Delivering Growth – how change happens on the ground     What does ‘local growth’ look like? Can you plan for it? Who are the key players in making places successful? Rachel Fisher will explore the flip side of local growth – can places become too successful? Drawing on international and UK examples, this talk will explore the relationship between planning policy and what happens in reality.  Loitering has a bad reputation, but it’s key to understanding what makes places successful. From coffee shops to nail salons high streets and town centres are increasingly driven by services with a human touch rather than the historic retail offers. But with housing increasingly unaffordable to people of average incomes, where will the baristas and manicurists live. Posing as many questions as answers this talk promises to be a lively discussion of the interaction between policy and practice.

Rachel Fisher is Head of Infrastructure in the Cities and Local Growth Unit at DCLG. In this role she is responsible for the built environment elements of the growth and devolution agenda, from housing and planning to transport to digital infrastructure. Prior to this she has held a variety of roles in policy and public affairs at the National Housing Federation, The Design Council, CABE, The RSA and the RICS. She is a passionate advocate for a more humane approach to urbanism. In 2012 she helped to set up Urbanistas a women-led network whose mission is to amplify the voices of women to make cities better for everyone. She is an associate member of the RTPI and a Fellow of the RSA.

Run in association with the Built Environment Trust.