Sam Stafford was at a symposium organised by Create Streets at Hatfield House in June last year called ‘Building for generations’. All of the presentations on the day and the conversations there upon led Sam back to the fundamental question as to why places look the way they do, which, it seemed to him on the train back that evening, would make for a good episode of a town planning-based podcast so he convened some experts in the field of design and placemaking to try to answer that question.
Those experts are old friends of the podcast Hana Loftus (who steers the conversation), Andrew Taylor, and Katie Wray. They are joined by new friends of the podcast Eleanor Fawcett and Peter Maxwell.
Hana is a Director at HAT Projects; Andrew is Group Planning and Sustainability Director at Vistry; Katie is a Director at Deloitte; Eleanor is the Built Environment Fellow for the 1851 Royal Commission; and Peter is an Assistant Director at the Cambridge Growth Company.
In a conversation recorded online in January 2026 they talk about what it is that makes the places that we like (what makes them ‘sticky’, asks Katie); they talk about culture, are places the way they are because ultimately that is the way we want them to be; they talk about the role of planning, does it make places better or worse; they talk about highways adoption standards, and they finish by talking about the changes that they would want to see to help deliver better places.
Some accompanying reading.
Parking – what works where
Delivering quality: mobility hubs
Delivering quality: local centres
Building for a Healthy Life
Building for generations: the Hatfield Symposium
Some accompanying listening.
Episode 116 - Critical Infrastructure
First Aid Kit – Perfect Places
Any other business.
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50 Shades of Planning is the podcast by planners and for planners and so if you would like to use it as a platform for sharing anything you think that the sector needs to be talking about then you are also very welcome to get in touch with Sam via samstafford@hotmail.com or the 50 Shades WhatsApp Community.
