Category Archives: Development/Land-Use

RIBA Building Futures – Carwood 2035

Posted on August 25, 2013 by Matt Wood

A month or so ago I was flattered to be asked to write a ‘think-piece’ on the Future of Villages by the RIBA Building Futures team. The Building Futures website aims ‘to promote public and political debate on the future … Continue reading →

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Professor Ruralise?!

Posted on July 9, 2013 by Matt Wood

The Royal Forestry Society enjoyed my Forest Village thought-piece, so much so that they asked me to re-write it to run in the July edition of their Quarterly Journal of Forestry. As a keen science buff it’s quite a thrill … Continue reading →

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Forest Village #12: An Epitaph?

Posted on December 6, 2012 by Matt Wood

So that’s where the story ends, for the time being at least. We had run up against the fact that England is very much still the ‘green and pleasant land’ that we imagine it to be. In the furore around … Continue reading →

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Forest Village #11: Six of the Best

Posted on December 2, 2012 by Matt Wood

It’s a snappy title for this section, but in fact the six sites we identified in our quick and crude site-search weren’t all perfect; far from it, in fact.

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We Need More…But Not More of the Same

Posted on November 29, 2012 by Matt Wood

Given the imminent arrival of the Leveson Report, Planning Minister Nick Boles’ foray into the difficult territory that is UK green-field development did well to make Newsnight last night. During most of the day I had been following the opening … Continue reading →

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Forest Village #9: Show Me The Money

Posted on November 27, 2012 by Matt Wood

So far Forest Village is hypothetical, a thought-experiment; but after thinking about it for so long it was hard to stop. Could a Forest Village really be built? Technically speaking, yes it could – Center Parcs had demonstrated that – … Continue reading →

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Forest Village #8: What’s the Catch?

Posted on November 23, 2012 by Matt Wood

So far, Forest Village is the product of an end-of-holiday moment of wistfulness: ‘This is lovely; wouldn’t it be nice to live here all the time?’ But like all such pipe-dreams, it’s worth taking a minute to be critical. It … Continue reading →

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Forest Village #7: The ‘Suburbs’

Posted on November 21, 2012 by Matt Wood

In the last post we imagined re-developing Elveden Center Parcs’ central area to serve as a new centre for our imaginary Forest Village, but the real essence of Center Parcs (and in turn Forest Village) lies away from the centre: … Continue reading →

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Forest Village #6: The Village Centre

Posted on November 19, 2012 by Matt Wood

What would one have to do to Center Parcs Elveden to turn it into a ‘real’ village? Well for the purposes of this thought-experiment the aim would be to change as little as possible, preserving the essential quality which could … Continue reading →

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Forest Village #5: Sustainable Development?

Posted on November 16, 2012 by Matt Wood

As a model for the development of a new settlement, Center Parcs offers a really powerful proposition. Most green-field development replaces green-space with houses. In a Center Parcs they depend on each other. The forest is regarded as an asset … Continue reading →

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