Housing From a Child's Perspective

As the UK prepares to accommodate large scale housing growth in and around towns and cities greenfield sites present a real challenge: how do you integrate spaces and streets so that they’re in conversation?

We spend our time encased by roads. They border our houses, parks, and workplaces, and are punctuated by parking spaces and crossings that demark the crossover between people and cars.

We’ve come a long way since the 1960s car-centric urban planning, with streets being redesigned to prioritise pedestrians and street level experience. But what if we took this one step further? What if streets were designed to be navigated by children?

In this discussion Dinah Bornat will give an overview of her book All to Play For, together with further research on how to create accessible doorstep play. A panel of speakers will comment on the opportunities and challenges they see in their day-to-day work.

Dinah Bornat

ZCD Architects, Co-Founder + Director

Dinah is the co-founder and Director of ZCD Architects and author of All to Play For. She is an architect, housing specialist and urban designer. She is a leading international expert on child-friendly cities and has advised Government, Parliament and the House of Lords on the subject.

Dinah is an Honorary Professor at Queen's University Belfast; Adviser to Government on the Fundamental Review of Building Regulations; Mayor's Design Advocate for the Mayor of London; and Design Review Panel member for Harrow, Hounslow, and Brent councils.

Christopher Martin

URBAN MOVEMENT LIMITED, Co-Founder + Managing Director

Christopher has more than 20 years’ experience leading complex urban projects at all scales that address human connection, social equity, and climate repair. He applies his expertise to public realm and mobility, where he ensures the integration of design, engineering, and strategy.

Christopher is Vice-Chair of the Board of Trustees for the UK charity Living Streets; he also chairs their ‘Technical Walking Design Expert Group’. He is a regular Lecturer at Bartlett School of Planning, UCL; and contributed to ‘Designing Streets for Kids’, published by NACTO.

Dr Riette Oosthuizen

HTA Design, Partner, Head of Planning

Riëtte has led HTA’s award-winning planning consultancy since 2007. She has over 25 years’ experience in residential, mixed-use, and public realm projects. Her expertise spans project and design strategy, community engagement and policy influence.

Riëtte’s expertise has enabled her to advocate for innovative solutions to the housing crisis and she has worked with the RIBA to devise a Social Value Toolkit for built environment practitioners to demonstrate the value of good design on people’s wellbeing.

Katharina Erne

HTA Design, Associate, Senior Chartered Landscape Architect

Katharina is a multi-award-winning Landscape Architect and expert in heritage and conservation. She creates beautiful, biodiverse and climate-resilient landscapes. Her design approach focuses on sustainable, low-carbon design and adaptive re-use.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

HTA Design, 75 Wallis Road, London, United Kingdom

Concerts, fests, parties, meetups - all the happenings, one place.

Get App