When it comes to building the sustainable and desirable new communities that people actually want to live in, it often feels as if Britain is stuck in an intractable mess of its own making. Design quality remains generally low and there is still too little thought given to amenities and infrastructure, leaving people dependent on their cars to access essential services or just buy a pint of milk.

It can be tempting to give up in despair, but if best practice can be identified from across the UK and overseas then we can change the narrative. Achieving that change requires facing up to the systemic challenges and driving a cultural shift in how we deliver new development.

This is a time of massive flux and uncertainty for the UK’s built environment. With a housing crisis that shows no sign of being resolved any time soon, a struggling retail sector and a climate crisis, traditional ideas of what makes a successful community are being re-examined.

There is a widespread consensus that the country needs to raise its game in terms of delivering more and better housing. But how best to achieve this objective? The government had made levelling up a central plank of its agenda, but covid and the cost-of-living crisis have only exacerbated the economic divide.

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