Common Good

A group of urban planning, design, and delivery practitioners with a common interest in the creation/adaptation of places to provide a good quality of life in communities across the North of England. Whilst these issues affect everybody, only a small proportion of people are involved in the decision-making processes that impact on them, their places and communities. We consider this a reason to question current processes and explore more inclusive development of places across the North. 

We want to improve the processes that deliver urban change, raising the quality of the everyday environment, using our skills and networks to engage a broader range of people in the definition and pursuit of the common good. 

This Group believes positive change can be achieved by providing the means for wider participation in the creation/adaptation of places.  The overarching objectives are 

Identified need 

Lack of discourse on design and development in the north + generally poorer quality outcomes  

Overall aim: to improve quality outcomes in the north  through discourse, networking and sharing knowledge 

Development of the Group: The Group believes that everything in the system needs to be open to review and change, and that to review everything, we need everyone. Possible phases of development are suggested below, followed by a consideration of how the Greater Manchester: Common Good may be configured to address the specific needs and opportunities of the region.  

Group Manifesto: Common Good is a not-for-profit group of individual practitioners acting together in a thought leadership and enabling role, non-aligned to any employer or sponsor. Views expressed are therefore those of individuals in accordance with the core objective of the Group: to give a platform for individuals to learn, educate, inform, question and debate the impacts caused by the creation/adaptation of places on  everyone’s quality of life. Whilst we may work with a range of partners to enable events the direct promotion of employers or sponsors is prohibited. It is the Group’s aim that all  events and publications shall be fully accessible and affordable to all, and are delivered with minimum detriment to the environment.