Briefing: Has the urban renaissance lived up to its name?

Abstract

In response to Britain's 1950s urban decline, the urban task force, chaired by Lord Richard Rogers, was launched in 1998 in an attempt to secure a lasting vision of future urban spaces. The report, published the following year, promoted design excellence through proposed recommendations to improve social wellbeing and environmental care. One of the main calls for change was for increased urban density, intended to reinvigorate urban areas and attract people back into towns and cities. Town planning has seen a shift in legislation in response to some of the recommendations made, informing current national policy on some of England's urban districts. In assessing the urban renaissance so far, Building Futures (the think tank of the Royal Institute of British Architects) hosted a provocative debate that questioned how much of what was built under the report guidelines is desirable in the long-term. This briefing is a review of the debate: This house believes the urban renaissance never happened.