Postcards from future neighbourhoods

Around the world people are reimagining what it means to live well in cities. This session invites speakers from different urban contexts to send us “postcards” from their future neighbourhoods: creative, accessible snapshots of places actively working towards more equitable, sustainable and inspiring urban futures.

From São Paulo’s crowdfunded Housing First model to Malmö’s circular design strategies, these postcards offer a glimpse into how radical new ideas are being grounded in local action, and what they can teach us about shaping better cities together.

Speakers

• Namon Freeman, Manager/Lead – Housing, Bloomberg Associates (Chair)
• Anna Shapiro, Partner, Sheppard Robson
• Mariana Schiller, Coordinator, FICA
• Ivana Stancic, Co-Director, Dark Matter Labs

Namon Freeman, Bloomberg Associates (Chair)

Namon framed the session around imagining future neighbourhoods through lived experience, highlighting the importance of high-quality design, meaningful community engagement and proactive city leadership. As the leader of the Housing Practice at Bloomberg Associates, Namon advises cities worldwide on housing affordability and sustainable urban development. His career spans North America, Latin America and Africa, where he has developed innovative affordable housing policies and incentive programmes that link urban planning, sustainability and economic growth.

• Many neighbourhoods are designed without anticipating long-term needs. This highlights a systemic issue: urban design often lacks adaptability. Without foresight, we risk repeating patterns that exclude, isolate or fail to serve future generations. 
• There are moves in the USA to harness new funding models to scale innovative housing solutions. LA 4 LA’s innovation fund, for example, combines public and philanthropic subsidies to support experimental housing models.

“By learning from different urban contexts, we can design neighbourhoods that are not only functional but emotionally resonant. We need places that foster connection, identity and wellbeing, rather than just shelter.” – Namon Freeman

Anna Shapiro, Sheppard Robson

Anna presented Sheppard Robson’s work for part of the new masterplan for Earls Court, which will create a multigenerational neighbourhood with about 4,000 new homes, a community hub, and cultural venues in 20 acres of public open space and green space.  

• Designing buildings and neighbourhoods that integrate public uses and natural elements such as waterfalls can help to foster sociability and a sense of identity. We need to reimagine how tall buildings interact with the ground, so that their bases are not just functional access points but also civic spaces that invite engagement.  
• Negotiating the transition from low-rise, two-storey housing in the surrounding area to a 40-storey landmark development is a major challenge. It requires sensitive design to avoid alienating existing communities and to ensure the new development feels like a natural extension rather than an imposition. We need to diversify housing typologies to better reflect varied lifestyles and needs.

“What if buildings could offer more than just functional space: what if they could integrate emotion and invite engagement?” – Anna Shapiro

Mariana Schiller, Coordinator, FICA

Mariana dialled from São Paulo, Brazil, to share insights from FICA’s Housing First programme in the city, which repurposes existing housing stock to support individuals and families with a history of rough sleeping.   

• São Paulo has about 500,000 empty properties and 400,000 people in unsuitable or unsafe housing. The Housing First model – which is based on the principle that access to secure housing should be the first step – shows how existing buildings can provide secure, dignified homes and reduce long-term costs in health.  
• Scaling up models such as Housing First demands upfront investment, significant resources and cross-sector collaboration, which is hard to achieve in systems with siloed budgets and urgent demand. Targeted interventions are essential, but the pressure to act quickly often undermines the case for slower, more thoughtful innovation through smaller-scale pilots. 

“Housing must be understood as a right: without it, access to health, education and dignity is compromised.” – Mariana Schiller

Ivana Stancic, Co-Director, Dark Matter Labs  

Ivana joined us live from Copenhagen to show how Dark Matter Labs is working in Malmö, Sweden, on systemic strategies for urban transformation. They are incorporating the circular economy and climate adaptation, and maximising existing building use. Office buildings are used only 35% of the time during working hours, which presents a huge opportunity to rethink space usage. By creating digital platforms and shared systems, cities can unlock hidden capacity without building new developments, reducing carbon and increasing flexibility. 

• Most reuse efforts in Sweden are still isolated pilot schemes. Without integrated systems, policy reform and investment models, circular construction remains aspirational rather than operational. 
• To make sustainable urban neighbourhoods, we need to build interdisciplinary coalitions and infrastructure that supports systemic reuse and sustainability. 

“We need avoid single-solution pilots and consider city-scale networks that make circularity work.” – Ivana Stancic

What should our future neighbourhoods be like? 

We asked future urban leaders and the session audience to tell us what they would hope to see in future neighbourhoods: 

Kaan Gullu, a candidate on our current Emerging Talent Programme, urged professionals to incorporate more open, informal public spaces to put human connection at the centre of future neighbourhoods. Such spaces can help people build stronger ties to their communities and prevent isolation.  

Our on-the-spot audience poll showed that people want future neighbourhoods to be lively and welcoming. They asked for more green space, and places to hang out, play and connect, across generations.  

There was a strong push for fewer cars, better public transport, affordable homes and local shops. Health, creativity and sustainability matter too. Overall, people want to see places where they feel safe and are proud to live. 

Conference session write-ups

Keynotes

Somers Town field trip

Resident protection and wellbeing

The power of Passivhaus

Quality housing for all

Resident safety and wellbeing

Unlocking temporary accommodation supply

An equitable future: Lessons from Kidbrooke Park

Postcards from future neighbourhoods

Systems thinking to deliver future homes

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Homes for the Future programme

The conference is part of our major Knowledge programme for 2025/6. The conference ideas and insights will contribute to our overall research.

We will publish a final report in February 2026 with case studies and practical recommendations. Find out more about our Homes for the Future programme.

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