Urban design is a civic, strategic, and cultural act. It shapes how cities function, how everyday life is experienced, and how public value is created over time. Our work is guided by a responsibility to design places that are fair, inclusive, and resilient, rooted in a deep understanding of people, place, and long-term change.

Working across RIBA stages 0-5, we redesign streets, neighbourhoods and cities through physical interventions, landscape and lighting design, and feasibility studies and design codes— reshaping the public realm and how it moves, performs and is used.

Our approach is research-led, collaborative and purposeful. We integrate diverse expertise early, viewing each project through multiple lenses - spatial, social, environmental, cultural, economic and operational, to develop ideas that respond to the full complexity of the public realm.

Public value and climate responsibility are at the centre of everything we do. We design with communities and stakeholders through listening, dialogue, and partnership, ensuring that local knowledge and lived experience clearly inform the design process. We bring together multi-disciplinary teams of engineers, lighting designers, arboriculturists, planting organisations, furniture designers and landscape architects to deliver lasting change. Environmental performance, green infrastructure, adaptability, and stewardship are fundamental to design quality and civic dignity.

For us, success is measured by the positive impact our work has on cities and communities, the strength and integrity of our ideas, and a culture of collaboration, learning, and leadership within the practice and beyond.

We value care and integrity in our processes, and we act as guardians of design quality from early visioning through delivery and use. We take responsibility for making the case for our approach – clearly articulating its value, impact, and distinctiveness.

Publica advocates for the design of streets, neighbourhoods and cities that support safe, social and active lives for all in the evening and night time. We study urban spaces after dark and consider the impacts of ourdesigns and strategies on the city at night. This is a foundational principle and we apply this night time lens and bring active research to all of our projects.

We believe that planning for life between 6pm and 6am is critical to the economic, social and cultural vitality of the city. The evening and night time deserves special consideration and focus because of the ways in which public spaces change over a 24 hour cycle. We also know that many marginalised groups feel more unsafe at night. Designing public spaces that work just as well at 3am as they do at 3pm is fundamental if we want to build inclusive, welcoming and liveable cities.

Publica has produced guidance for local authorities to develop night time strategies, created strategies with cities around the UK, undertaken detailed research into high streets and town centres at night and supported 20 local authorities to develop their own night time policies and action plans.

“The GLA commissioned Publica to create the most ambitious night time guidance produced by any city in the world. It sets out the many benefits for councils, communities and businesses, of creating diverse and inclusive night time plans together, with step-by-step guides and case studies from across the globe on how this can be achieved.”

Publica Community Interest Company is working towards a vision of an inclusive and collaborative city-making process where all people can participate freely and fully in urban life.

We recognise that people need access to knowledge, tools, training and expertise to reshape how they design and manage public spaces. Our work is split across four strands to ensure we address the challenge in a systemic and holistic way:

1. Policy, guidance and strategies
2. Community participation, research and design
3. Capacity-building
4. Advocacy

Across all of our work, our practice is rooted in sharing power with communities. We seek out and bring in the voices of those most marginalised by development processes. Publica CIC uses creative, playful and participatory methods that are designed to create spaces where participants feel safe, informed, respected, and where they have the power to shape their surroundings around their own lives and experiences.

We work with planning and regional authorities to research and write world-leading policy and guidance for urban planners and designers. We also work with Business Improvement Districts, developers and landowners to develop place-based safety strategies and local action plans. We convene networks of practitioners to share knowledge and best practice, working with the sector to mainstream gender-inclusive, child-friendly and accessible approaches into all public realm projects.