Adaptable Suburbs Workshop

The SSTC project team ran a workshop at The Building Centre in London on 23rd April 2009. The aim of the workshop was to give the project team an opportunity to present their research and to receive feedback from interested agencies, including representatives of local councils responsible for town centres studied by the project, Dr Nicholas Falk of URBED and Mr Tom Bolton of CABE.

The workshop was introduced by the leading historian of British and American suburbs, Dr Mark Clapson of Westminster University. An opening presentation by Dr Laura Vaughan, instigator of the SSTC project, was followed by the presentation of three detailed case studies focusing on Barnet, South Norwood and Surbiton.

The discussion, led by Dr Muki Haklay, explored four themes: the importance of research into suburban town centres, the relation of movement patterns and land use, the socio-economic diversity of the high street and the proposition that sustainability is essentially a question of identifying sources of adaptability in the historical built environment.

The SSTC project team would like to thank all those who participated in the workshop.