Create Streets
createstreets.bsky.social
Create Streets
@createstreets.bsky.social
You can read @scp-hughes.bsky.social full blog here: createstreets.com/california-f... (~5 minute read) & join the conversation: how can we apply this model in the UK, with local conditions, smaller scale & tighter constraints?
California Forever’s New City - Create Streets
In economic terms, architectural beauty is a classic example of a positive externality. The owner of a building must bear all the […]
createstreets.com
November 13, 2025 at 5:01 PM
At Create Streets we believe in structured, attractive, walkable places with real character. California Forever demonstrates that even today, one landowner + one vision + good infrastructure can lead to better outcomes. Policy can learn from this...
November 13, 2025 at 5:01 PM
Yes, the context in California is special: near the Bay Area, tons of investment, huge scale. But the underlying logic can apply in 🇬🇧: less about scale, more about ownership & ambition in planning the whole rather than just parts...
November 13, 2025 at 5:01 PM
Why does this matter for the UK? Because the UK still struggles with fragmented land ownership and ad-hoc development. A single-owner or coordinated approach offers a way to “internalise the externalities” and build places that look & feel coherent, not just functional...
November 13, 2025 at 5:01 PM
... California Forever's new city is different. On one large site, it’s planning a gridded street network, perimeter-block urbanism, mingled uses, heavy industry segregated yet connected, segregated cycling lanes, transit-oriented layout & a strong design code rooted in local vernaculars.
November 13, 2025 at 5:01 PM
Most modern British development happens in small parcels. That means each landowner focuses on their own plot & has little incentive to invest in shared infrastructure (streets, parks, drainage, public transport). The wider public goods get short-changed.
November 13, 2025 at 5:01 PM
Historically, large landowners and “Great Estates”, solved this by internalising the externalities: they built networks of streets, parks & buildings in a unified way so the value of the whole increased: John Wood in Bath, Bedford Park or Mayfair in London, Le Vésinet in Paris...
November 13, 2025 at 5:01 PM
... in our latest blog, Create Streets fellow @scp-hughes.bsky.social explains how beauty in architecture and urbanism is a classic positive externality: the owner pays for it, but everyone benefits. Because markets don’t reward that benefit directly, beauty tends to be undersupplied...
November 13, 2025 at 5:01 PM
...also saved by Historic England is the C17th Old School Coffee House, in Barnstaple, Devon, founded as a school for ‘20 poor maids’ in 1659, it is now transformed into affordable homes. The perfect example that we don't space, we need place. The greenest building already exists
November 11, 2025 at 4:58 PM
... read more about Clamart in our recent report by our founder Nicholas Boys Smith MBE here
www.createstreets.com/projects/com...
Come with me to Clamart: a postcard from near Paris - Create Streets
Nicholas Boys Smith says that most British ‘regeneration schemes’ could learn a lot from the Clamart Panorama ‘brownfield’ development near Paris, above […]
www.createstreets.com
November 3, 2025 at 2:55 PM
…made possible by new trams on beds of grass 🚃and replete with cafes, shops & businesses as well as homes...
November 3, 2025 at 2:55 PM
…places to walk & cycle and civic pride (this is a new town hall)…
November 3, 2025 at 2:55 PM
…this gorgeous and green Gentle Density with high levels of affordable housing...
November 3, 2025 at 2:55 PM
You can read our 7 ideas for curing these highway halves in our latest report 'A-road between us' here www.createstreets.com/projects/a-r...
October 31, 2025 at 2:30 PM
...then you should definitely check out the upcoming Create Streets Foundation short courses
Gentle Density Masterclass - createstreetsfoundation.org.uk/creating_gen...
Dare to Draw - createstreetsfoundation.org.uk/dare-to-draw/
#urbandesigncourse #drawingcourse
October 28, 2025 at 12:41 PM
...or would you like to refine your drawing skills and learn to draw buildings and streets under the tutorship of architectural technician Mark Shepherd?...
October 28, 2025 at 12:41 PM