TPS is delighted to join with the RCA in announcing a major new research project working with industry partners, local councils and charities in the communities of Biggleswade in Bedfordshire, Haltwhistle and surrounding parishes in Northumberland and Lyme Regis in Dorset to reimagine community placemaking and transport planning. One of the outputs  of the project is the development of a new toolkit which will be launched on Transport Planning Day.

The covid19 pandemic has highlighted the current fragility of our interconnected world: from the importance of our local communities to the impacts on global trade, jobs and our natural environment.

In response to this and wider challenges about the future, designers from the Royal College of Art supported by the professional bodies of TPS, CIHT, RTPI, and private organisations ITP, UK Regeneration and MBC, have come together to seek a better way forward. Together with partners from councils, civil society and charities, the RCA have connected with three rural communities around England so that they can understand their beliefs, feelings and knowledge about their towns. The three communities are Biggleswade in Bedfordshire, Haltwhistle and surrounding parishes in Northumberland and Lyme Regis in Dorset.