Urban design food and the city

Events this year have triggered changes in the way that we view other people. The use of public
space and places of social gathering appears to be, and perhaps has become less safe, given the
recent levels of terrorism. Public space is now being observed and guarded much like privately
controlled spaces, and as a result creates an urban design dilemma. We appreciate the
reassurance that the presence of other people in public space does not constitute a threat, but as
urban designers we strive to create public places which can be used freely and without a second
thought… The after-effects of Britain’s vote to leave the European Union continue to be felt around the
country, and this in turn has triggered a new awkwardness in relationships and therefore in
planning for the future. The contrasting views held between urban and rural areas across Britain has
left the country wondering about its true character and identity, and politically in limbo without
a clear route map and with our friends feeling decidedly alienated.
In this issue of Urban Design, we explore the topic of Food and the City, expertly curated by
Jane Manning: it is a good example of how the Brexit vote is causing uncertainty. As several
authors note, Britain’s food supply and prices are likely to be significantly destabilised by
Brexit, as many agricultural workers may not be eligible to work here, and our dependence on
produce from our now disaffected neighbouring countries increases. In the last three years, this
journal’s topics have ranged from Tall Buildings, Industry and Urban Design, Designing Housing,
The City as Developer, Garden Cities, Greening the City, Urban Design and New Technology,
Waterfronts, Central and Eastern Europe, Market Towns, to Art in the Public Realm. It is hard to
imagine how parochial these topics would have been without articles about European practice or
written by contributors with experience of living and working both in Britain and Europe. Each
year, contributions from our European colleagues equate to around a third of Urban Design’s pages.
Therefore it is in all of our interests to work hard to maintain an ethos of openness and of sharing new
ideas, so that we can learn about best practice from all sources of expertise.

source :

https://www.udg.org.uk/sites/default/files/publications/UD140_magazine.pdf