Talking Place

Can regeneration strengthen a community rather than replace it? Chrisp Street Market has been part of East London's story for generations. Chrisp Street in E14 is five minutes from Canary Wharf, named on the DLR, and about to turn 75. Built as part of the Festival of Britain in 1951 - one of the UK's first purpose-built mixed-use developments - it's a place with homes, a market, a l...

Host Tanisha Raffiuddin visits Cody Dock in East London and speaks with Simon Myers and Bella Quirin from Cody Dock about what belonging looks like when it is built on collective ownership. This episode is part of the Know Your Neighbourhood series, produced in partnership with the London Festival of Architecture 2026. The theme is Belonging.  Cody Dock sits on the River Lee in East London - on th...

In this episode of Know Your Neighbourhood - produced in partnership with the London Festival of Architecture 2026 - host Tanisha Raffiuddin travels to the City of London , the Square Mile, to meet Eliza Grosvenor of NLA  at The London Centre. Together they explore this year's LFA2026 theme of Belonging through one of London's most contradictory neighbourhoods: a place with 2,000 years o...

Bradford was UK’s City of Culture in 2025. The events happened, the crowds came, the spotlight found a city that had been waiting a long time to show the world what it was made of. The real question begins: what did it actually leave behind?  In this final episode of our Bradford miniseries, recorded live at the Bradford Showcase at UKREiiF 2026, Tanisha Raffiuddin sits down with Zulfikar Karim, w...

What makes a neighbourhood feel like home? In this episode of Talking Place's Know Your Neighbourhood series, host Tanisha Raffiuddin visits Fitzrovia with Marcos Gold, Director of Policy and Place at The Fitzrovia Partnership. Recorded as part of the London Festival of Architecture's 2026 theme of Belonging, this conversation explores how one of central London's most dynamic neighb...

85% of our health is determined by non-clinical factors. So why does the built environment remain an afterthought in most public health conversations?  In this episode of Talking Place, recorded live at the Bradford Showcase at UKREiiF 2026, Tanisha sits down with three people who are making the evidence-based case for healthier cities - and delivering it. Professor Rosie McEachan (Director, Born...

What makes people feel they belong somewhere? In this episode of Talking Place, host Tanisha Raffiuddin visits Alexandra Palace and Wood Green as part of London Festival of Architecture's Know Your Neighbourhood series exploring the theme of belonging. Joined by Louise Johnson from the Alexandra Park and Palace Charitable Trust, the conversation explores why ‘Ally Pally’ continues to hold suc...

Bradford is one of the UK's most talked-about regeneration stories and for good reason. With a demographic dividend, a stunning heritage canvas, and one of the boldest city centre transformation programmes in the country underway, Bradford is doing something different.  In this episode, recorded live at the Bradford Showcase at UKREiiF 2026 in Leeds, I sat down with three people right at the...

What does it mean to design a city that's truly just? And can we actually design out danger? In this episode of Talking Place, host Tanisha Raffiuddin sits down with Deborah Saunt, founding director of award-winning London practice DSDHA, for a wide-ranging conversation on spatial justice, community-led design, the safety of women and girls in urban space, and what it means to build cities th...

Patrick Schumacher, Principal of Zaha Hadid Architects, joins Talking Place for a conversation that challenges some of the most settled assumptions in contemporary placemaking and urban design. From the claim that inclusiveness undermines rather than strengthens place identity, to the argument that London should house 30 million people and that the UK planning system is structurally incapable of d...

Season 3 Trailer — Talking Place The conversations cities need. The ones the industry keeps avoiding. Season 3 of Talking Place is coming — and it's the most urgent series yet. From the economics of viability to the politics of inclusion. From women changing cities under threat to tactical urbanism in a war zone, with air raid sirens in the background. If you believe cities should be safer, s...

Retrofit is often framed as a technical challenge — but what if it’s actually about people, pride and place? In this episode, Anna Moore, founder of Domna, joins Talking Place to unpack why upgrading the homes we already live in is essential for tackling fuel poverty, improving health, and creating stronger communities. From the realities of funding and policy to the role of AI and community engag...

What role does culture play in shaping our cities, and how can collaboration across borders help places thrive? In this episode of Talking Place, host Tanisha Raffiuddin talks place with Gregorio Scarpella, Director of the Global Cultural Districts Network (GCDN), a worldwide network connecting cultural districts at the intersection of culture and urbanism. Drawing on his international journey and...

How do homes shape our health, happiness, and sense of belonging, and what does it take to design places where everyone can truly thrive? In this episode of Talking Place, host Tanisha Raffiuddin talks place with Ruth Skidmore, Social Impact Lead at Meeting Place, whose journey from architecture into social impact has shaped a people first approach to planning, development, and placemaking. Togeth...

How do we fix a broken real estate system built on short-term returns? In this episode of Talking Place, host Tanisha Raffiuddin ‘talks place’ with Ben Cross, Founder of MORE, a purpose-led real estate and development company rethinking how we value, retrofit, and regenerate buildings. Together, they explore why the current real estate model is “broken,” how ethics and care must be central to deci...

How can Local Authorities create places people truly belong to, and what does public placeshaping look like in action? In this episode of Talking Place, host Tanisha Raffiuddin ‘talks place’ with John Stiles, Placemaking Manager at Brent Council, recorded live at the Brent Civic Centre in the heart of Wembley Park. An architect and town planner, John shares his journey from private practice to pub...

What makes a city truly work, and how do we design places that endure the test of time? In this episode of Talking Place, host Tanisha Raffiuddin ‘talks place’ with Bob Allies, Partner at Allies and Morrison, whose work has shaped some of the UK’s most transformative urban projects - from King’s Cross and the Olympic Park to Brent Cross Town, Bath, and the London College of Fashion building at Eas...

What makes a city truly work, and how do we design places that endure the test of time? In this episode of Talking Place, host Tanisha Raffiuddin ‘talks place’ with Bob Allies, Partner at Allies and Morrison, whose work has shaped some of the UK’s most transformative urban projects - from King’s Cross and the Olympic Park to Brent Cross Town, Bath, and the London College of Fashion building at Eas...

What if buildings didn’t just get demolished, but were moved, reused, and reborn? In this episode of Talking Place , Tanisha Raffiuddin ‘talks place’ with Olly Watts (Joint CEO) and Amy Casterton (Business Development Director) of ES Global, the company pioneering relocatable, modular architecture for some of the world’s biggest stages - from World Expos and Olympic Games to the ABBA Voyage arena...

What does it mean to reimagine a place as complex and stories as Earls Court? In this episode of Talking Place , Tanisha Raffiuddin speaks with Tom Branton, Development Director at the Earls Court Development Company, about the ambitious transformation of the former exhibition centre site and its surrounding neighbourhoods. Together, they unpack how culture, creativity, and community engagement ar...

What makes a place truly people-friendly? In this episode of Talking Place, Tanisha Raffiuddin speaks with Hilary Satchwell - Director at Tibbalds and the Mayor of London’s Town Architect for Angel Edmonton - about designing inclusive cities, embedding social value, and planning for the next 100 years. From safer streets for women and children to the power of storytelling in placemaking, this conv...

In this episode of Talking Place , host Tanisha Raffiuddin is joined by Devorah Block, founder of the Place Literacy Project, to explore why  ‘place’  sits at the nexusof today’s polycrisis,and how a shared language could unlock collaboration across the built environment, policy and the general public. Together, they unpack what  ‘place literacy’  means, teh need for agreed definitions, why conver...

In this episode of Talking Place , host Tanisha Raffiuddin is joined by George Kekatos, Cultural Director at Futurecity, to explore the role of culture in shaping cities, from policy to placemaking. Together, they unpack how cultural strategy can transform the built environment, unlock value and creativity in urban development, and build bridges between artists and developers. From George’s roots...

In this episode of Talking Place , host Tanisha Raffiuddin sits down with Philip Atkinson and Llinos Hughes from Orbit Architects to explore the real-world impact (and joy!) of transforming existing buildings. Together, they explore how creative design thrives not despite, but because of, constraints, and why retrofit is a necessity for shaping the future of our cities. Philip and Llinos share Orb...

In this episode of Talking Place, host Tanisha Raffiuddin heads to the Festival of Place 2025, live from Boxpark Wembley, to uncover the bold ideas, honest reflections, and emerging practices shaping the future of placemaking. Framed around themes of equity, wellbeing, and intergenerational living, this special episode explores what happens when we move beyond performative placemaking and start de...