My Review of Festival of Place Event | by Trisha Husbands
What is Festival of Place?
My team and I recently attended our first Festival of Place event - an annual event that is hosted by The Developer & The Pineapple Awards. I work for a local council in London and am part of a Project Team that is working on one of London’s largest regeneration projects. This was my first time attending this event and as a team, we wanted to attend to gain a better insight to see where the discussion was with how we view our public spaces and who gets to decide that. We have already signed up for next year. This blog is about my experience of the event.
This event was a gathering of the industry's lead voices in a range of areas including architects, urban and town planners, place shaping, local government, and community engagement professionals all bringing their expertise in a series of talks and interactive workshops. It was held at Boxpark in Wembley, an area which has itself, also recently gone through a regeneration with new homes, shops, restaurants, and hotels with the national stadium as its focal point.
When I was emailed the itinerary of the day about a week before the event, my colleagues and I were all deciding what talks/workshops to attend as many overlapped. As there were four of us attending, we decided to split them up between us and then do a debrief of the talk with the two others. You can tell we work for the local government.
The format was pretty much the same throughout the day with a speaker, presentation slides, and a Q&A afterwards. The day was anchored by breakfast and post-event drinks with a free lunch in the middle and a chance to network and exchange ideas.
Who were the key contributors
One of my favourite talks of the day was from a Canadian speaker called Leslie Kern. Leslie Kern according to her website is a “feminist urban scholar and author”. Her writing has appeared in several well-known publications including the Guardian newspaper, City Lab and Lithub. Leslie's talk was about Regeneration versus Gentrification, a subject that I’m very passionate about and is a key part of my role working on a regeneration project. The main focus of the talk was about when the two collide and where the line is.
She talked about the key differences between the two, perceptions of both those words and how and who decides how public spaces are utilized. You can't walk around London without seeing an area that is currently going under a regeneration (or gentrification depending on your point of view) or has been through one in recent years. The two that I think of most recently are Battersea Power Station in south London and King’s Cross in North London both of which I knew before the regeneration and what it has become now. Both are impressive.
What I took away from the event
The event opened up a lot of discussion about our cities, towns and urban spaces and how much autonomy we have and who it’s really for. It’s a discussion that me and my colleagues often get asked by our residents and one that I and my friends constantly debate as our areas evolve and change for better or for worse (depending on your point of view).
It’s important to remember we all have a stake and a voice in how we connect with our community and the people that make decisions on who is part of the community. It’s never been more important to engage a be a part of the decision-making. Communities only work when we all are a part of it.
Trisha Husbands is a Project Management Alum based in London and is writing for the Apprentice Lens as part of the Blogging Team. Here's more about her:
"I've always had a lot to say and thought it's about time I put my ideas down and write about things that matter to me. Lots of things inspire me and I'm passionate about lots of things. Writing these blogs will be a great way to hone my writing skills and challenge myself."