By Flora Samuel, Professor at the School of Architecture, University of Reading Public participation in planning has clear social, environmental and economic benefits, but if it is to improve its inclusion and impact, the sector urgently needs a Code of Conduct. This is one of seven recommendations from Public participation…

With John Hume and Dr Ellie Cosgrove A social determinant of health “Control is central to our health as both individuals and as communities. Studies show that we fare less well without it, individually and collectively. When we don’t have enough control, we’re less satisfied, we get ill sooner and…

by Tiffany Lam, Research Manager, Quality of Life Foundation To tackle the housing crisis in the UK, we need to focus on addressing the supply, quality and affordability of housing. The supply of housing has been hogging the limelight for a while, with the much-vaunted (and never reached) figure of…

by Prof Flora Samuel with the Quality of Life Foundation The Quality of Life Foundation uses evidence to build frameworks to demonstrate how improvements to our homes and communities can improve our quality of life. The Foundation is working closely with Prof Flora Samuel at the University of Reading on…

by Matthew Morgan, Director, Quality of Life Foundation It certainly feels as though the Levelling Up Agenda has come at an opportune moment. As if the combined effects of Brexit, the pandemic and the climate emergency were not enough, we are faced with a drop in living standards that is almost as precipitous as that of people’s trust…

by Flora Samuel (University of Reading) and the Quality of Life Foundation. In the light of the House of Lords’ recent report on Tackling the Under-supply of Housing in England, we thought we would publish the submission we made to the process (below). Summary We would advocate a housing system that is: evidence-based; takes a long-term approach; is based on the triple…

Associates Workshop: Health Historically, many conversations around air quality have centred on external traffic pollutants, but recently a shift has been happening towards a greater understanding of indoor air quality, too. The level of indoor pollutants in most houses is usually two to five times higher than that of outdoor…

Three major developers have signed up to be core sponsors of the Quality of Life Foundation this summer, including one of the largest property managers in the UK, The Crown Estate. …

At the inaugural meeting of the advisory group for Community Consultation for Quality of Life (CCQOL), teams from the universities of Reading, Cardiff, Ulster and Edinburgh had the opportunity to discuss the project with its supporters. …