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Stimulating Interest in Built Environment Policy | Edge Debate

the Edge has responded to the Consulation on proposed reforms to the National Planning Policy Framework .

While recognising that there are many improvements suggested to the NPPF the Edge has seven significant concerns with the proposed text:

1. Strategic land use decisions need to be set in the context of a comprehensive national land use framework;

2. The purpose of planning is stated to be achieving sustainable development, but the focus of this draft NPPF is on planning for growth in housing numbers;

3. The document does not have sufficient regard for the government’s obligations under climate change legislation, nor does it make the planning system fit for mitigating and adapting to climate change;

4. The document contains measures that are intended to protect the natural environment, but largely roll back existing protections - placing nature at greater risk;

5. The document has many potential loopholes that would allow the policies to be resiled from by decision-makers;

6. The document offers guidance for public bodies operating the planning system, but says little about expectations of, or requirements on applicants for planning permission; and

7. There is a lack of any commitment to monitoring, evaluation and progress reporting, either by planning authorities or MHCLG.

the Edge has responded to Design and Placemaking Planning Practice Guidance: consultation document issued by the Design and Placemaking Team

We congratulate the D&P team on an important contribution to the issue of design quality in new housing developments and to improving the quality of places across England.

This should though be placed in the context of our major concern about whether local authorities have the financial or skilled staff resources to provide the decision-making process, design codes and guidance recommended in the PPG. Additional resource will be needed to support LPAs across the country to deliver on the implicit promises made in the PPG regarding good design and placemaking.

We also note that, alarmingly, nowhere in the document is the issue of affordability of housing and other accommodation discussed, even when this is one of the most pressing issues of our time.

Dr Frank Duffy, co-founder of DEGW and founder of the Edge, dies 21st Feb 2026

the Edge commemorates and celebrates the life of one of our founding members, Frank Duffy,- one of the most influential built environment thinkers of our time and author of the Edge Futures volume, Working and the City, published in 2008

Aided by scholarships, Frank trained at the Architectural Association and Berkeley with a PhD from Princeton and went on to co-found the ground-breaking international practice DEGW with Peter Eley, Luigi Giffone and John Worthington.  He provided the understanding and scholarship that led to their rethinking office layouts and he wrote about it prolifically.

While President of the RIBA (1993-95) he worked tirelessly to turn the profession into a collaborative knowledge-based one. In 2004 he assembled some of his writings into Architectural Knowledge: the Idea of a Profession.

In 1995 he rose to the challenge put by the Arup Foundation’s chair Sir Jack Zunz to bring the ICE and RIBA closer together and with the help of civil engineer Peter Guthrie and architect Robin Nicholson devised the Edge.

In his last paper with Andrew Rabeneck he wrote “What has sharpened the desire of Edge members to collaborate, both at an intellectual level and within the context of projects, has been the urgent need, felt by all members, to address the complex and inherently interdisciplinary issues raised by the challenge of sustainability in the face of climate change.  These discussions may be regarded as a prototype for collaborative open-ended, knowledge-based professionalism.  Perhaps inevitably they have been exploring the potential for a radical redefinition of professional structures within the wider construction industry as well as practical ways to promote discussion, collaboration and added value.” - Frank Duffy and Andrew Rabeneck (2013)  ‘Professionalism and architects in the 21st century‘ in Building Research & Information 41(1) 115-122

Frank was immensely kind and caring; inspiring many of us.  His hand-drawn Christmas cards were always a welcome delight.

https://livesretold.co.uk/frank-duffy

the Edge thrives as an active memorial to Frank Duffy.

Edge Debate 192 Neurodiversity: How can we go from awareness to change?

CIBSE HQ, 26th March 2026, 18.00 – 20.00

The built environment sector has been making significant progress in raising awareness and understanding the benefits of diversity and inclusion, but how do we move beyond intent and slogans to measurable change?

This debate, will ask how neurodiverse thinking can be recognised not as an adjustment, but as a catalyst for innovation and better outcomes.

Edge AI podcasts

the Edge continues to run expert level roundtables under the Chatham House Rule to address major issues affecting the built and natural environment. Attendance at these is inevitably limited but we do publish anonymised long form notes of the discussions on each event page and recently we have added AI generated podcasts based on the notes of the discussion. These succintly sum up the subjects covered by each roundtable, albeit in a livelier and Americanised style

Edge Debate 189: Competence - What is it good for? - 1800 - 20.00, 20th January 2026, Arup, 80 Charlotte Street

A debate to ask whether the professions are doing enough to respond to changing circumstances or if the current system of professionalism could be replaced by a new, less welcome regime?

Edge Roundtable 191: Addressing long term risk in the built and natural environment, 27th November 2025, IStructE

In the built and natural environment where projects have lives measured in decades, if not centuries, there is a need to anticipate events and environmental conditions long into the future and with the likelihood that even low probability events will eventually occur , especially when factors such as climate change, damage to natural systems and even inadequate maintenance are taken into account. This Roundtable addressed how long-term risk should be understood and approached

Edge Conversation 190: How prepared are we? - 13th November 2025, Lucy Cavendish College, Cambridge

In recent years we have all become far more aware of the importance of risk and the need to factor it into decision-making. To provide an overview of the issues and challenges, the Edge has invited Dame Professor Julia King - Baroness Brown of Cambridge, Sir David King and Professor Brooke Rogers for an in-depth discussion. The discussion will be hosted by and held at Lucy Cavendish College followed by Formal Hall.

ED188 Edge Roundtable on Rethinking Planning - 22nd October 2025, RICS

The Roundtable considered whether, or not, fundamental change is needed to create a planning system fit for tackling 21st Century challenges around climate, nature, prosperity and wellbeing. the Edge brought together a range of thinkers, from across the political spectrum and a variety of disciplines, who have expressed ideas about replacing, or radically reforming, the current planning system to consider both the future of the system instituted after 1945.

Built environment governance and professionalism: The end of laissez faire (again) - Simon Foxell

Buildings and Cities journal has published an essay by Edge member Simon Foxell examining issues around governance and professionalism in the built and natural environment sector and reflecting on much of the Edge’s recent work on this topic. The essay is open access from Buildings and Cities

Edge Debate 187: Why the UK needs a National Built Environment Research Organisation - 7th october 2025 18.00-20.00 (in person)

Built environment activities in the UK account for over 20% of GDP yet there is no public sector research organisation to support it. the Edge will debate this issue with a range of expert speakers

Edge Debate 186: Securing health equity through indoor environments - 23rd September 2025 (In person)

Health inequalities and inequities that affect the poor and vulnerable are a critical societal challenge. Existing structural inequalities and mounting pressures from environmental degradation, e.g. climate change, are exacerbating the situation.

Before her untimely death last year Edge member Nicky Gavron was determined that the projects she was working on in her final months reach fruition.

One of her main focuses was creating a website to share the important story of the London Planning Advisory Committee (LPAC). We are delighted to announce that with the hard work of Richard Derecki and a team of Nicky’s former colleagues, the website has now been launched and is being promoted by The London Society. 

the Edge has responded to Defra’s Consultation on ‘Improving the implementation of biodiversity net gain for minor, medium and brownfield development’

the Edge strongly supports the principles of biodiversity net gain (BNG) and the government’s intention that it should cover ‘most planning applications’, but a significant concern is …

Edge Debate 185 - Urban Climate: How do we connect land value and built form to create liveable cities? 14th July 2025 17.30 - 19.30

Land value is a powerful driver of urban form, but should that value also respond to the way built form supports climate performance, ecological function and collective wellbeing; and, if so, how? This Edge Debate explored pathways to connecting land value with improvements to urban climate.

the Edge has responded to the Defra Land use consultation

Almost everything needed to secure the government’s housing and growth goals involves using land. Yet information about how land is used and owned, and how that could be changed is fragmented, incomplete and held by disparate organisations. Assembling and interpreting this information can be slow, complex and expensive. It’s a barrier to delivering public policy and creating an efficient land market.

A comprehensive National Land Use Information Framework (NLUIF) is essential to resolve these problems. It could be assembled quickly, building on preparations by Defra and the recommendations of the House of Lords’ Land Use in England Committee and by mining existing publicly owned datasets. It would create a common platform for Government departments and agencies, combined authorities, local councils and industry to achieve change and seed economic growth.