I’m writing this at the end of the first joint conference between the Urban Design Group and the Academy of Urbanism. This is possible because we are not where we should be, which is in the pub, dissecting and joking about everything we have heard over the last three days. Such is the drawback of online conferences that I am reduced to off-loading my thoughts in this a column rather than over a pint.

The UDG and AoU have similar origins. Both were created at the initiative of an RIBA president to focus on what we now call placemaking, rather than just the design of buildings. The UDG was started in 1978 under the name “Architects in Planning” by a group including the late Francis Tibbalds and is the professional membership organisation for those of us who practise urban design. The AoU is younger, having been set up by George Ferguson and John Thompson in 2006 to bring together everyone involved in the creation and management of cities.

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