Bring back city architects to help fight the nation’s infrastructure crisis
Aerial view of the Manchester skyline (Bardhok Ndoji/Alamy)
4 min read
As a nation, we have long understood that the cities we build shape the country we become.
Our most beloved and successful places were not created by accident, but through civic ambition, long-term thinking, and a belief that good design serves the public interest.
City architects have historically shaped this belief, helping to create high-quality homes and places that continue to provide lasting benefit today.
The Government is rightly focused on building new homes, new towns, and stronger regional economies. But if we want to deliver at scale, we need to think not only about how many homes are built, but equally about whether the places we create will work for the people who live in them. That’s why RIBA is calling for a three-year pilot programme to fund city architects in combined authorities across England.
At the very moment we are asking local areas to deliver more developments at a faster pace, much of the expertise needed to shape that growth has been hollowed out. Planning departments have faced severe funding pressures, and nearly a third of local authorities have reported skills gaps in urban design and architecture. Without this design capacity, too many opportunities are missed: difficult sites become stalled, planning becomes slower and more fragmented, and the quality of new places suffers.
The value that city architects provide is tangible, as demonstrated in our new report, Making the case for city architects. Using the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) as an example, the report shows that improvements across four housing quality factors could generate £47.6 million in additional value over three years.
Our modelling further suggests that if city architects helped the GMCA increase housebuilding, even by just 1% of its existing spare capacity, this could deliver dozens of additional homes. This modest uplift would generate nearly £1 million in additional tax revenue, alongside £10.6 million in additional economic output and £4.4 million in Gross Value Added to the local economy and construction sector.
We can also see the benefit of architect-led planning in Nottingham. Access to in-house design expertise in Nottingham City Council is helping to support a consistent uplift in housing numbers on residential developments. Across the sites where design-led housing models were adopted, projects saw an increase in green spaces by 17% and up to 20% more homes.
When we prioritise good design, we do not compromise growth; we improve it
These are the kinds of outcomes we should be aiming for. Not a choice between quantity and quality, but a planning system capable of delivering both. Not development that simply meets a target, but development that strengthens the places we live in. Not short-term volume at the expense of long-term value, but growth that is more intelligent, more efficient, and more durable.
The value of a well-designed built environment cannot be overstated. It affects health and wellbeing, economic opportunity, social connection and confidence in the places around us. When we prioritise good design, we do not compromise growth; we improve it.
From Sir Christopher Wren’s reimagining of London to Edwin Lutyens’ civic grandeur, and from the great public housing and urban visions of the twentieth century to the work of architects such as Norman Foster today, this country has repeatedly shown how design can shape national confidence and improve everyday life. As we embark on another era of ambitious housebuilding, we should be making the case for the next generation of figures with that same civic imagination. Architects should be empowered not only to design individual buildings, but to help shape the towns, cities, and communities of the future.
City architects are not a relic of the past. They are a modern solution to modern problems, and a way to ensure that national ambition becomes a lasting national value.
Chris Williamson is President of the Royal Institute of British Architects
