Back in 2016 the Academy of Urbanism’s London conference took place in London a week before the EU referendum. The talk was of little else given the narrowing polls and the dawning realisation that the leave campaign might win. The delegates were mystified, there wasn’t one amongst us who intended to vote leave (at least none who would admit to it). We were I’m afraid typical of the metropolitan elite, but as urbanists we also needed to share part of the blame.

My practice Urbed was formed in 1976 in a run down and largely vacant part of London. The founding director Nicholas Falk had recently penned a Fabian Pamphlet with Haris Martinos called Inner City: local government and economic renewal.

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