Create Streets Foundation

Create Streets Foundation is a UK registered charity (est. 2017) that conducts research into how urban form shapes human wellbeing, exploring the ways that streets, buildings, and public spaces affect mental health, social connection, physical activity, and community cohesion.

Our mission is to turn research insights into action. Through our Place Champions community co-design programme, we have worked with disadvantaged neighbourhoods across England since 2019, empowering residents with the tools, knowledge, and confidence to influence planning decisions in the places where they live. Our Creating Places Academy provides accessible urban design education through drawing workshops and an annual residential Summer School, now in its third year and attracting participants from across Europe. Our research programme has achieved direct parliamentary influence, including proposed amendments to the UK Highways Act based on our policy recommendations.

Current and planned activities include the continued growth of the Urban Design and Architecture Summer School, ongoing community co-design work in underserved neighbourhoods, and a Ukraine Reconstruction Vision project supporting citizen-led approaches to rebuilding war-affected cities.

Looking ahead, our most significant planned initiative is the establishment of the first University of Traditional Architecture in Europe, which will provide formal higher education in traditional and classical architecture and urbanism, building on our track record in design education and our commitment to human-centered approaches to the built environment.