This episode is a conversation with Tara and Lanre of Gbolade Design Studio, sustainable architects and urban designers based in London. Reflecting on their 5 years in practice, we discuss a range of topics and projects including:

• City-shaping with masterplans and design codes
• Retrofitting existing buildings
• Zero carbon and regenerative design
• Community-building and co-creating with communities
• Innovation in design, including the use of AI
• Their recent exhibition, ‘Breaking Ground’, and contribution to the Venice Biennale 2023

See the companion blog post for images of the projects we discuss.

Learn more about Gbolade Design Studio here: https://www.gboladedesignstudio.com/

- - -

Register: Nature-led Urban Design - Study Tour and Masterclass (25 September)

Subscribe to the Green Urbanist Newsletter

Consulting and training: https://greenurbanist.org/

Get in touch: https://greenurbanistpod.com/contact

The Green Urbanist podcast is created by Ross O'Ceallaigh.

What is urban rewilding? Can it be done in cities? Is anyone doing it? 

In this episode, we explore:

• History of the rewilding concept
• Current best practice in rewilding
• How rewilding can be applied to cities
• Case studies of active and passive rewilding in urban areas around the world

Companion Blog Post - See visuals of the stuff we talk about plus sources and bibliography.

Corrections:
We made a few small errors in this podcast. Around 24:00, Giulia says Sequoia tree seeds come in 'pine nuts' when she meant to say 'cones' (you can see how her mind was working...). 
Around 40:00, Ross says Rewilding Enfield is along the River Lea, when it is actually on the other side of the Borough in Enfield Chase (sorry, Londoners...). 

- - -

Register: Nature-led Urban Design - Study Tour and Masterclass (25 September)

Subscribe to the Green Urbanist Newsletter

Consulting and training: https://greenurbanist.org/

Get in touch: https://greenurbanistpod.com/contact

The Green Urbanist podcast is created by Ross O'Ceallaigh.

Subscribe via Substack: https://greenurbanist.substack.com/

Give a donation via my website: https://greenurbanistpod.com/support

When you donate/subscribe to the Green Urbanist Podcast, 50% of income goes to funding climate action in cities via partner organisations. The rest covers the podcast's operating costs and invests in its growth. 

Thanks for listening!

Join the Green Urbanist Weekly newsletter: Substack

Support the Podcast by Donation

Contact Ross

Website
Linkedin
Twitter
Instagram

This episode is a conversation with Jane, Lydia and Tom of architecture and urban design studio DSDHA. We discuss their research project 'Towards Spatial Justice: A guide for achieving meaningful participation in co-design processes'.

We explore what co-design really means, why it’s important and how they have applied co-design processes at their projects: White Horse Square in Wembley Park, London and the extension of the British Library.

Learn more about DSDHA here: Link

Download the Towards Spatial Justice research report here: Link

See images of the projects we discuss on the Substack companion post: Link

- - -

Register: Nature-led Urban Design - Study Tour and Masterclass (25 September)

Subscribe to the Green Urbanist Newsletter

Consulting and training: https://greenurbanist.org/

Get in touch: https://greenurbanistpod.com/contact

The Green Urbanist podcast is created by Ross O'Ceallaigh.

Xavier Smales is an Architect and Andy Tugby is Head of Sustainable Construction at Human Nature, a developer based in the south of England. They join me to discuss their approach to designing sustainable neighbourhoods and how they're putting this into action with a development called The Phoenix.

We discuss urban design principles for sustainable lifestyles, low carbon architecture, circular economy and more.

Click here to see the companion blog post on Substack for visuals of the project!

Find out more about Human Nature and The Phoenix here:
https://www.humannature-places.com/phoenix

- - -

Register: Nature-led Urban Design - Study Tour and Masterclass (25 September)

Subscribe to the Green Urbanist Newsletter

Consulting and training: https://greenurbanist.org/

Get in touch: https://greenurbanistpod.com/contact

The Green Urbanist podcast is created by Ross O'Ceallaigh.

Joe Morris is Founding Director of Morris+Company architects, based in London and Copenhagen. In this episode, he gives me a tour of their newly refurbished London office while we discuss their philosophy and approach to architecture, sustainability, circularity and connection between food and urbanism.

I have collated images of all the projects we talk about in this episode in a companion blog post on my Substack. Check it out while you listen!

https://morrisand.company/

- - -

Register: Nature-led Urban Design - Study Tour and Masterclass (25 September)

Subscribe to the Green Urbanist Newsletter

Consulting and training: https://greenurbanist.org/

Get in touch: https://greenurbanistpod.com/contact

The Green Urbanist podcast is created by Ross O'Ceallaigh.

Civic Square is a Public Square, a Neighbourhood Economics Lab and a Creative + Participatory Ecosystem. They have been doing amazing work around systems change at the neighbourhood level in Ladywood, Birmingham, where they are based. Their main projects to date include creating a Neighbourhood Doughnut based on Kate Raworth’s Doughnut Economics concept and exploring the invisible infrastructure needed to transition their neighbourhood towards a sustainable future.

In this episode, we also have a long chat about how they are funded and the difficult reality of engaging in meaningful systems change work that doesn’t come with a blueprint. 

Civic Square website: https://civicsquare.cc/

Ladywood Neighbourhood Doughnut: https://doughnuteconomics.org/stories/213

Listen to episode #33: Doughnut Economics Explained and What it Means for Cities

- - -

Register: Nature-led Urban Design - Study Tour and Masterclass (25 September)

Subscribe to the Green Urbanist Newsletter

Consulting and training: https://greenurbanist.org/

Get in touch: https://greenurbanistpod.com/contact

The Green Urbanist podcast is created by Ross O'Ceallaigh.

Read the companion blog post to his episode on Substack.

Israa Mahmoud is Assistant Professor of Urban and Regional Planning at Politecnico di Milano, Italy. Her research interests include nature-based solutions, co-design and urban governance. Her recent publications include The book Placemaking for Green Urban Regeneration, published by Springer. She is the research team leader together with Prof. Eugenio Morello on CLEVER Cities Project as an expert of Co-creation guidance for cities to implement Nature-based solutions in socially inclusive urban regeneration processes.

We talk about:

• Nature-based solutions
• The need to take a place-based approach to NbS
• Co-designing by immersion with communities
• The sweet spot between top down and grassroots approaches to urban change
• CLEVER Cities project and case studies in Milan 

Learn more about Israa and her publications here.
Learn more about the CLEVER Cities project here. 

- - -

Register: Nature-led Urban Design - Study Tour and Masterclass (25 September)

Subscribe to the Green Urbanist Newsletter

Consulting and training: https://greenurbanist.org/

Get in touch: https://greenurbanistpod.com/contact

The Green Urbanist podcast is created by Ross O'Ceallaigh.

Read the companion blog post to this episode on Substack.

Dr Helen Pineo MRTPI is an urban planner and Associate Professor in Healthy and Sustainable Cities in the Bartlett Faculty of the Built Environment at University College London. Her research focuses on how property development, regeneration and urban policy can support health and sustainability. She contributes to the evidence base about why and how to do healthy urbanism by using transdisciplinary approaches and amplifying the needs of underrepresented communities and the planet. Her book, Healthy Urbanism: Designing and Planning Equitable, Sustainable and Inclusive Places, re-defines the meaning and form of healthy urban environments.

If you want to buy the book, you can get a 40% discount through end of March 2023. Paste the coupon code HIGHLIGHTS22 at checkout. Buy the book here: https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-981-16-9647-3


Find out more about Helen and her work here: https://healthyurbanism.net/

- - -

Register: Nature-led Urban Design - Study Tour and Masterclass (25 September)

Subscribe to the Green Urbanist Newsletter

Consulting and training: https://greenurbanist.org/

Get in touch: https://greenurbanistpod.com/contact

The Green Urbanist podcast is created by Ross O'Ceallaigh.

In this episode I fact check the article  "There are a lot of dangerous myths" about sustainability says Norman Foster, which appeared on dezeen.com on 17th January 2023. 
The architect made some controversial statements about sustainability and defended Foster & Partner's decision to keep designing airports and leave Architects Declare.

This episode is in no way an attack on the fine people who work at Foster & Partners or the work they do to design sustainable buildings. It is just a fact check of some of the controversial statements made by Foster himself, to help people understand the climate science.

Relevant episode for further listening:
#21: Jake Attwood-Harris (Hawkins\Brown) - Whole Life Carbon, Zero Carbon Architecture and Retrofitting for Sustainability

Relevant links and further reading

https://architizer.com/blog/inspiration/stories/foster-partners-zaha-hadid-architects-quit-architects-declare/#:~:text=Foster %2B Partners and Zaha Hadid,climate action can be policed.

https://www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-uks-jet-zero-plan-would-allow-demand-for-flying-to-soar-70/

https://ourworldindata.org/co2-emissions-from-aviation

https://cen.acs.org/environment/pollution/nuclear-waste-pilesscientists-seek-best/98/i12

https://www.forbes.com/sites/christinero/2019/11/26/the-staggering-timescales-of-nuclear-waste-disposal/?sh=5ba3bc729cf5

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/fuel-seawater-whats-catch-180953623/#:~:text=Now%2C scientists at the U.S.,plane as proof of concept.

https://science.howstuffworks.com/transport/flight/modern/question192.htm

- - -

Register: Nature-led Urban Design - Study Tour and Masterclass (25 September)

Subscribe to the Green Urbanist Newsletter

Consulting and training: https://greenurbanist.org/

Get in touch: https://greenurbanistpod.com/contact

The Green Urbanist podcast is created by Ross O'Ceallaigh.