Space Place Life is the first in a series of books drawing on the expertise of the Academy of Urbanism. This book examines the concepts that are core to the academy; the way that urban space is designed, the quality place created by the buildings that enclose this space and the life that animates it. All great towns and cities across the world depend on these three fundamental aspects of urban life.

The Academy of Urbanism brings together architects, urban designers planners, surveyors, economists academics and developers to better understand what makes successful urban places. This first book in, what is to become a series, includes contributions from some of the leading thinkers in the field including the television documentary maker Jonathan Meades, and the Irish architectural journalist Frank MacDonald.

This is combined with essays by leading urban practitioners in the UK inspired by the places shortlisted for the Academy’s first ever awards. The surveyor Chris Balch writes about three capital cities; Dublin, Edinburgh and London. The urban designer David Rudlin is fascinated by the sense of belonging and community found in the shortlisted towns while the public realm designer Brian Evans takes a walk through three great neighbourhoods. The highway engineer David Taylor becomes an urbanist to explore the life of three great streets while the academic Sarah Chaplin responds to three very different urban places.

The book is a fascinating take on urban places and the force that animates them, written by some of the most experienced urban practitioners in the UK and illustrated beautifully with drawings by David (Harry) Harrison and poems by Ian MacMillan.