Missed any of the “Retrospectives” from PUBLIC REALM & URBAN SPACES Smart Class 2025?
Here’s another chance to gain valuable insights from our Keynote Supporters and Innovation Sponsors – The Crown Estate, Westminster City Council, Transport for London (TfL), Connected Places Catapult, Project Centre, and Walk Wheel Cycle Trust!
If you meet our regular delegate qualification criteria* for a Public Realm & Urban Spaces Smart Class but were unable to join us at The Wellington Hotel, London, for the live in-person event on December 4th, CLICK HERE and complete the short “Download form” at the bottom of the post to receive a unique link giving free of charge access to all the presentation video recordings and slides. Alternatively, click on your preferred presentation title from below to re-visit an individual retrospective:
- “Reimagining the Public Realm of Regent Street, Haymarket, and Piccadilly Circus”
- “Shaping Better Public Spaces through Innovation”
- “Designing Sustainable Places for People and the Future”
- “TfL’s Role in Improving London’s Public Realm through the Healthy Streets Approach”
- “Integrating Active Travel and Public Space to Create Spaces that Work for Young People”
* Those qualifying to receive the presentation videos and rich media content from this event include commissioning, procurement, trialling, partnering and policy leads, senior influencers, strategic decision makers, planners, place makers, architects, green space managers, urban designers, communities & neighbourhoods, highways & street scene, transport & mobility and high streets & regeneration professionals from councils and local authorities (city, borough, metropolitan, district, county and combined); people and place partnerships; developers, landowners and creators of privately owned public spaces; prime contractors and city centre management companies; DfT, DEFRA, MHCLG, EA and supporting governmental bodies; transport authorities, highways agencies and public transport operators; civic organisations and community groups; and other key players from the public realm ecosystem with responsibility for managing, maintaining and operating our streets, squares, forecourts, parks, pathways, retail centres, car parks, airports, ports, travel hubs, hospitals, housing estates, campuses, communal gardens and the assets contained within these public or semi-public spaces.
Here’s some of the feedback we’ve received from PUBLIC REALM & URBAN SPACES Smart Class 2025 delegates and stakeholders:
“It was a great turn out!” – Head of Public Realm, Westminster City Council • It was great to speak at such an inspiring event – thank you for having us Smart Classes” – Senior Development Manager – Public Realm, The Crown Estate • “All of the presentations were very interesting…would be interested in partnering in some capacity” – Senior Project Consultant – Major Capital Projects Team, Colchester City Council • “Very good Smart Class, great presentations. SuDs and lighting most relevant to the housing developments I work on in terms of design and best practice” – Senior Development Manager, Gravesham Borough Council • “Smart Classes ran a great networking event in London. It was good to catch up with ex-colleagues and find new contacts with knowledge sharing. The presentations were informative and reassuring”…“ Keynote and other presentation takeaways: Claire Hepher-Davies and Sarah Hoare shared the plans for Regent’s Street – which includes ambitious pedestrianisation. Connecting Park to Park with green infrastructure and inclusive design features. The statistics on involvement were impressive – with a great diversity engagement panel. Collaboration between The Crown Estate, Westminster City Council and others being key. Geoffrey Stevens and Joshua Thomas from Connected Places Catapult followed on with projects that are innovative testing ideas on better delivering health outcomes – particularly with children. Bringing together ways to monitor and measure success. Bharati Ghodke, Herbie Barnieh and David Chapman showed the work Project Centre has be doing in London Borough of Newham, London Borough of Waltham Forest and elsewhere to deliver better places with connected green infrastructure, cycle routes, water management and lighting. Robert Edwards and Alina Sechrest covered reasons to be cheerful with great examples of projects that have been transforming London – despite culture wars – delivering healthy streets and places for Transport for London. Zeina Hawa and Lorenzo Ciancarini showcased working with communities to make low cost solutions that had high social impact. Using Minecraft as an engagement tool – with the Walk Wheel Cycle Trust (formally Sustrans). Happy to share what we have been doing at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park with our ‘Creating Places that work for Women and Girls Handbook and projects like Westfield Avenue (Connectivity Portfolio)” – Head of Landscape and Urban Design, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and LLDC Developments • “Thanks! Designing sustainable places was most relevant to what I do” – Lead Engineer, Hammersmith & Fulham Council • “Lots of case studies and results. Valuable roundtables with great breadth of discussion around planting, lighting and space reallocation” – Sustainable Transport Strategy & Programme Manager, Hertfordshire County Council • “Great event and engaging roundtable discussions” – Strategy and Programme Manager, Hertfordshire County Council • “An opportunity to network, understand current market trends/ideas and get inspired!” – Neighbourhood Regeneration Manager, London Borough of Lambeth
“Keynotes were most engaging and relevant for my work” – Head of Placemaking, London Heritage Quarter • “Great experience, especially as it brought together some very relevant experts in one room!”…“Provided opportunities for BID to identify future collaborations” – Placemaking and Sustainability Project Manager, London Heritage Quarter • “Interesting to see relevant delivered projects and understand barriers to quality public realm delivery” – Senior Landscape Design Manager, London Legacy Development Corporation • “We are designing and delivering public realm, highways and active travel schemes for the next 20 years to complement the forthcoming HS2 Old Oak Common Station and to make spaces better for local residents while they are surrounded by construction. Useful to have insight into the future and emerging ideas around public realm, and how we can design and deliver in innovative ways and recognise how people are using spaces differently in this increasingly technologically mediated world” – Principal Project Manager – Development and Infrastructure, Old Oak & Park Royal Development Corporation • “As part of my role on the delivery team of a public regeneration project, it’s key to understand technologies, procurement and ownership models impacting development of public realm and strategic highways networks” – Senior Infrastructure Project Officer, Old Oak & Park Royal Development Corporation • “Well done! Relatable to my projects – LTNs, SuDs, School Streets and Public Realm works of most interest” – Project Manager, Royal Borough of Greenwich • “Designing Sustainable Places presentation provided a diverse approach which was specific to my role…interesting to establish issues behind other school streets and LTN schemes” – Project Manager, Royal Borough of Greenwich • “Great event yesterday, thanks for the invite. Great selection of speakers and topics. Hope to join many more in the future. Marvellous organising too!”…“As a public realm/smart city professional, I found all of the presentations and roundtables valuable and relevant to today’s built environment discussions” – Director of Development and Masterplanning, Beyond The Red Line/Design Review Panel Member, Barnet Council and Newham Council/Independent Planning Committee Member, OPDC • “It was great to join this invited round-table event at the end of last year – bringing together different parts of the built environment industry to share transformational projects and best practices through knowledge exchange. Really enjoyed all of the presentations. Look forward to future Smart Classes sessions – thank you for the invitation!” – Founder & Director, Matter Space Soul/Design Review Expert, Croydon Council and London Borough of Redbridge
“Just a note to say thank you again for the invite – it was a very enjoyable and well-run event with no stress and a welcoming atmosphere” – Technical Director – Head of Waste Planning, Velocity Transport Planning • “I enjoyed the event yesterday – thanks”…“Lessons around school streets and child focus were especially valuable, and tactical urbanism and community-led design topics most interesting” – Urban Designer, Walk Wheel Cycle Trust • “Great to attend the Public Realm & Urban Spaces Smart Classes last week. It was an inspiring look at examples and ongoing projects aiming to create cleaner, safer and more inclusive streets. Highlights included updates on the Regent Street transformation led by Westminster City Council and The Crown Estate, with plans for 35,000m2 of traffic-free space and another round of consultations in 2026. We also enjoyed insights from Connected Places Catapult on linking public health and placemaking, and practical design examples from Project Centre such as adaptive lighting and flood-resilient streets. Transport for London shared upcoming improvements across London, and the Walk Wheel Cycle Trust showcased approaches to engaging children in co-designing safer streets. Thank you to all speakers and organiser Mark Bradbury for an inspiring day. Lots to take forward!” – Project Manager, Cross River Partnership • “Thank you! It was an insightful and valuable event. Great to meet like minded professionals in my industry and hear about the great projects they are working on”…“Really interesting seeing a high profile public realm project designed and something I can feed into and take inspiration from” – Anon Local Authority Delegate • “I enjoyed the Smart Class a couple of weeks ago and would like to review some of the content”…“I am interested in how to value public realm with metrics that can be used in business cases to avoid removal of urban realm improvements during value engineering. Also interested in urban realm improvements in response to London locations affected by post war road expansion” – Urban Design Specialist, Transport for London • “Smart Classes are really useful for disseminating best practice. Practical examples and valuable insights into policy and funding influences” – Director, ATCO • “Thanks so much for a lovely experience yesterday”/“All the presentations were valuable as they covered various scales and aspects of public realm improvement projects, and all of our discussions were interesting and relevant” – Technical Director – Landscape and Urban Design, Project Centre, part of Marston Holdings (Innovation Sponsor) • “Many thanks for a wonderful day yesterday. It was great to discuss and connect with so many interesting speakers and attendees. Thanks for your impeccable organisation and support throughout the event as well. The themes from the different presenters also tied nicely together. Generally a great opportunity for people to meet and discuss their issues and projects. Good luck in the next classes and thanks again” – Principal Engineer, Walk Wheel Cycle Trust (Innovation Sponsor)
If you’re interested in presenting at a Smart Class, please get in touch!
Current Schedule of Smart Classes:
- TRANSPORT Smart Class, Midlands 2026 – Wednesday 25th February, Birmingham
- WATER MANAGEMENT Smart Class 2026 – New date TBA, Bristol
- TRANSPORT Smart Class, North of England 2026 – Tuesday 30th June, Leeds
- TRANSPORT Smart Class, Scotland 2026 – Thursday 10th September, Glasgow
- TRANSPORT Smart Class, London & South East England 2026 – Wednesday 9th December, London
- Next PUBLIC REALM & URBAN SPACES Smart Class, EMISSIONS & AIR QUALITY Smart Class and WASTE MANAGEMENT Smart Class – In the spirit of collaboration, Early Bird sponsors can help us determine the dates for these events!
- Future ENERGY Smart Class and HEALTH & ASSISTED LIVING Smart Class – TBC
Like to learn more about our Smart Class events and how you can potentially participate? Click here to discover the market context of Smart Classes and for a general overview of our Transport, Public Realm & Urban Spaces, Water Management, Emissions & Air Quality, Waste Management, Energy and Health & Assisted Living editions.
Buyer side stakeholders (e.g. councils/local authorities, combined/mayoral authorities, transport authorities, public transport operators, highways authorities, lead local flood authorities, water companies and wastewater operators, waste collection and waste disposal authorities, public service providers, utilities, critical infrastructure operators, government agencies, community groups, prime contractors, developers and landowners, PPPs, NGOs etc) meeting the qualification criteria described on the individual event page (click selected Smart Class from the schedule above) can apply for a free delegate place by completing the “Registration form” located at the bottom of that page.
Up to 5 technology companies (software or hardware solution providers/vendors) can be accommodated at each Smart Class in an “Innovation Sponsor” capacity. This opportunity can also be extended to innovative agencies, consultancies, advisory and design practices. Peruse the Event Sponsorship page for full details on “Smart Class Innovation Sponsorship Packages”. Check out our Testimonials page (or the individual Smart Class event pages) for feedback from previous delegates, sponsors and supporters.
Seeking further inspiration to realise the ‘Smart Vision’ of your city, region, communities, public services or critical infrastructure operations? Explore our Innovator Directory for profiles, experts and thought leadership from trailblazers, early adopters and major stakeholders developing or deploying the latest digital innovations, data-driven strategies and best practices. Enlist your own smart credentials with a “Mover”, “Shaker” or “Disruptor” package, genuinely affordable options for every budget! For additional insights, check out the Smart Classes Knowledge Base!
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