High streets are at the heart of our economic and civic life, they’re common to all, the most public of public spaces. In this session three speakers will give their different takes on husbandry of the public realm and how to value it in various contexts. Emily Gee works for Historic England, the government’s adviser on the historic environment. She has been working with historic high streets, listing special examples of retail, domestic and civic architecture that form their backbone; supporting heritage-led conservation/regeneration work. Prof. Matthew Carmona, Professor of Planning and Urban Design at The Bartlett School of Planning, (UCL) is Chair of the Place Alliance and an expert in public realm research. Matthew will present his latest project with TFL Street Appeal: The value of street improvements, in which he found that bettering the quality of London’s high streets gives substantial benefits to the users, occupiers and investors in surrounding property. Image | © Matthew Carmona