NB1705RIBA - Expertise of local architects could make cities healthier and wealthier

Cities could save billions of pounds and improve the health of residents by hiring architects with local knowledge to improve their designs, a new report has suggested.

Research by the Royal Institute of British Architects (Riba) has found that by embedding “city architects” in planning departments, cities could improve the architectural quality of their developments – and the health, wellbeing and life chances of their populations.

The institute took Greater Manchester as an example, modelling the potential benefits of city architects on the region, which has a population of 2.9 million people. It found that if the combined authority hired architects with specific knowledge of the local area to assess proposed designs and the quality of new builds, the number of mixed-use developments would rise, leading to improved connectivity and access to both commercial areas and green spaces for residents.

Those improvements would deliver £47.6m in additional value to the city over a three-year period, Riba said. Figures by WPI Economics for the developer British Land have shown that better designed cities could save the British economy £15.3bn by 2050.

Riba is calling for a three-year pilot programme to fund city architects, who would work in planning departments across all of England’s 18 combined authorities, which are combinations of two or more councils, such as the Tees Valley Combined Authority and Devon and Torbay Combined Authority.

It said local authority spending power has fallen by more than a quarter since 2010, meaning that “where the role of city architect was once prevalent, it has largely faded out of local and national policy discourse”.

Planning budgets have been hit particularly hard, dropping almost 40% since 2010. Some 80% of architects have reported that planning delays have slowed down their projects, with 13% of projects abandoned entirely.

“Well-designed places are not a luxury but a public good. They shape health and wellbeing and generate growth,” said Chris Williamson, president of Riba. “If we are serious about delivering new places, new homes, and thriving communities, we must take significant steps to reverse the slow, avoidable decline of our cities and towns.”

Photograph by Richard Saker for The Observer