As we move towards the end of 2020, planning has, arguably, never been as high on the political agenda. The UK was already facing significant challenges, from the shortage of housing to governments’ focus on ‘levelling up’ -  and emerging planning policy will seek to address these national issues and many others.

 

Now, having collectively experienced a new lifestyle, we need to consider how we apply the lessons we have learnt during lockdown to the future of our towns and cities, and how we use the buildings within them. What seems certain is that we won’t go back to the way we lived, worked and spent our leisure time at the beginning of this year. And this will have an impact on the way in which our places evolve in the coming years.

 

The planning White Paper, for which the consultation closed a couple of weeks ago, will play a significant role in this future. Whilst some of the proposal is controversial and has resulted in divided opinion – what is not in dispute is the need to increase the use of digital technology in the planning process.

 

As this year’s NLA Awards finalists have shown, high-quality design and planning is vital to design the places of tomorrow. If the government’s proposals are taken forward, future masterplans could face greater scrutiny much earlier in the process, as part of the development of the Local Plan. To ensure we maintain the quality of design we see in the shortlisted entries, we need to utilise existing technologies and continue to develop new techniques to create a thriving ‘PlanTech’ sector for the benefit of all. 

 

Dispensing with the reams of documentation and technical language and replacing these with a web-based platform and a common data environment would allow data, plans and models to be collated, shared and analysed. Employing 2D and 3D digital mapping techniques along with virtual and augmented reality engagement tools to call for evidence and then visualising proposals will turn the Local Plan into an immersive, interactive, accessible planning ‘hub’. 

 

This is not using technology for the sake of it, but is a real opportunity to increase the speed and transparency of decision-making and enable meaningful engagement by communities with the plan-making process.

 

To successfully realise these benefits, we will need to see significant investment by government and private sector stakeholders to bring forward new tools, enhance access to key geospatial datasets and reskill both built environment professionals and the public. And we must, of course, avoid an unconsidered “dash to digital” that marginalises disconnected citizens and takes away their voices.

Most importantly, the challenges of modernising the planning process to better deliver high-quality built infrastructure cannot be tackled in silos. Central and local government must cooperate and work collaboratively with colleagues in the private sector to develop a planning system that is fit for citizens in the 21st century.

 

The five shortlisted projects in the Planning category – some of which I know used existing PlanTech technologies in their formation – are exceptional examples of how large-scale developments can benefit society as a whole. We hope that in the future, the process that sits behind these fantastic developments enables and supports smooth progress from inception to completion.