Will people love this? | Q&A with Abigail Scott Paul
As the North gears up for more devolved powers and placemaking activity, Place Yorkshire caught up with the global head of the Humanise campaign as she makes the case for putting character, identity, and human experience alongside the numbers.
Humanise is a 10-year global campaign calling for more interesting, joyful, and people-centred buildings and cities. Launched by Thomas Heatherwick in October 2023 alongside his book Humanise: A Maker’s Guide to Building Our World, the campaign challenges the “blandification” of the built environment and advocates for development that improves people’s wellbeing and sense of belonging.
From your perspective, what does “humanising” development actually mean in practice?
It’s about putting the joy back into our cities and taking a more human-focused approach to building. One that recognises the emotional impact regeneration and new development can have on people’s health, wellbeing, and sense of belonging. Treating these as serious outcomes of development. People do not just need homes. They need homes, streets, and neighbourhoods that make them feel safe, rooted, and valued.
For us at Humanise, this means buildings that are more engaging, with interesting shapes, materials, details, colour, and texture at street level, where most people actually experience buildings. Buildings that create a characterful place rather than deaden it. The opposite of bland, monotonous blocks that could be anywhere.
Are there examples from the UK or overseas where city leaders have successfully transformed how people experience and feel about a place? What made those projects successful?
A bold vision, political confidence, and a willingness to change the conversation. Former Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo’s Reinventing Paris is a really useful example. In 2014, Paris launched a public competition for 23 city-owned sites that asked teams to prioritise architectural innovation, civic value, and imagination. It brought multidisciplinary teams into the process and opened proposals up to public debate. The point was not just that things got built, but that the city changed the conversation about development.
That is the lesson for Mayors. They should be asking a bigger question: not just “how many units?”, but “what kind of city are we creating?”
Looking specifically at the North of England, what opportunities are currently being overlooked when it comes to regeneration and place leadership?
When you consider the powers and money coming to Mayoral Combined Authorities in the North, you have to ask: where is the design and quality conversation happening around the new housing, infrastructure, and regeneration being delivered?
If we are serious about making better places, design expertise needs to sit closer to power. Cities such as Malmö in Sweden have used the role of a City Architect to champion design quality. Leeds has had that tradition too. It is time to bring that idea back and give design a stronger voice inside the machinery of regional growth.
And sticking to the North, are there any cities or regeneration projects that you believe are getting this balance right? What lessons can others learn from them?
Sheffield has been doing some really interesting things for years. Kelham Island works because it still feels like Sheffield. Its factories, workshops, chimneys, and waterways have not been airbrushed out. Their materials, details and irregularity give the area a character people can see and feel as they move through it. They are a big part of why people want to spend time there.
The redevelopment at Mayfield by LandsecU+I, Manchester City Council, Transport for Greater Manchester, and LCR in Manchester is an exciting reimagination of a central part of the city, from an industrial site rich in history into a place for creativity and enterprise in the heart of Manchester.
Bradford, following on from the success of City of Culture in 2025, has bold plans to create a new city centre where people want to live and love. The important thing will be to make sure it becomes a distinctive, welcoming neighbourhood, with buildings that add interest and character to the street and feel unmistakably Bradford. Little Germany is a reminder that Bradford already has a uniqueness,detail, and character – the question is not to copy the past, but how to recreate that for future generations.
The lesson is not complicated: Don’t wipe away what makes a place special; build on it.
International case study examples used by the Humanise campaign – click on any image to enlarge
- Plan for Merwede district in Utrecht. Credit: Marc Koehler Associates
- B-round, Seoul by Sosu Architects. Credit: Kyung Roh
- La Confluence, Lyon Credit: dvoevnore
Metro mayors now have significant influence over housing, transport, and regeneration. What opportunities do you believe they have to shape places that people genuinely want to live and work in?
Metro mayors cannot design every building, but they can set the conditions in which better development becomes possible. They can set a bold vision for how their city-region should feel, and bring the right partners around the table
to help deliver it. They can ensure Spatial Development Strategies are not just about land allocations and numbers, but about character, identity, and quality of life.
They can use public land, procurement, investment, and convening power to raise expectations. And they can bring design expertise close to power, such as through a City Architect or equivalent role, to help create places people love to live in.
Most of all, this is a chance for Metro Mayors to leave a lasting positive legacy in their cities: one people can see, feel and remember. As in the words of the new Mayor of Greater Manchester: “…it can’t just be about building the basic fundamentals of a good life. It’s about creating a good life.”
Housing targets remain under intense scrutiny. How can local leaders balance the need to deliver homes quickly without compromising on the quality of neighbourhoods being created?
History teaches us that building at scale and at speed can come at the expense of citizens’ needs. Our research among residents of England’s post-war New Towns found that only 4% described the buildings in their towns as “nice”. Surely, we have greater civic ambition than that?
Of course we need more homes, and quickly. But speed and quality should not be treated as opposing forces. At a time when pride and belonging are under strain, Mayors and local leaders need to ensure the renaissance of our towns and cities is measured not only in the number of homes delivered, but in the pride, care and value people feel in these new communities.
Developers often face pressure around viability, planning timescales, and delivery. Where do you think better placemaking adds value rather than cost?
Who doesn’t want to live in a characterful and interesting place? Think of the streets, squares, or neighbourhoods where you choose to spend time: they are rarely bland.
Better placemaking attracts residents, visitors, businesses, and investors, while encouraging long-term stewardship. It builds confidence and helps growth earn public consent. When communities see that development will create homes, streets and spaces that improve everyday life, they are more likely to believe in the promise of regeneration.
London’s Affordable Housing Programme shows how public funding can prioritise design quality as a core requirement, rather than an optional extra. At Edgewood Mews in Finchley, for example, grant funding has supported distinctive brick façades, varied forms, and strong street-level engagement around a pedestrianised mews designed to foster social interaction. Tying funding to clear design expectations can deliver, within real constraints, buildings that are characterful, socially engaging, and human in scale.
There is growing emphasis on retrofitting and reusing existing buildings alongside new development. How does this fit in with “humanising”, and how important is retaining a place’s identity when planning regeneration?
It is hugely important. We know communities hold dear the places in their community which hold memories and tell stories about their lives. The adaptation of heritage assets helps people recognise their place in the new story being created. And the North has some great historic assets – there’s a huge opportunity to reimagine these for future generations and we’re seeing developers like Capital & Centric doing just that.
Final question: If you could give one piece of advice to developers, planners, and local authorities embarking on major regeneration projects, what would it be?
Ask one simple question at the beginning, and keep asking it all the way through: Will people love this?
Not just: is it viable? Not just: does it meet the target? Not just: can we get it through planning? But will it make people feel proud, connected, and valued? Will it lift people up? Will it still be cared for in 100 years? Because people are
sick of the blandification of our streets. They want places that tell them they matter. Human beings need human buildings.
