Urban Forecast

In this episode we speak to Gaia Vince; Guardian journalist, Scientist, Author, and Broadcaster.Gaia spent 2 years researching her first book, Adventures in the Anthropocene’ by travelling, largely in the global South, witnessing the impact humanity has had on the world.In her latest book ‘Nomad Century’, Gaia sets out how we need to start planning now for the impact of climate change on global migration, as many parts of the world become uninhabitable.“Cities are the answer… by the end of the century, almost everyone will live in cities… and this is a good thing because energy, water… all of these things are more efficient”.This is a fascinating discussion about how we need to plan for a century of upheaval, and what this means for the Built Environment today.

Dan Jestico is Director of Sustainable Design at Savills Earth. In this fascinating episode, Dan shares his key recommendations for how the built environment sector can work towards a net zero world. 

Euan Mills is the Head of Digital Planning at Connected Places Catapult where he co-leads a programme of work looking at how new technology can help us plan cities better. In this episode Euan shares his insights on how digital principals will change the way our cities are planned, built and experienced. 

Today’s guest is Colin Wilson, Head of the Old Kent Road Regeneration team. Colin was working in a Local Aurthority planning department in the 1990s, and was about to give up on planning- he was sick of the adversarial relationship between developers and planners. That was when he applied to the newly formed GLA. During his time at the GLA, Colin worked on the major ‘plan-led’ renegration projects at Nine Elms, Kings Cross, and Old Oak Common. In this podcast he describes how the lessons learned from these projects have translated to his work at Old Kent Road, where 20,000 new homes and 5,000 new jobs are planned. In this wide-ranging discussion, we cover the power of drawings, how beds-and sheds have a future in London, and how to build 20,000 new homes without loosing the sense of a human scale. This podcast is essential listening for anyone who wants to understand the role of the GLA, or is interested in development in Southwark. 

It is well known that the traditional role of the Estate Agent is vanishing, and James Turford is one of those embracing this change. James is one of the co-founders of Nested, an estate agency with a difference - as well as selling the property, they will give the vendor a sizeable advance to allow them to proceed with a purchase when they are stuck in a chain. To do this, James and his team have developed innovative software to value properties, and market the property to the right buyers. In this episode we discuss the pressures and thrills of working in a startup, the potential for prop-tech to disrupt the property industry, and why buy mum doesn’t think Nested is a good idea. 

Pat Hayes is Managing Director of Be First, an innovative development vehicle set up to deliver 50,000 new homes and 20,000 new jobs for the borough of Barking and Dagenham over the next 20 years. Pat discusses his experience as a planner delivering large scale regeneration projects with private developers at Ealing, Lewisham, and then as a partnership manager for TFL. Pat has a refreshing view of the role that planning can take in positively shaping developments, and how clear parameters and a collaborative approach can produce results for both the Local Authority and the private developer. We also cover his ambitious plans at Be First, and how modular construction is being used to deliver large scale affordable housing within Barking and Dagenham. If you are a developer or consultant working in Barking and Dagenham, this is a must-listen. 

Today’s guest is Nicole Bremner, director of East Eight - a boutique development company specialising in high quality, design-led homes. However, this introduction does not fully describe Nicole - she is also an entrepreneur, author, mother, and a pioneer in the power of social media to scale up a property business. In this podcast we cover all of these topics and more, including our first  meeting on a yacht in Cannes, the future of crowd-funding, and how her plans for world domination are constantly evolving. 

With guest Rob Bould, the vice chairman of LandAid, a charity with the aim of ending youth homelessness. We focus on Rob being somewhat of a disrupter in the property market and discuss the companies he's involved with which are using technology to transform the property sector.