In January 2021 we launched ‘Talking Planning’, a series of workshops which opened up the conversation between young people, architects and planners. The planning process for urban regeneration projects can often feel abstract and alienating to teenagers and young people. To challenge this, Talking Planning gave agency to those who may consider themselves disenfranchised within the system, championing the positive effect of consulting with young people on how public space is designed.
Six young people from North West London were brought together to form the Talking Planning group, having regular sessions with urban planners, artists, architects and academics between 2020 and 2021. The project ran alongside the Old Oak and Park Royal Great Place Scheme, a community-focused three-year programme which aimed to showcase the culture and heritage of Park Royal and to help shape the future of Old Oak, one of the UK’s largest regeneration projects in Ealing, Brent and Hammersmith & Fulham. By speaking to planners for the Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation, the Talking Planning group were able to test out their ideas within a real-life context and have their voice heard through official channels. In the wake of these sessions, Nabil Al-Kinani, one of the participants, went on to publish ‘Privatise the Mandem’, a radical manifesto for fighting inner-city gentrification.
Six young people from North West London were brought together to form the Talking Planning group, having regular sessions with urban planners, artists, architects and academics between 2020 and 2021. The project ran alongside the Old Oak and Park Royal Great Place Scheme, a community-focused three-year programme which aimed to showcase the culture and heritage of Park Royal and to help shape the future of Old Oak, one of the UK’s largest regeneration projects in Ealing, Brent and Hammersmith & Fulham. By speaking to planners for the Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation, the Talking Planning group were able to test out their ideas within a real-life context and have their voice heard through official channels. In the wake of these sessions, Nabil Al-Kinani, one of the participants, went on to publish ‘Privatise the Mandem’, a radical manifesto for fighting inner-city gentrification.
Talking Planning was produced by Create London in partnership with DK-CM and Young Brent Foundation and received investment through Challenge London, A New Direction’s four-year partnership investment programme supporting cultural education across the city between 2018-2022.