DARRYL CHEN

'In an age of needing to make the most of what we’ve got let’s interrogate sites to uncover, keep, amplify &repurpose the multiple resources that can enrich a new urban neighbourhood' ✏️Interesting @ArchFoundation column by @darrylchen on creating characterful high value places

@eddieblake_now @leannetritton @londonsoc Postponed to the new year. Will get that pesky link fixed….

@darrylchen @leannetritton @londonsoc Link seems to be broken?

Saving the soul of the cityCovent Garden: a triumph for conservation or nothing more than a sanitised urban theme park? Brian Girard from KPF talks to author and journalist Owen Hatherley. 6pm this Thu 6 Oct. Book now. @londonsoc londonsociety.org.uk/event/in-perso…

@DemianRepucci Hey Demian - I’m going to be in NYC Apr 30 weekend. Let me know if you guys are around!

A new Family Welcome Centre, providing emergency accommodation to homeless families in Havering, has been submitted for a planning application by @LBofHavering. The centre is part of the 1st phase of the Harold Hill Town Centre Regeneration Masterplan: hawkinsbrown.com/news-and-event…

Pleased to contribute to this: @PropertyWeek podcast on #socialvalue & the #builtenvironment. Ft @darrylchen @UKGBC @AnyaBeketova92 soundcloud.com/user-448778267… #community #urbanregeneration

If you’ve ever wondered ‘how did that get built’ (Ie what #planner in their right mind allowed that to be approved?!) then come to Thursday’s #planningschool where @VincentStops #HeatherCheesbrough talk #planning from their view in #croydon #hackney londonsociety.org.uk/event/planning…

The London Society #Planning School kicks off - @darrylchen in conversation with @AkilScafeSmith and @johnrmyers

@londonsoc @AkilScafeSmith @johnrmyers A thoroughly enjoyable sesh! Who thought #planning was boring?

Exciting first meeting of Digital, Data & Tech Research Practice Leads to promote & share digi research in practice & reflect on the role of the architect. Many thanks to @allisterlewis @ACG for taking the lead. @darrylchen @cmrcmrcmrcmr @RIBA

.@emwilco is on the panel at @EastVillageLDN discussing our latest research ​​in collaboration with @CreativeLandT and @getliving, on the value that creative spaces add to residential places. #CreativePlacesCreateValue #MakingSpaceForArt

Excellent post from @londonsoc trustee @darrylchen on planning reforms. Tree-lined streets for all? #lovelondon #housing londonsociety.org.uk/post/will-jenr…

NEW: "London is not the sum of its neighbourhoods" argues @darrylchen @Hawkins_Brown in his piece for #IdeasforLondon. Read on to find out why he thinks we should look beyond the neighbourhood for London to continue to thrive: centreforlondon.org/blog/beyond-th…

@Rob_Fiehn @lara_kinneir @RobWhiteheadLDN No such panacea proposed! I think we need to be asking what kind of capitalism we want. It’s not a popular way to phrase the question but I think it’s the one most sensible people are actually asking - you and me included!

@darrylchen @lara_kinneir @RobWhiteheadLDN Great, more of these! As I said, I’m not in bashing mode. Problem is that social inequality is still at an all time high, so I don’t agree that leaving the centre to its own devices will provide some magical entrepreneurial panacea.

Excellent writing on London’s future here from @darrylchen

@Rob_Fiehn @lara_kinneir @RobWhiteheadLDN Micro financing, green bonds, VC, corporate incubators are all current capitalism solutions available now to make neighbourhoods and cities fairer.

@darrylchen @lara_kinneir @RobWhiteheadLDN I’m not ‘capitalism bashing’ but recent history has shown us that large chains will use their greater resources to quash true entrepreneurialism. We need broader systemic change rather than simply ‘working with the grain’ to improve the lives of poorer workers.

@lara_kinneir @RobWhiteheadLDN It’s about thinking ‘beyond’. Neighbourhoods AND…. 🙂

@darrylchen @RobWhiteheadLDN Perhaps a misleading headline then. A sum of scale of parts sounds👌🏻 15min city can be one of these parts, and is more of a very needed approach than a product.

@Rob_Fiehn @lara_kinneir @RobWhiteheadLDN Let’s stop the capitalism bashing and work *with* the grain rather than against. Because what on earth is the alternative?

@lara_kinneir @RobWhiteheadLDN @darrylchen Exactly this! Long commutes for low-paid workers don’t offer a metropolitan idyll. And it’s a bit worrying that capitalism is predicted to solve all the problems of the centre in this piece, which has historically gone very badly for many.

@Rob_Fiehn @lara_kinneir @RobWhiteheadLDN No that’s not right, Rob. I say Central London will thrive as a place for all through the energy of capitalism *harnessed*. (Like fine public policy initiatives like the Oxford Street District Framework.)

@lara_kinneir @RobWhiteheadLDN Clearly we need a centre and we need the neighbourhood, but we also need geographical elements that lie in between those scales like district high streets, opportunity areas and infrastructure to ensure the sum is greater than the city of villages.

@RobWhiteheadLDN @darrylchen Mmm..does the metropolitan ambition serve everyone? The haves and the have nots that were so starkly visible during lockdowns? I think there is something more just and fair and ambitious with a village and met centre (with amazing transport network) combination. Not either or.

@lara_kinneir @RobWhiteheadLDN YES, metropolitan ambition serves everyone. Villages need to be connected, especially those ‘ghetto-ised’ as Ed Glaeser also points out. blogs.lse.ac.uk/covid19/2021/0…