What would Louisville feel like if we shone our light, energy and joy on the issue of women’s safety?

Over the past five years, the UK has seen concerted national action to recognise how the urban design, planning and the broader built environment sector shapes women, girls and non-binary people’s sense of safety and belonging in public spaces. On 26th March, Publica CIC, in collaboration with The Crown Estate, Collective Architecture and UCL Urban Lab hosted a national conversation to discuss the future of feminist urbanism in the UK.

Publica’s Founding Director, Lucy Musgrave; Director, Anna Mansfield; Senior Urban Researcher, Gaia Crocella; and Urban Designer, Lou Elena Bouey, spoke with Architecture Today about Publica’s approach to developing transformative public spaces and the CIC’s Campaign for Inclusive Cities.

There is an industry-wide consensus for a more ambitious inclusive vision for our cities and communities. We know how to act to ensure our cities are sustainable, resilient and just – putting communities at the centre of the new urban agenda, but this requires new, practicable skills.

Publica and Volterra launched a new interdisciplinary partnership that combines urban design and qualitative research with socioeconomics and quantitative research, presenting opportunities in community wealth building for public and private sector partners.

Ellie Cosgrave, Director of CIC and Research has attended events and discussions centred around representation in the built environment, discussing ways in which we can bridge the gaps between government, community, and design.

The September 2020 issue of Architecture Today has published an article from Lucy Musgrave as part of the My Kind of Town series.

Publica’s Founding Director Lucy Musgrave joined the panel for two of the Mayor of London’s Good Growth by Design Roundtables this summer. As one of the Mayor’s Design Advocates, Lucy was invited to discuss the challenges that the pandemic has brought, but also the opportunities to provide long-term benefits in London’s built environment, in response to COVID-19 .

Following the release of Making London Child-Friendly, a conversation with Mayor’s Design Advocates and research contributors Lucy Musgrave and Dinah Bornat explores how cities can be designed with children in mind, drawing upon leading case studies and their personal experience.