Create Streets

Create Streets Create Streets is a design practice, town-builder and think tank.

We lead research, master-planning, design coding and community co-design to help develop and steward beautiful, sustainable and popular ‘gentle density’ places. Social enterprise & research institute encouraging more urban homes with terraced streets not complex multi-storey buildings. 'Speaks London's language'

Our founder Nicholas Boys Smith was in Rome last week, speaking on the ecology of everyday streets at the CNAPPC Confere...
31/03/2026

Our founder Nicholas Boys Smith was in Rome last week, speaking on the ecology of everyday streets at the CNAPPC Conference on new paradigms of urban life: proximity, well-being in cities and territories. You can check out his talk over on our YouTube channel https://youtube.com/watch?v=_YAC0fFveEE

With thanks to the Architects' Council of Europe &
Consiglio Nazionale Architetti Pianificatori Paesaggisti e Conservatori

CNAPPC Conference on new paradigms of urban life: proximity, well-being in cities and territorieshttps://ace-cae.eu/event/cnappc-conference-on-new-paradigms-...

📢 Do you live, work or spend time in Blackpool? What would make Blackpool’s streets and public transport work better for...
19/03/2026

📢 Do you live, work or spend time in Blackpool? What would make Blackpool’s streets and public transport work better for everyday life?

We are currently working on a report exploring what practical improvements to streets and public transport matter most to people, and how these can strengthen towns across the UK. As part of this, we’ve launched our ‘Creating a Better Blackpool’ survey and are inviting people who live, work or spend time here to share their views.

If you have a minute to spare, please respond to our quick and fun survey https://communities.createstreets.com/BetterBlackpool

11/03/2026

📢 The deadline for the early bird discount is fast approaching (applications approved before April 1st!). Here is a taste of what to expect at the Create Streets Foundation Urban Design and Architecture Summer School...
You can secure your place here
https://www.createstreetsfoundation.org.uk/creating-places-academy/summer-school/
Module 1 - Urban Design: 10 - 14 July 2026
Craft day: 15 July 2026
Module 2 - Architecture: 14 - 19 July 2026

Most council’s housing targets have doubled. NPPF updates have introduced new transport rules: vision-led planning, chan...
02/03/2026

Most council’s housing targets have doubled. NPPF updates have introduced new transport rules: vision-led planning, changing parking standards, continuous pavement references, placemaking guidance and pavement parking bans. The pressure on local authorities to deliver more and better housing schemes has never been higher.

Yet, housing and transport remain trapped in separate silos, despite being two sides of the same coin. This fragmentation creates conflict at the finish line, where planning visions clash with technical adoption standards, leading to delays, cost increases and compromised street quality.

This webinar seeks to bridge that gap, offering voices who are delivering streets from vision to adoption. Streets that are functional and emotional. We will provide examples of how to lock in quality at scale be it, navigating the technicalities of continuous footways, the "Asphalt vs. Block Paving" maintenance debate, or the pathway from planning consent to highway adoption.

🎟️ Sign up to join for free here https://www.tickettailor.com/events/createstreets/2065539

Speakers
Chair: David Milner, Managing Director Create Streets.
Welcome: Nicholas Boys Smith MBE, Founder Create Streets.

Sharing their expertise with us are;
Jack Hubert Mayhew, Cheshire West & Chester and Tom Noble, Create Streets: Better Streets Everywhere. Street Design Codes, examples from Cheshire and Surrey;

Becky Phillips-Melhuish, Active Travel England: Bridging, Planning and Adoption. Experiences from Lincolnshire and Active Travel England;

Lewis Hubbard, Lewis Hubbard Engineering: The Devil is in the Detail. A deep dive into the engineering of street design schemes;

Victor Baron, Paris City Hall, Greening & Biodiversity: Across the Channel. Paris street transformation under Anne Hidalgo; and

Annabel Keegan, Streets for a Healthy Life. An update on Homes England's Streets for a Healthy Life.

New planning rules. New obligations. Same question nobody's answering clearly: what actually is gentle density, and how ...
23/02/2026

New planning rules. New obligations. Same question nobody's answering clearly: what actually is gentle density, and how do you make it?

The Create Streets Foundation Gentle Density 2-day masterclass is back! Saturday March 7th and Saturday March 21st. A couple of places left.

"Poundbury is exceptional. It also has faults. Of course it does. It is made by humans, after all... It is a town, not a...
20/02/2026

"Poundbury is exceptional. It also has faults. Of course it does. It is made by humans, after all... It is a town, not a housing estate. This distinguishes Poundbury from any other development of the last 80 years"

Create Streets' own Robert Kwolek recently visited Poundbury with his camera and "returned convinced that it is the best new place built in the UK in decades, bursting with lessons for a New Town programme.”

“There’s truly excellent urbanism in the early phases with many outstanding homes.”

“You can see and feel the care that has gone into the public spaces and into how buildings relate to each other.”

"One of the delightful things about walking around Poundbury is picking out which architect designed what. The excellent houses around Wadebridge Square have the unmistakable characteristics of John Simpson such as his signature Doric columns and unique proportions."

“After years of experimentation, Poundbury is becoming what the King and its designers always aspired for it: not a curiosity, but an excellent town.”

“Not a sketch of the past but a hope for the future.”

Read on herehttps://www.createstreets.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Impressions-of-Poundbury_R-Kwolek-2026.pdf

03/02/2026

🚨Tomorrow.
Hackney’s Planning Committee faces a choice that matters well beyond Shoreditch. Supporting Shoreditch Works would signal that London backs good growth in the right places, growth that strengthens streets, supports jobs and contributes to the long-term health of the city.

If you live or work in Hackney, here’s how can you help support this scheme:
1. Turn up to the planning committee meeting on 4 February
2. Write to hackney council planning committee councillors (here they are: https://hackney.moderngov.co.uk/mgCommitteeDetails.aspx?ID=125)
Here's why it's SO good and SO popular: https://createstreets.com/projects/will-shoreditch-works-make-london-better/

Address

London

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