Future-Proofing Now: Digital Static? Or Digital Advantage? Redefining Localised Community Needs
The past few months have brought about seismic shifts in our daily routines and everyone is frantically predicting the long-term effects. For some, the daily commute has transformed into the morning cycle around the neighbourhood, lunch breaks have become Zoom dates with friends and colleagues and family time has become an intergenerational negotiation of technology. For the more introverted, this respite is a reset, a moment of epiphany where hour-long commutes are being reconsidered in favour of more time at home with family or for hobbies that have fallen by the wayside. For others, the lack of a defined routine and freedom of movement chafes and they are eager to return to the world as we knew it before. It seems over-dramatic to consider this time of transition as a monumental shift in the way we live our lives, one where we will define our contemporary era as ‘pre-‘ and ‘post-‘ COVID, but this is the largest global challenge in our lifetimes to the status quo.
At a time when all supply chains, logistics networks, technology infrastructure, transport systems, healthcare, socialising, politics is being challenged, what does placeshaping mean when our sense of place is limited to the space between our front door and the ends of our gardens?
Over the past few weeks, my colleagues have each been examining this idea from their own specialist perspectives, looking at the way artists, cultural organisations, communities and businesses are redefining what place means when it can only be accessed on a digital platform. Citymakers must also consider what the future holds for the property sector – what that ever-elusive concept of ‘future-proofing’ a development actually means in light of a reality in which we are faced with a change in the way we interact with our urban environments.
The property sector now finds itself at a pivotal moment of re-defining what ‘future-proofing’ a development means. The challenge of blending living and working space and consuming programming and content on digital devices will have a global impact on the way we shape spaces, both physically and digitally. The notion and novelty of ‘destinations’ may shift, and people may look for more cultural amenity in their neighbourhoods. People may expect more from the notion of community centres, like The Yellow at Wembley Park and local cultural venues like the Streatham Space Project. Now that all ages experience limitations on travel, developments need to be competitive in their community and cultural offer, what do our communities want now that we are trained to be creative in a smaller footprint?
The digital front – from technology-enabled community engagement to digital co-creation -will be the greatest tool in reshaping our local destination needs. The physical challenge of bringing groups of people together will require new technologies. If one positive thing can come out of this pandemic for the property sector, I hope it is a rise in the digital accessibility and transparency of the design and planning processes. Pre-COVID we started to see the possibilities for digital engagement – from Commonplace’s digital consultation platform to using the popular online game Minecraft to lead design consultation workshops with young people. We have already started exploring the opportunities technology unlocks, giving communities agency to shape their urban spaces like never before.
Developers should also start exploring platforms to build digital communities, from skill shares with local experts to message boards to share issues, tools and inspiration. In recent months we have seen the need for digital communities, weekend art classes over Zoom are now available, celebrity DJs are live streaming gigs from their living rooms and pub quiz night now takes place over Houseparty. Our own co-working office, Fora, have been running digital cooking classes, posting online fitness classes and working with local partners to put businesses in touch with the experts and resources they need at this time. Developers and communities can create a similar platform – from gardening tips for the green-thumbs in residence to baking classes, directories to local amenities, spotlights on local independent businesses, or even creating communication channels to ensure older residents aren’t socially isolated as a necessity as provision and not just a marketing add-on.
We need to rise creatively to the current challenge. We’ve already seen the benefits in overhauling the traditional engagement processes, from communities amenities that are co-created with the very community that they will serve, and even public art being informed by extensive engagement between artist and stakeholders. The urban environment was shaped by the community that used it – a dialogue between designer and end user to ensure maximum value and access. We can learn from a captive residential audience that quickly has been trained up digitally during this remarkable time. I predict that technology will only support the democratisation of how our urban places are shaped – giving local communities better access to information and the agency to shape it based on their aspirations and needs.
– Rachel Hutchison, Projects Controller & Strategist
Image: Habitorials / A Showground for New Living. Credit: Alice Boagey