Fight Club #3

 

26 July 2022

The third instalment of our Fight Club saw experts in the planning system pitch their vision for addressing social inequalities in the built environment whilst simultaneously addressing the climate crisis.

Featuring five speakers from across planning, place making, urban renewal, estate wide regeneration and heritage led activism, the debate was provocative and passionate.

An audience of over 70 guests heard the speaker's pitches which were followed by an engaged debate from multiple voices in the room. Many topics were debated, with opinions voiced and challenged in equal measure. 

These events encourage views to be aired honestly, with emotion and passion, raw and uncut, unedited and without rehearsal. The invited speakers dispense their daily personas typically confined by etiquette, instead releasing their inner selves to amazing effect.

Our thanks to everyone involved in the event, and particularly to all the speakers who rose to our challenge:

 

Sarah Cary

London Borough of Enfield

 

Joseph Zeal-Henry

Greater London Authority

 

Ed Jarvis

London Borough of Camden

 

Louise Newman

Tavenor Consultants

 

Jennifer Ross

Tibbalds

 

Katharine Woods

DP9

 

Hosted by Morris+Company since 2021, #FightClub is a fun, fast-paced, and friendly grassroots debating initiative. It brings together experts from different fields to go head-to-head, tackling contemporary crises in front of a live, participatory audience.

The Venue The event was hosted at SITE in Hackney. The open format of the venue meant that the audience felt fully engaged, with the divide between stage and stalls removed, creating a fully participatory experience.
Audience participation Following the pitches from the experts, the event embarked on a passionate debate on the topics discussed, driven by a Q&A session with the 70-strong audience.
Joseph Zeal-Henry Joseph - Capital Development Manager at the GLA, and co-host of Sound Advice, a platform exploring spatial inequality through provocative debate, mixing social commentary and music in seeking radical change - was the final speaker at the event.
Jennifer ‘The Mediator’ Ross Jennifer was the penultimate speaker of the event. A veteran of the ring, with over 30 years sparring experience, Jennifer is passionate about place, tenacious by nature with an abundance of patience and good humour she has worked on some of London’s most epic planning battles.
Louise ‘Townscape’ Newman Our third speaker was Louise Newman. An architect by training, Louise is a heritage and townscape expert and a big fan of great architecture, beautiful streets and historic buildings who believes that tall and high-density development can be locally responsive and sustainable.
Sarah ‘Scary’ Cary Sarah was the second speaker of the evening. As a planner turned developer turned public servant to 330,000 local residents, Sarah was speaking from the perspective of working for a public institution.
Katharine ‘The Freedom Fighter’ Woods Kate was the first speaker of the evening, and brought hard fought enthusiasm in pursuit of collaboration to the debate, espousing freedom from the ties of Whitehall red-tape.

Fight Club: Rumble in the Concrete Jungle