Town planners should better embrace faith and belief perspectives in order to build community resilience for the future. That’s according to a new report by researchers at Goldsmiths University of London and the University of Cambridge. It’s calling for a New Towns Taskforce to incorporate contributions from faith traditions into secular planning frameworks.

Housing with Values: Faith and Belief perspectives on Housing and Community Planning, comes as the government has pledged to build 1.5 million new homes.

The report says that treating faith and belief as partners in planning can accelerate social cohesion from day one, reduce loneliness and social isolation, and provide governance and voluntary capacity that complements statutory services. It says that ‘ignoring these dimensions risks creating settlements that are physically complete but socially fragile.’

It argues that current planning systems in Britain haven’t embraced faith and belief communities as full partners in building thriving communities.

The demography of the UK and the diversity of faiths and beliefs has changed significantly over past decades and the report says this poses new challenges for planners and developers. It wants to ensure important voices from the faith and belief sector aren’t missed in efforts to make New Towns work for everybody.

Lead author Professor Christopher Baker (Goldsmiths UoL) says:

“As we embark on this next chapter of New Town building in England, it is vital to understand the contribution that faith and belief bring to the sustaining of new communities, through their vision, experience, resources and local leadership. The challenge now is to understand the immense contribution in terms of physical and social resources that all faith communities living in England can bring to the table. It is vital that we create channels through which this important contribution can be leveraged into the planning system as a whole.”

Co-author Dr Iona Hine (Cambridge) added:

“Our hope is they (planners) are open to thinking about that challenge in dialogue with people of all flavours of faith and belief. Maybe we can even get faith considerations written in to Section 106 agreements for all the new settlement sites.”

The 64 page report follows on from the publication of the New Towns Taskforce's own recommendations to government at the end of September.