Beth Harper

The social housing stock sold under the Right to Buy Act was never replaced, with many homes lost to the private rental market. This lack of supply combined with increasing demand means that homeownership is becoming less feasible for many. The perceived solutions to this problem place emphasis on the economics of building, with a loss in built quality. 

These conditions create what Richard Sennett describes as a ‘Brittle City’. This represents a fragile place which is trapped in an endless cycle of redevelopment and demolition. Urban decay progresses more quickly than historical examples due to widespread urban clearance, with its quality lost to the segregation of spaces.

As these redevelopments fail to consider site-specific context, the local typology and historical street patterns are being eroded. Communal space, which was once a vital lifeline, is dismantled because a price tag cannot be applied. No profit can be made due to lack of ownership and the need for maintenance, thus developers are not interested. This has led to a dilution of the quality of the common realm, as developments are treated as isolated plots, not parts of a larger matrix of spaces. 

Striving to reconnect the area into the wider context of the city, anchoring the existing buildings and reconstructing community connections that benefit groups of the population that are often forgotten about in conventional planning processes.