Watch the talk: Physical distancing and sociality in urban space

The Developer hosted an online Festival of Place Bytesize event with prof. Nick Tyler on how urban spaces can be designed to encourage sociality in the new age of physical distancing on 16 June from 10:00-11:30am via Zoom.

Nick Tyler is Director of the UCL Centre for Transport Studies, Chadwick Professor of Civil Engineering, UCL and Director of CRUCIBLE Centre for Lifelong Health and Wellbeing at University College London, where his research investigates the ways in which people interact with their immediate environments.

A 30 minute talk was followed by a Q&A session for approximately 20 minutes.

Nick’s research challenges what engineering is, working with neuroscientists, psychologists, architects, education and data analysts to discover how people navigate in the urban environment.

Research includes the way in which common functions - such as walking - are managed by subconscious control systems which interact with the physical, sensory and cognitive environments in which people function, and how infrastructure can be designed to make the environment more sympathetic to people’s needs.