Talking Cities - The Micropolitics of Urban Space From Kevin Macleod to Prince Charles, it seems everyone is talking cities. What makes an eco-town or city? What is sustainable design? Architecture and happiness? Perhaps more importantly, what does inclusiveness, equality and diversity mean in the built environment? Place-making, the new term on the block, is generally agreed to be central to social inclusion, cultural well-being and identity. But what makes a good space? People experience their environment in different ways depending upon their social, cultural and economic circumstances. Policies can enable good spaces but they can also be exclusive. If all citizens are to be comfortable in and identify with the spaces and places they inhabit, then the full diversity of this experience has to be considered. It means adopting a human-centred design approach. In this lecture Stuart MacDonald will look at the effect of an inhospitable built environment - the impact of bad design - as a way of looking at inclusion. Because the impact of the designed environment upon us huge, he will suggest that everyone should be talking cities as a fundamental part of democracy.

In her lecture, she explores the challenges faced by the construction industry and its focus on producing sustainable, more eco-friendly and cost-effective cementitious materials. The construction industry is faced with an ever-rising demand for safer and more cost-effective infrastructure, as well as more environmentally-friendly products and processes. To meet these expectations, numerous new composite materials with reduced carbon footprint have been developed over the past couple of decades. However, these materials are often very sensitive to environmental conditions and proper curing is essential to enhance their performance. Thanks to their high capacity to absorb and release water, SAPs can help to control cement’s hydration processes and to avoid cracking during the hardening process. Therefore, it can significantly improve the material’s durability and sustainability.