New Towns: placemaking for the next generation

Re-tune placemaking

‘Get Britain Building Again’ the UK government decreed in July 2024, with a target of creating 300,000 net new homes a year for the next five years (a target that has not been met since the 1960s). Since then, a New Towns Taskforce has been established, and over 100 potential development sites have been identified, signalling a clear forward momentum.

The need for new (and affordable) homes, and new communities is undeniable – but to resolve the housing crisis for generations to come, we must not lose sight of what is needed to create compelling places to live. This means adopting a new vision that re-tunes placemaking, changing our perspective on what people need and deserve. We must establish clear design principles that widen our parameters for creating equitable places. Only then can we create culturally and socially active communities that are infrastructure enabled.

In February 2025, the Taskforce published a draft set of principles, that go some way to doing this. Learning from Ebenezer Howard’s vision of Garden Cities, Eco-Cities and the 32 post-war New Towns, the principles emphasise the necessity for high-density, well-connected, community-centred developments that focus on business creation, environmental resilience, and long-term viability.

Intervention for viability

There is a fundamental flaw with the current housing development system: land values are too high to make most developments viable when delivered by the private sector.

Still the government’s pledge is clear: each new town will consist of at least 10,000 homes, with a particular focus on affordable housing, including social rented homes which will constitute 40% of the new developments. If this target is to be met, there needs to be brave state intervention from the outset, particularly when it comes to acquiring land at a reasonable price and in the right location – perhaps away from the expensive and widely developed southeast. When the final locations for the New Towns are announced, we can only hope that there will be development where it is needed most – new economically strong communities in parts of England where we know sustainable investment can and must happen.

De-demonise density

Infrastructure-led, sustainability-driven, economically viable: we know that New Towns will have these, now well-understood, principles at heart.  

Sprawling, car-dependent towns of the past no longer work – neither do the isolated high-rise enclaves of housing estates. Yet, with connectivity playing a critical role in the success of new developments, a reframing must occur around the notion of density – a word that has long been demonised due to negative associations with overcrowding, poor design, and the erosion of local character. These fears stem from past planning failures, deep-rooted cultural ideals around homeownership and limited public understanding of what good density can look like. But to meet future needs, we need to rediscover density as a positive, integrated approach to placemaking. 

When talking about density, we are referring to more than just housing numbers – it’s about a rich mix of uses: well-designed homes, access to employment, services and transport. If embraced as a positive multilayered principle of good placemaking, density can shape new towns that this and the next generation will want to call home. When guided by quality design and community needs, density can support affordability, sustainability, and vibrant, walkable neighbourhoods.

In New York, Via Verde, a 222-unit, mixed use, mixed-income residential development by Jonathan Rose Companies and Phipps Houses, ‘reimagined subsidised housing for a new century’. It considered its design, by Grimshaw with Dattner Architects, as an opportunity to enable healthy living, community-building and social wellbeing for every occupier. Breaking away from the stigma of density, a rooftop community garden, daylit stairwells, solar panels and an onsite gym are just some of the interventions that have set new standards within a 20-storey tower and 71 townhouses: emphasising that people, no matter their standing, should expect more from where they live.

Corridors of ecology

Development of any kind will spark debate about the environmental costs. But with current proposals accelerating the revitalisation of some of the proposed green and grey belt land, we must acknowledge that environmental interventions can be a positive. We must encourage the regeneration of otherwise empty waste land into places that are ecologically rich and healthy places for people to live.

Working with St William Homes, Grimshaw’s design for the 611-home Bath Gasworks project transforms a disused industrial site – a long-standing scar in the city – into a vibrant new neighbourhood shaped by its historical, environmental and ecological context. As part of the UNESCO World Heritage City, the landscape centred master plan will regenerate the riverside edge, providing bat and bird habitats, green infrastructure, and species-rich planting. As a result, the green corridor of the River Avon will be extended into this former industrial site. Connecting to the city through a new sustainable transport route brings a greater more active, sustainable and ecological nature-connected place.

Making and maintaining

New Towns, urban extensions or new city quarters – whatever the acceleration of housebuilding brings – one critical aspect that has often been overlooked in the past, is the long-term maintenance of this next generation of homes and new communities. How can we ensure inclusive, ‘ownership’, pride and responsibility to these places?

There is no single answer to this - but it is crucial to have thorough engagement with those who will ‘make’ the place. Learning from local people, businesses, authorities, infrastructure owners and environmental experts, will enable the delivery of intuitive, informed and responsive design.

Gilston Park Estate in North Harlow, Essex, exemplifies the power of community-focused placemaking. Developed for Places for People — a not-for-dividend organisation dedicated to the long-term stewardship of thriving communities — the masterplan reflects their commitment to creating places where people genuinely want to live and work. Designed for long-term resilience, the estate prioritises equality, good health, quality of life, a shared sense of identity, and access to the countryside, capturing the core values that underpin sustainable, people-centred development.

The Taskforce has also recommended plans for long-term stewardships, who will oversee the maintenance of the towns through their lifetimes, to ensure they continue to meet residents’ needs.

A place worth building

With the New Towns Taskforce, there’s real momentum behind this next chapter in housing-led community development. We know that the scale of the ambition will be matched by its complexity, but now is the moment to take the lessons of the past seriously, make great leaps in what we can enable people to expect from their homes, and deliver a way of living that is sustainable, connected and environmentally conscious. Density, demand, and delivery will remain pressing issues, but by placing clear design principles at the core, we have a chance to shape a housing legacy we can be
proud of.

Sources :

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-unveils-plans-for-next-generation-of-new-towns
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/policy-statement-on-new-towns/policy-statement-on-new-towns
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/building-new-towns-for-the-future
https://environmentagency.blog.gov.uk/2025/02/17/fast-tracking-housebuilding-through-the-new-towns-taskforce-and-new-homes-accelerator/
https://urbanistarchitecture.co.uk/location-new-towns-labour/