PUBLIC REALM & URBAN SPACES Smart Class

Active Travel England • Aecom • AND London • Arcadis • Ards & North Down Borough Council • Ashfield District Council • Aspinall Verdi • ATCO • AtkinsRealis • Babergh and Mid Suffolk District Council • Balfour Beatty • Barnet Council • Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council • Bedford Borough Council • Belfast City Council • Beyond The Red Line • Birmingham City Council • Bolton Council • Bracknell Forest Council • Brent Council • Brighton & Hove City Council • Brighton & Hove DRP • Bristol City Council • Broadoak • Buckinghamshire Council • Bury Council • Canterbury City Council • Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation • Cheltenham Borough Council • Cherwell District Council • Cheshire West and Chester Council • CityCo Manchester • City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council • City of Edinburgh Council • City of London Corporation • Colchester City Council • Connected Places Catapult • Coventry City Council • Cross River Partnership • Cumberland Council • Cumbria LEP Places Strategy Group • Dacorum Borough Council • Dartford Borough Council • Derbyshire County Council • Design Council • Design South East • Dorset Council • Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council • Dumfries & Galloway Council • Durham County Council • Ealing Council • East Herts & Broxbourne Councils • Eastleigh Borough Council • East Lothian Council • East Riding of Yorkshire Council • Elementa Consulting • Enfield Council • Epping Forest District Council • Essex County Council • Fife Council • Glasgow City Council • GL Hearn • Gloucestershire County Council • Gravesham Borough Council • Greater Cambridge Shared Planning Service • Greater London Authority • Greater Manchester Combined Authority • Great Ormond Street Hospital • Great Places Housing Group • Hackney Council • Harrow Council • Herefordshire Council • Hertfordshire County Council • Hertsmere Borough Council • Historic England • Homes England • Horsham District Council • Hull City Council • Human Stories • Hyndburn Borough Council • IBI Group • Influence Landscape Architects • Integrated Transport Planning • Islington Council • Jacobs • Keep Britain Tidy • Kent County Council • Knowledge Quarter Liverpool • Lancashire County Council • Landplanning Consultants • Leeds Beckett University • Leeds City Council • Leeds Sustainability Institute • Lewisham Council • Liverpool City Council • Liverpool City Region Combined Authority • London Borough of Croydon • London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham • London Borough of Hounslow • London Borough of Lambeth • London Borough of Newham • London Borough of Redbridge • London Borough of Tower Hamlets • London Borough of Waltham Forest • London Councils • London Heritage Quarter • London Legacy Development Corporation • Luton Borough Council • Mace • Manchester City Centre BID • Matter Space Soul • Meinhardt • Midlothian Council • Mid Sussex District Council • Milton Keynes Council • Ministry of Defence • Momentum Transport • National Grid • Network Rail • Newcastle City Council • Newcastle Helix • Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council • Newcastle University • New Substance • Nexus – Tyne and Wear Passenger Transport Executive • Norman Rourke Pryme • North Ayrshire Council • North East Combined Authority • North Lincolnshire Council • North Somerset Council • North Tyneside Council • Northumberland County Council • North West Net Zero Hub • Nottingham City Council • Nottinghamshire County Council • Old Oak & Park Royal Development Corporation • Oxford City Council • Oxfordshire County Council • Peabody • Pembrey Airport • Perth & Kinross Council • PJA • Preston City Council • Project Centre • Public Practice • Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park • Robin Buckle Urban Design • Rossendale Borough Council • Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council • Royal Borough of Greenwich • Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea • Salford City Council • Sandwell Council • Savills • Sciontec Developments • Sevenoaks District Council • Shaftesbury • Sheffield City Council • Shropshire Council • SLR Consulting • Smart Transport Hub • Southend-on-Sea City Council • South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority • St Helens Borough Council • Suez • Sunderland Business Improvement District • Sunderland City Council • Surrey County Council • Sustrans • Swindon Borough Council • Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council • Tees Valley Combined Authority • Thanet District Council • The Crown Estate • 31ten Consulting • Transport for Greater Manchester • Transport for London • Transport Futures • Transport Initiatives • Tyne & Wear Planning • University College London • Urban Design London • Urban Design Works • Urban Foresight • Velocity Transport Planning • Walk Wheel Cycle Trust • Walsall Council • Wardell Armstrong • Warwickshire County Council • Waterman Aspen • West Berkshire Council • Westminster City Council • West Yorkshire Combined Authority • Winchester City Council • Wigan Council • Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council • WSP • York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority etc

Reimagining the public realm of Regent Street, Haymarket, and Piccadilly Circus • Balancing heritage with innovation • Transforming iconic London streets into greener, safer, and more accessible destinations • The UK’s innovation accelerator for the built environment • Shaping better public spaces through innovation – Establishing the public realm innovation lab • Partnering with local authorities, developers and communities to test and co-create solutions that make public spaces more inclusive, sustainable and successful • Piloting real-world interventions to address fragmented policies, limited evidence and weak community engagement • Designing sustainable, resilient, and people-centred places that respond to the evolving social and environmental challenges of our built environments • Balancing design quality, functionality, and sustainability within complex urban contexts • Tailoring urban design to communities and council’s needs with innovative elements such as adaptive lighting, nature-based solutions, and inclusive placemaking • How evidence-based design and integrated solutions can reduce energy use, enhance biodiversity, and create vibrant, attractive spaces that work for both the people and the environment – Best Practice from recognised schemes across the UK • Putting people and their health at the centre of decisions about how we design, manage and use public spaces • TfL’s role in enhancing London’s public realm – Adopting the healthy streets approach and leveraging the LIPs programme to improve air quality, reduce congestion and help make London’s diverse communities greener, healthier and more attractive places to live, work, play and do business • 10 healthy streets indicators • London’s Road Network – A strong, green, heartbeat for London • Upper Street/Islington and Edgware Road/Westminster case studies – Lessons learnt • Integrating active travel and public space to create places that work for young people • School streets and neighbourhood approaches projects that have involved deep community engagement along with child led design • Widening the scope of highways improvement projects to encompass wider public health benefits • Role of meaningful, broad engagement and data collection in shaping design proposals and creating lasting street transformations • How can places draw on their assets, ecosystem or expertise to make a new location for innovation work, discovery and job creation? • Re-urbanising the innovation economy – Optimising how hubs of innovation (districts, neighbourhoods, corridors, or clusters of buildings) are physically configured and orchestrated in order to achieve economic and social outcomes for their community, city or region • A journey through the evolution of Newcastle Helix innovation district – Originally conceived as a “science city”, more recently defined as a centre for data, ageing and life sciences with a vision to help people lead better lives • Smart tech that makes Helix and the wider city of Newcastle one of the most measured and analysed locations in the UK – Open urban sensing network, gait analysis, feature detection (scooters, e-bikes, wheelchairs, prams), understanding human scale interaction with infrastructure and collecting long-term patterns of health and movement • How is all this data and research being put to the right use? How can it have a direct impact on public sector decision and policy making, and on investment decisions within the private sector? • Continuing to be a sustainable and smart city – How does the Helix Partnership continue to ensure that the right onward investment and long term vision continues to be shared to deliver what it set out to achieve? At-scale experiments; ongoing research, maintenance and upgrading of sensors, blue green strategy – urban resilience, CCTV and free public Wifi, UK 5G innovation region • Public realm’s unique role in the creation of multifunctional urban places that play their part in physical, mental, and social wellbeing, whilst fostering connections to nature and promoting active lifestyles • Health benefits of physical exercise (NHS studies) and Sports England guidance (walkable communities, activating spaces, flexible spaces, active buildings, activity infrastructure, connected active travel routes, multi-functional open spaces etc) • Competing demands of the urban environment – Vehicular movement, water management, services, access, maintenance, air quality and local microclimates • Designing healthy places – Biodiversity net gain in development • Urban greening factor • 15-minute cities, parklets, liveable neighbourhoods and school streets • Long term benefits of liveable neighbourhoods schemes • Delivered people focussed public realm that includes elements of urban regeneration, SuDS & water management, vacant and derelict sites, school streets, low traffic neighbourhoods, active travel routes, placemaking and truly inclusive places – Case Studies: transforming Gainsborough town centre; North Lanarkshire Council greenspace development; re-imagining Islington’s Moreland Street primary school in line with TfL’s healthy streets approach; Eastcote town centre rain gardens; Hammersmith Grove ‘light touch’ streetscape (parklets), EV charging points and kerb realignment; Dartford, Brewery Square; Worthing, Portland Road • Importance of involving local communities at an early stage of the design process • How close collaboration with wider technical teams helps create vibrant, attractive, thriving environments that create a sense of place and respect local context • Liveable cities and towns for everyone – What is a liveable city, town or place and how are Sustrans’ walking and cycling schemes, mobility hubs, low traffic neighbourhoods, healthy streets, and schools and workplace initiatives playing a key role in their creation? • Paths for everyone – Acting as custodian of the national cycle network, making it accessible to all, providing convenient choices for everyday journeys, working with ATE and authorities on LCWIP’s and urban projects, and developing routes from concept, through design and feasibility to delivery • Five steps to improve our neighbourhoods, health and the economy • How the use of data and co-design can win the case for change in urban active travel projects • The walking and cycling index (WACI) – The biggest assessment of walking, wheeling and cycling in urban areas of the UK and Ireland: What’s in the index and why is it important? • UK messages from 2023 – People want governments to help them walk more • Children’s index, school/parent engagement, pupil design workshops, out and about in the community and successful c0-designed schemes • The index as an anchor project • The disabled citizens’ inquiry – A pan-impairment approach to understanding what disabled people need to make walking and wheeling inclusive • Solutions – Helping shape decision making, creating a long-term dedicated pavement fund, stopping pavement parking and managing pavement clutter, improving walking and wheeling crossing points across roads and cycle paths, making wayfinding and journey-planning tools work for disabled people, improving off-road routes, integrating walking and wheeling with public transport, access to mobility aids • CIHT’s report on “Creating a Public Realm for All” – Helping transport professionals to identify and design the public realm for the everyday challenges faced by disabled people, people with temporary conditions such as pregnancy or sports injuries, older people, people with young children, or those encumbered by luggage or equipment • What is inclusive design? • Incorporating the principles of inclusive design • Importance of “co-cultivation” with those of lived-experience, rather than high-level consultation on a scheme • Reducing barriers in the design stage – Consideration to how the space is used • Reducing barriers after implementation, including the importance of maintenance and reinstatement • Construction and roadworks – The need for safe and accessible alternative walking and wheeling routes during construction and other highway works • Bright and connected public spaces – How, through the use of IoT, councils are able to create connected systems which deliver better outcomes for the communities they serve • Managing, maintaining and optimising public realm assets with smart asset management – From street lighting, bus stops, carriageways, signs and CCTV to street furniture, gullies and drains, waste bins, parks and allotments • Leveraging strategic asset management for carbon reduction, carbon capture and ESG in the public realm • Carbon intensity data trends by type of work, highways activity and location • Green infrastructure’s positive contribution – Calculating the sequestered carbon of your tree stock; managing pests and diseases; making smarter woodland, hedgerow and shrub planting decisions; recording flood-risk areas and defences; improving air quality with EV charging • Reviving high streets – Historic England’s approach to place-shaping • What is place-shaping, how does it differ from place-making and what do we mean by place? • Why are vibrant high streets prioritised spaces in an urban environment, and why are vacancy rates up and dwell time and footfall down? • Why are historic high streets so important and how does historic character bring people and investment to places? • HE’s ground-breaking High Streets Heritage Action Zones programme – £95m invested into 67 English high streets, built on partnership and with a cultural programme alongside the capital works • HSHAZ objectives – Changing perceptions of heritage and high streets; supporting sustainable economic and cultural growth; restoring and enhancing local historic character • HSHAZ impact – Improving public realm, creating new commercial floor space, restoring/reinstating shopfronts and engaging communities in decision making and arts and heritage programme; case studies from Tyldesley, Coventry and Wakefield • Lessons learnt and HSHAZ influence on how Historic England will continue to work with local partners to deliver sustainable heritage-led regeneration •  Place-based decision intelligence technology – Digital solutions combining data, models and simulations, analytics, digital twins, AI and machine learning •  Ability of PBDI to deliver a system level perspective of public realm and urban space strategic planning in the context of decarbonisation, energy, climate, air quality, regeneration, socio-economics and more •  Critical barriers to adopting data-based decision making – How do we address these challenges? •  Real world PBDI case studies: Sunderland City Council – Integrated transport, carbon and regeneration planning; Greater South East Net Zero Hub and Essex County Council – Mobility hub techno-economic feasibility assessment tool; West Yorkshire Combined Authority – Bus performance assessment toolkit; Department for Transport – Network climate resilience assessment •  KQ Liverpool – Creating a world leading innovation district and developing a place making strategy that connects culture and innovation through art and public realm • Paddington Village – Importance of visible transformation and creating a destination • The Spine and HEMISPHERE scheme – Healthy buildings and eco trailblazers • Encouraging sustainable commuting through open access sites for cyclists and pedestrians • The role that public realm and urban spaces can play in delivering inclusive innovation and “Being a Better Neighbour” to surrounding communities in the Liverpool City Region • Creating vibrant, healthy, people focused public realm – Fostering a sense of community, promoting inclusivity, enhancing quality of life, and contributing to local economies • Competing demands of the urban environment – Vehicular movement, water management, services, access, maintenance, air quality and local micro climates • Biodiversity net gain in development and the urban greening factor • The 15 minute city, liveable neighbourhoods, school streets and parklets • Strategic urban design and connected public realm strategies • Designing healthy places – Case studies: Moreland Street (Islington), Old Bethnal Green Road (Tower Hamlets), Eastcote Town Centre, Hammersmith Grove, Dartford Brewery Square and Portland Road (Worthing) • Hull – Culture led regeneration from the built environment to the lived experience: Process, projects and methodology • Using location, UK city of culture status, history and architectural & cultural assets to transform perceptions and create a vibrant, visitor economy • Applying behavioural insights intelligence to soften and create a space that works for all • Building the behaviours of a space that’s not yet built • HSHAZs – Transforming the retail offer with a high street heritage action zone • Deploying intelligent lighting, app controlled fountains, projections and animation in an urban park • Bright and connected public spaces – How, through the use of IoT, councils are able to create connected systems which deliver better outcomes for the communities they serve • Managing, maintaining and optimising public realm assets with a smart asset management solution – From bus stops, street lighting, CCTV and waste bins to carriageways, street furniture, greenspaces and trees • Leveraging strategic asset management for carbon capture and ESG in the public realm • “The City Welcome” – How are CityCo, The Manchester BID and the new Accommodation BID working towards a cleaner, greener, safer and friendlier Manchester in a city where private and public spaces blend, objectives can clash, control is restricted and the public purse is under pressure? • Business crime reduction partnerships – Delivering a business intelligence led secure network to manage risk and offenders, escalate issues, challenge service issues and solve problems • BID cleansing priorities 2023-2028 – From litter picking and hazardous waste removal to graffiti and greening • Street engagement hubs – Working together to support people off the streets • Building better places together – Why is early community engagement critical when it comes to place-shaping, what are the barriers and how can they be overcome? • The multitude of potential engagement projects in the public realm – e.g. urban and rural development consultations, spatial development strategies, masterplans and co-design, neighbourhood regeneration, highways and infrastructure, public transportation and station design, low traffic neighbourhoods, noise action plans, EV charging, solar and wind farms, drone transportation, driverless cars, canal and river conversation, flood resilience, events, street furniture placement, post-covid recovery, air quality and congestion, green prescribing/urban forestry, pocket parks and park improvements, controlled parking zones, active travel, school safety travel schemes, house building, circular economy, heritage and conservation, place-naming etc • Harnessing the capabilities of digital-led tools and data to foster community participation • A 4 step approach to successful engagement and case study examples: Cairngorms National Park; Quality of Life Foundation + Harlow and Gilston; Catford Town Centre; Network Rail – ExploreStation; East Bristol – Liveable Neighbourhoods; North Finchley Town Centre • Projects in the City of London – How to create enhanced and people focussed environments through intelligent lighting and temporary greening and seating measures • City lighting strategy and using remotely operated lighting to complement the look of historic buildings, improve energy usage and environmental impact, tackle light pollution, improve well being and protect wildlife – without compromising safety and security • ‘Culture Mile’ lighting and illuminance case study (Beech Street, Tunnel array) • HULAB objectives and sustainable principles for connecting urban lighting policy and implementation with citizen health • Parklets and the greening and seating measures delivered during the pandemic to support social distancing and businesses in making the city more welcoming – How these safer and flexible outdoor spaces can contribute to supporting businesses in their return to work, the city’s post-pandemic recovery and help create a destination city • Covid-19 ‘City Streets’ interventions – Philpot Lane, Middlesex Street, Cheapside, Creechurch Lane, Ludgate Broadway, West Smithfield • Permanent installations in the ‘City Cluster’ – Working with BIDs (Business Improvement Districts) • Co-design with local community – Moor Lane Community Garden • Lewisham town centre regeneration – A holistic approach to public realm through commissions at three different scales for Lewisham Market, Lewisham High Street and an overarching urban design strategy • Engaging with diverse local communities and businesses, collaborating with local stakeholders and landowners, and quick wins (small interventions, market stall trials, improvements in waste management, cleaning and maintenance, temporary planters etc) • Art and culture, creating an urban design vision and masterplan, public realm visioning (incl. biodiversity gain and green grid, air quality improvements and carbon net zero) and funding • SHIFT: London’s living testbed and building the world’s 1st ‘Inclusive Innovation District’ at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park • An inclusive innovation model, UK innovation districts and delivering a regional approach to inclusive economy • ‘Movement in Cities’ current innovation trials at QEOP – AI-powered spatial analytics for traffic management and urban planning/using AI to monitor mobility modes across the Park (Flyma), last mile delivery: E-Walker (UPS/Freightlab), construction last mile logistics (Murphy’s/TfL), local deliveries last mile business suppliers (Signorelli), local last mile consumer deliveries (CDT/Poplar Harca), bike locks with Mosa, mass movement e-transit, robotic deliveries • ‘Health in Cities’ current innovation trials – Testing hearing wellness in venues: Mumbli, air quality trials with Aeternum, active travel optimisation for all feasibility study and micro mobility hub, Bikeworks e-scooter accessibility improvements • ‘Climate Emergency in Cities’ current innovation trials – Water temperature monitoring sensors/impact of urban heat index on rivers (UCL), urban roof farming and bio-solar research (UCL), green infrastructure, decarbonising district heat network • Circular high streets, borough integration (incl. citizen scientists, digitisation of planning, retrofit housing, local innovation corridors, creative enterprise zone, citizen assembly, community wealth building etc) and SHIFT 2025 objectives (5 year strategy complete, international recognition as a leading urban innovation testbed, digital twin developed, research programme established, innovation trials pipeline developed etc) • Growth, drivers for change and the importance of public realm for city centres: A case study of central Milton Keynes – Practice and opportunities • Repurposing existing public realm in MK such as the Station Square key gateway space and significant new office and residential development • Linking destinations through improved public realm: Midsummer Boulevard East – temporary transformation and workshopping a series of ‘rooms’; Theatre District mobility hub; Midsummer Boulevard at the centre of a 15 minute neighbourhood; Pedalling culture – promoting active travel to access and connect cultural infrastructure across the city; Walking trails as a new way of exploring urban spaces • Smart street furniture – helping meet a carbon reduction agenda • A rigorous and uniform approach to the design of the public realm in CMK – CMK’s handbook for the public realm and new HQ with publicly accessible space • Saxon Gateway – A new way of providing shared communal space • The business case for smart street lighting – The qualitative and quantitative benefits of adding smart controls to streetlights and outdoor lighting • What is a ‘smart’ streetlight? How does CMS address local authority money, safety/security and sustainability concerns? Which local authorities in the UK spend most on street lighting (Birmingham, Leeds, Surrey, West Sussex, Cambridgeshire, London, Coventry, Newcastle Upon Tyne, Essex, Knowsley) and which local authorities are already realising the benefits of adopting smart street lighting (Hertfordshire County Council, Doncaster and Suffolk County Council use cases)?etc.

“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 

“An absolute pleasure!”
Director of Investment and Growth, Newcastle City Council

“Thank you for hosting! It was a wonderful event filled with inspiring people”
Urban Designer, Newcastle City Council/Associate Lecturer – Principles and Practice of Urban Design, Newcastle University

“A very informative and engaging event that provided valuable insights into public realm”
Project Manager – Economic Delivery, The North East Combined Authority/Planning Consultant, Tyne & Wear Planning

“Really enjoyed learning more about Helix, the Historic England High Streets project and community engagement. All of the expert presentations had something to offer and all of the roundtables were useful. Thanks for a great event”
Policy & Economy Advisor (Social Economy), The North East Combined Authority

“Just to say what an excellent event yesterday…Great session! Please do more! All of the presentations and roundtables were equally relevant and useful”
Head of Renewals, Nexus (The Tyne and Wear Passenger Transport Executive)

“Will recommend Smart Classes to colleagues”
Transportation Planner, East Lothian Council

“It was a real pleasure to be part of this really great event – some really insightful presentations. I thought the speakers were all really interesting and have already followed up with some e-mails”
Estates Director, Newcastle Helix/Development Director, Broadoak

“I enjoyed the event and thought it was well organised and the ordering of talks was perfect! Well done”
Director of Policy and Technical Affairs, The Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation (CIHT)

“Great learning and networking opportunity”
Regional Engagement Manager (North East), Active Travel England (ATE) 

“Lots of innovation and a huge amount of food for thought”
Senior Manager – Geospatial & Visualisation, Homes England

“The day was brilliantly organised and was comprised of a great collection of experts across a range of aspects of our urban spaces. From building delivery and commercial management, heritage, transport, public engagement and asset management, everyone brought their own experiences from research, project design and delivery”
Principal Consultant, Integrated Transport Planning

“Really enjoyed it. Some great content and discussions. 10/10! Fascinating presentation on the history of the Helix site and how placemaking is evolving the city for future growth. Followed by other very interesting items such as how cutting edge digital technology is being used to survey/model the movement of people in order to shape the public realm of the future, and how Historic England are helping to rejuvenate town centre footfall through reinstating historic shop fronts. Thank you for inviting me”
Business Development Manager, Balfour Beatty

“Excellent event – thanks!”
Associate Director – Landscape Architect, Wardell Armstrong LLP

“Very useful insights into engagement and some great insights into digital opportunities. Keep up the great work!”
Head of Transport, Urban Foresight

“Thank you for an excellent experience. Landscape, urban design and urban renewal topics of particular interest”
Associate Landscape Architect & Urban Designer, SLR Consulting

“Thank you for organising yesterday’s event. Very much appreciated being invited along and found it thought provoking”
Principal Engineer, Sustrans

“Excellent event. Getting to speak and deep dive during the roundtable sessions was most valuable” 
Associate Director, WSP/Vice Chair, CIHT North East & Cumbria 

“Really enjoyed the day and thought it was very well run – thank you! Really interesting to see how things are done differently in different regions and great insight into engagement possibilities and improvement”
Infrastructure Project Manager, West Yorkshire Combined Authority

“Thank you for organising this fruitful session. All sections were informative”
Transport Planner, West Yorkshire Combined Authority

“Many thanks for an engaging and thought-provoking session”
Assistant Director of Regeneration, Ashfield District Council

“All of the roundtable discussions were valuable”
Executive Director Place, Ashfield District Council

“Thanks for the invite, it was a very interesting session with great speakers”
Regeneration Officer, Bury Council

“Many thanks for the invite. It was a fascinating class and I hope to see you again soon in Coventry”
Urban Design Officer, Coventry City Council

“Today, I was part of Smart Classes’ Public Realm & Urban Spaces event where I was invited to present obo Hull. There were insightful and thought provoking speakers and interesting debates in the roundtable break out sessions. Lots to learn and share”
Head of Culture, Place and City Centre, Hull City Council

“Organisation of the event was excellent”
Planning Officer, Preston City Council

“Helpful programme content and targeted at the right level”
Urban Design Officer, St Helens Borough Council

“I thoroughly enjoyed the session, it was very informative”
Senior Planning Officer, Sunderland City Council

“An overall excellent event experience”
Project Development Manager for Major Projects, Wigan Council

“It was a pleasure to talk about the way we work together in Manchester”
Partnership Director, CityCo Manchester

“Great to be a part of the event. It was an excellent opportunity to connect with like-minded colleagues working in urban development and place-based innovation”
Project Specialist, Urban Foresight

“Excellent opportunities to network”
Landscape Architect, Arcadis

“Always a valuable source for new insights and contacts”
Director, Association of Transport Coordinating Officers

“Excellent event. Liverpool (Innovation District) was most relevant and interesting”
Strategic Development Manager and Travel Hubs Lead, Transport for Greater Manchester

“Informative presentations and engaging roundtable discussions”
Transport Strategy Officer, Transport for Greater Manchester

“Yesterday’s event was really insightful, and it has been a pleasure to contribute to these interesting discussions”…“Thank you for the details on the next event. It was a great experience to attend the last event in London so will definitively recommend!”
Group Manager, Major Programmes and Projects – Policy and Projects Division, City of London Corporation

“Inspiring, really enjoyable and well organised, many thanks”
Senior Urban Designer, Sustrans

“I found the conference super insightful. Made you question how we’ve been managing public spaces for years and learn of innovative ways of doing it better going forward. I definitely got value out of this event and networked with organisations which I believe will help our clients to take the next step into creating more sustainable, digital and community driven mixed-use developments”
Project Manager Architecture & Placemaking, Mace

“Thank you for bringing this Smart Class to my attention!”
Placemaking Group Manager, Surrey County Council

“All the presentations and roundtables were valuable”
Senior Urban Designer, Hackney Council

“The Smart Class was an invaluable opportunity to learn, ask questions and engage with innovators and groups with great stories to tell. I believe I will have lots more fascinating conversations on the back of this session. Thank you!”
Associate Principal Lighting Design Consultant, Elementa Consulting

“Great seminar, Mark and team! Thank you”
Head of Innovation – SHIFT, London Legacy Development Corporation

“Programme Content was helpful and relevant”
Transport Planner, London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham

“The day was interesting, presenting a variety of projects. It was good to see technology companies as there is quite a gap in innovation in public realm design. Thanks again for hosting”
Director of Masterplanning, Meinhardt UK

“It was a pleasure attending, and really enjoyed the presentations”
Director of Digital Transformation, 31ten Consulting

“It was a great event, some really interesting presentations and ideas with good discussions with attendees throughout the day. Thanks for putting it on!”
Director of Insight and Research, AND London

“Thank you so much for the excellent experience. Looking forward to the next Smart Classes”
Urban Spaces Engineer, Sustrans

“Engaging roundtable discussions and excellent opportunities to network”
Landscape and Urban Design Associate Director, WSP

“The presentation and roundtable on Lewisham has led to a potential sales lead”
Local Authority Strategy Development Manager, Keep Britain Tidy

“Well done for organising! Great seminar to talk about Lewisham project and meet people interested and involved in public realm schemes. Thank you all”
Associate Landscape Architect, Project Centre – part of Marston Holdings (Innovation Sponsor)

“Really great event last week”
Senior Client Solution Architect, Brightly (Innovation Sponsor)

“I find the events very informative and look forward to attending again in the future…Really enjoyed this Public Realm & Urban Spaces Smart Class and the conversations with the attendees, keep these events coming!”
Client Engagement Director, Brightly (Innovation Sponsor)

“Thoroughly enjoyable! Good contacts made!”
Global Account Manager, Telensa (Innovation Sponsor)

“Thanks for a great event last Thursday in London and to the attending innovators from cities, councils and the private sector that we met who were both engaged and engaging. Telensa considered it a very worthwhile event and we look forward to collaborating in the near future”
UK & Ireland Sales Manager, Telensa (Innovation Sponsor)

“Thank you for an excellent event! I really loved it and found it very beneficial. Really hope we can get involved in more Smart Classes in the future!”
Business Development Manager, Commonplace (Innovation Sponsor)

“Thank you to everyone who engaged with our presentation”
Commonplace Marketing Team (Innovation Sponsor)

“Always a pleasure to attend and present at the Smart Classes events”
Solutions Manager, Brightly, a Siemens company (Innovation Sponsor)

“Great to be back in Manchester yesterday for the Smart Classes’ Public Realm & Urban Spaces event as expert innovators at Brightly. Talking all things asset management, IoT and carbon capture, and how councils are able to create connected systems and enable smarter assets which deliver better outcomes for the communities they serve. Thanks for having us Mark and team!”
Account Director, Brightly, a Siemens company (Innovation Sponsor)

“I really enjoyed today’s Smart Class – as always, a great selection of speakers”
Technical Director (North Region), Project Centre, part of Marston Holdings (Innovation Sponsor)

“Thanks again for hosting in Newcastle. There was a really good range of presentations and we had some valuable conversations. Hopefully catch up again soon!”
Associate Landscape and Urban Designer, Project Centre, part of Marston Holdings (Innovation Sponsor)

“Just to say a massive thank you for the opportunity to join you today. It was an excellent morning and created fantastic networking opportunities. I love the fact that the roundtables meant we got to speak to everyone in the room and they got the chance to ask us great questions”
England North Director, Sustrans (Innovation Sponsor)

“To echo Rosslyn’s comments, I found it to be a really productive session – thank you. The discussions on the roundtables were really useful with plenty of leads to follow up on”…“It was a pleasure to talk at Smart Classes Public Realm and Urban Spaces event in Newcastle yesterday, alongside a range of fantastic speakers working across public realm and urban schemes. We spoke about ‘How Data and Community Engagement Can Affect Change’, with a focus on the Sustrans Walking and Cycling Index and Disabled Citizens Inquiry and hosted discussions on the use of data to affect change. A big thank you for the opportunity to showcase the work that Sustrans does within urban environments”
Partnerships Manager – North, Sustrans (Innovation Sponsor)

“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)