All articles by Hank Dittmar
-
OpinionWhen it comes to street design, we’re not there yet
Streets are places too - but you’d be forgiven for thinking most councils hadn’t got the memo, argues Hank Dittmar
-
OpinionCan London meet its housing target by building small?
The mayor needs to do a lot more to support community builders
-
OpinionToo big to fail, too huge to succeed: What we should learn from Carillion
Hank Dittmar suggests a new approach to procurement
-
OpinionHow to tackle the decline in social housing
With social housing provision at a record low there are signs of change says Hank Dittmar
-
OpinionIs urban planning squeezing the life out of our cities?
Jane Jacobs argued against one size fits all solutions. It’s time to re-evaluate her ideas in the light of global financial property investment, says Hank Dittmar
-
OpinionMust design competitions be meaningless?
Unless the government underpins the Oxford-Cambridge corridor with a strong implementing framework, all the good ideas will come to naught, warns Hank Dittmar
-
OpinionTo repel housebuilders’ brawn, good planning and design need political protection
Hank Dittmar reports from Devon on a sorry tale illustrating the ease with which big bucks can trample on years of meticulous work
-
OpinionWhat Charlottesville says about the ideological and physical contest for our public space
Our public spaces are under siege from extremists. What can be done asks Hank Dittmar
-
OpinionShould we be building icons or retaining our talented people?
The City of London’s Culture Mile proposal is a bloated distraction from what London really needs to focus on, says Hank Dittmar
-
OpinionHow to fix the UK's housing mess
We need to admit our mistakes and set about making radical changes to the whole system, writes Hank Dittmar
-
OpinionHere’s the detail that's missing from all the manifestos
Politicians must think about design codes if they’re to deliver quality housing in the numbers they promise, says Hank Dittmar
-
OpinionWhy new urbanism is the answer all over again
The ground-up movement which helped defeat urban decay in the 1980s is just as relevant now our cities face the opposite problem, argues Hank Dittmar
-
OpinionHow to diversify housing delivery with some help from architects
Self and custom builders could break the dominance of the volume housebuilders if they can cut through all the red tape says Hank Dittmar
-
OpinionPost truth architecture in the age of Trump
Architecture has long been used to express political and moral ideology. In the post truth world maybe Trump could stick with a model and flythrough of his Mexican border wall, says Hank Dittmar
-
OpinionWhat the government simply can’t grasp is that housebuilding is about creating communities, not just raising roofs
The housing white paper contains some welcome measures. But it also reveals ministers’ thinking remains woefully short-term, says Hank Dittmar
-
OpinionGarden towns need some garden city thinking to succeed
Ebenezer Howard’s Garden Cities were carefully planned with strict design codes and infrastructure funded by the uplift in land values. The same principles should be applied to the new garden villages and towns, argues Hank Dittmar
-
OpinionMaking places for the arts without risking tragedy
Measures are needed to promote the safe use of old buildings for arts based activities to avoid tragedies like last week’s Ghost Ship fire, says Hank Dittmar
-
OpinionBeauty isn’t a dirty word
Hank Dittmar argues that transport minister John Hayes should not be condemned for demanding beauty in the design of our infrastructure
-
OpinionAt last the government gets it; a more diverse housebuilding sector is the key to increasing supply
Government funding to help small builders deliver more homes is welcome but safeguards will be needed to ensure the land doesn’t end up in the hands of the volume housebuilders
-
OpinionArchitects are critical to adapting our cities to climate change
The Great Fire of London is a lesson in creative responses to human disaster that we should remember when planning modern urban communities