Labour—almost certainly the next U.K. government—will build townhouse communities in its first ten years in power, leader Sir Keir Starmer will say in his speech at the party conference in Liverpool later today.
Most commentators—and polls—assume Starmer is the prime-minister-in-waiting and therefore what he promises is likely to become government policy within a matter of months.
Doctors’ surgeries, schools, transport links and shops will be “hardwired” into plans, Starmer is expected to say in his speech.
Whisper it, but a phrase for such urban design is the 15-Minute City, a concept dragged through the mud at the recent Conservative Party conference.
Misinformation from the current ruling party suggested that 15-Minute Cities were measures of control and that any new Tory administration would somehow prevent their spread.
Despite what conspiracists say, 15-Minute Cities not involve permits to visit shops. Instead, the loosely-defined urban design concept provides amenities nearby so residents don’t need to drive places; but can do so when needs must.
Under a Labour administration—which could be in power within the next 12 months—it’s expected that local councils will be handed more powers over transport matters. The result will be more Low Traffic Neighborhoods, although because of antipathy mostly from motorists, the future ones almost definitely won’t be called that.
The byword will be “walkability”—places where it’s easy for resident to walk to shops, cafes and other amenities, reducing the need to drive.
Labour is planning to build more social housing and a string of new towns. Unlike previous new towns, constructed from the 1950s through to the 1970s, these will be far less motor-centric.
State-backed companies with compulsory purchase powers will be created by any new Labour administration. Developers will be encouraged—through subsidies and other means—to build on brownfield land. Guidance will focus on “gentle urban development” similar to the walkable neighborhoods of four-and five-story townhouses built during the Georgian era from 1714 through to the 1830s.
Under the banner of a “big build,” Starmer will loosen restrictions on building houses on greenbelt scrubland and car parks.
He is expected to promise a “decade of national renewal,” hoping that his Labour administration will last a minimum of two terms.
“People are looking to us because they want wounds to heal; and we are the healers,” Starmer will say.
In extracts from his speech provided to journalists, he will add that “people are looking to us because these challenges require a modern state and we are the modernisers. People are looking to us because they want us to build a new Britain and we are the builders.”
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