' (blues) around the city centres of cities like Manchester and Birmingham This matters because... (chart below) [contains quote post or other embedded content]14 May 2026 08:31 +0000at://did:plc:33b6jripiw3garcbw4dndg23/app.bsky.feed.post/3mlsfqruxw22ghttps://bsky.app/profile/mauricelange.bsky.social/post/3mk6d2wkr6224We've published more research using our density dataset today We study: - how the 'density gap' has been created by successive waves of development - where in urban cores are especially low density - the effectiveness of recent policies on density [contains quote post or other embedded content]23 Apr 2026 15:25 +0000at://did:plc:33b6jripiw3garcbw4dndg23/app.bsky.feed.post/3mk6d2wkr6224https://bsky.app/profile/mauricelange.bsky.social/post/3mjp4lwhcr226I'm very pleased to be on the bill for the next Land Talks Come hear me talk about Croydon and rules based planning and 5 other excellent speakers in a pub 6pm, 11th May luma.com/hkyckwm8 https://luma.com/hkyckwm817 Apr 2026 14:19 +0000at://did:plc:33b6jripiw3garcbw4dndg23/app.bsky.feed.post/3mjp4lwhcr226https://bsky.app/profile/mauricelange.bsky.social/post/3mhxbejlofs2oAfter lots of talking about Croydon as an outsider, we managed to get the creators of the Suburban Design Guide, Alison & Guy, on the @centreforcities.bsky.social podcast!! They add so much detail to the story. I'd urge all rules-based planning enthusiasts - and sceptics - to give it a listen. https://www.centreforcities.org/podcast/city-minutes-the-croydon-planning-experiment/26 Mar 2026 09:15 +0000at://did:plc:33b6jripiw3garcbw4dndg23/app.bsky.feed.post/3mhxbejlofs2ohttps://bsky.app/profile/mauricelange.bsky.social/post/3mht3gz5in22vThe perverse outcome of the failure to build enough social housing (and housing in general). Expect more like this until either we give up on the obligation to house the homeless (we shouldn't) or there's a substantial increase in money for subsidised housebuilding https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cn081d5ngg5o24 Mar 2026 17:19 +0000at://did:plc:33b6jripiw3garcbw4dndg23/app.bsky.feed.post/3mht3gz5in22vhttps://bsky.app/profile/mauricelange.bsky.social/post/3mhqbz3wuf22uA niche but important blog today. When talking about planners doing good things in England, I'm often talking about them using SPDs e.g. for masterplans or making planning more rules-based If not handled correctly, their replacement by Supplementary Plans could make good planning harder [contains quote post or other embedded content]23 Mar 2026 14:38 +0000at://did:plc:33b6jripiw3garcbw4dndg23/app.bsky.feed.post/3mhqbz3wuf22uhttps://bsky.app/profile/mauricelange.bsky.social/post/3mguwriy7d22zThe new NPPF has lots of great stuff, but we think there's more to be done to make it work for cities. Key recs: - designate city centres + urban cores, not just 'town centres' - rewording to make space for bold use of rules-based planning tools outside of allocated sites [contains quote post or other embedded content]12 Mar 2026 17:35 +0000at://did:plc:33b6jripiw3garcbw4dndg23/app.bsky.feed.post/3mguwriy7d22zhttps://bsky.app/profile/mauricelange.bsky.social/post/3mfa2socid223A new blog in which I: - summarise British vs zonal planning approaches to defining developable land in cities - explain the impact on scale and distribution of housebuilding - set out what British planners can easily change Comes with videos! Check it out below [contains quote post or other embedded content]19 Feb 2026 16:56 +0000at://did:plc:33b6jripiw3garcbw4dndg23/app.bsky.feed.post/3mfa2socid223https://bsky.app/profile/mauricelange.bsky.social/post/3me2iwyp2ms2lIf only reports could contain GIFs [contains quote post or other embedded content]04 Feb 2026 18:28 +0000at://did:plc:33b6jripiw3garcbw4dndg23/app.bsky.feed.post/3me2iwyp2ms2l