Tag Archives: development

RIBA Building Futures – Carwood 2035

A month or so ago I was flattered to be asked to write a ‘think-piece’ on the Future of Villages by the RIBA Building Futures team. The Building Futures website aims ‘to promote public and political debate on the future … Continue reading

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Forest Village #12: An Epitaph?

So that’s where the story ends, for the time being at least. We had run up against the fact that England is very much still the ‘green and pleasant land’ that we imagine it to be. In the furore around … Continue reading

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Forest Village #11: Six of the Best

It’s a snappy title for this section, but in fact the six sites we identified in our quick and crude site-search weren’t all perfect; far from it, in fact.

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Forest Village #10: A Crowded Island?

Before spending any serious time (and money) on constructing a financial and management model for a new Forest Village, we wanted to get an idea of the likely availability of suitable land. We had developed the following description of an … Continue reading

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We Need More…But Not More of the Same

Given the imminent arrival of the Leveson Report, Planning Minister Nick Boles’ foray into the difficult territory that is UK green-field development did well to make Newsnight last night. During most of the day I had been following the opening … Continue reading

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Forest Village #9: Show Me The Money

So far Forest Village is hypothetical, a thought-experiment; but after thinking about it for so long it was hard to stop. Could a Forest Village really be built? Technically speaking, yes it could – Center Parcs had demonstrated that – … Continue reading

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Forest Village #8: What’s the Catch?

So far, Forest Village is the product of an end-of-holiday moment of wistfulness: ‘This is lovely; wouldn’t it be nice to live here all the time?’ But like all such pipe-dreams, it’s worth taking a minute to be critical. It … Continue reading

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Forest Village #7: The ‘Suburbs’

In the last post we imagined re-developing Elveden Center Parcs’ central area to serve as a new centre for our imaginary Forest Village, but the real essence of Center Parcs (and in turn Forest Village) lies away from the centre: … Continue reading

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Forest Village #6: The Village Centre

What would one have to do to Center Parcs Elveden to turn it into a ‘real’ village? Well for the purposes of this thought-experiment the aim would be to change as little as possible, preserving the essential quality which could … Continue reading

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Forest Village #5: Sustainable Development?

As a model for the development of a new settlement, Center Parcs offers a really powerful proposition. Most green-field development replaces green-space with houses. In a Center Parcs they depend on each other. The forest is regarded as an asset … Continue reading

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