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?

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...

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...

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...

... 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.

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.

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...

... 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...

...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

Also covered in the Times! www.thetimes.com/life-style/p...

... read more about Clamart in our recent report by our founder Nicholas Boys Smith MBE here
www.createstreets.com/projects/com...

…made possible by new trams on beds of grass 🚃and replete with cafes, shops & businesses as well as homes...

…places to walk & cycle and civic pride (this is a new town hall)…

…this gorgeous and green Gentle Density with high levels of affordable housing...

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...

...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

...or would you like to refine your drawing skills and learn to draw buildings and streets under the tutorship of architectural technician Mark Shepherd?...