At the University of Reading’s school of architecture we are involved in a research project called Community Consultation for Quality of Life (CCQoL). The aim of the project is to review approaches to community consultation across England , Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, and to provide space for people to have a say in the planning of their city.

Quality of life describes a person’s physical, social and psychological wellbeing. It draws attention to the accumulated impact of the day-to-day, which is the level to which individuals may feel their lives to be happy, active, sociable, interesting and meaningful. It encompasses a multiplicity of desirable conditions that are overlapping and have different scales, but which are partly influenced by the built environment – the buildings and neighbourhoods where people live.

A link to the project website is here: www.ccqol.org

The project involves us setting up a physical space for community consultation in in Broad Street Mall and an associated digital platform managed by Commonplace www.commonplace.is. We will run the event throughout March 2022.

On the digital and physical map, people will have the opportunity to share about what they love/don’t love/want to see more of/ideas about Reading as a home town to them.

An outcome of the project will be community created quality of life maps which show what communities value in their area which then will used to feedback planning decisions happening in Reading.

The theme of the community consultation in the physical space in Broad Street Mall will be around aspects of the environment that contribute to the Quality of Life for communities in Reading. This will involve an exhibition and an associated set of talks and debates. We will have a series of programme and each week we will have a topic to share with public, such as culture and heritage, health and wellbeing, climate change, etc.

We are inviting you to participate in our research project where you will have a space to have a say about the future of your home town; where social values will be taken into consideration in planning decisions of the built environment – the buildings and the neighbourhood where you live. We would like you to join us in our physical space in Broad Street Mall in March 2022, either to visit and engage with us there and/or collaborate with us to have your activities held in there.

We look forward to hearing from you! Please contact me, Unis Nisa, at u.k.nisa@reading.ac.uk, phone: 0118 378 4199.