Suburban or urban — it’s one debate

The prosaic challenge of suburban development is that it’s usually piecemeal and reactive. Local authorities rarely take a long-term or comprehensive approach to managing suburban change.

Land assembly on any scale is difficult, which diminishes commercial viability. And our suburbs are generally home to a quiet conservatism which encourages development control officers to think small and cautious.

In reality, suburbs don’t belong in a box. And the skills and tenacity required to deliver good design are the same wherever you work.

So before we jump to define Barking Reach, for instance, as a sustainable suburb, we need to recognise the complexity of its relationships — with London, with Barking, and with the rest of the Gateway.

And we need an urban policy framework that understands that cities, towns and ’burbs are actually part of a single debate rather than a choice between different, competing agendas.

Matt Bell,director of campaigns and education, Cabe