Current Issue

The current issue of Urban Realm contains articles on:

• The Tenement Revealed
  They stand all around us and have long been taken for granted, but tenements have never been more critical in keeping a roof over many of our heads. In the company of John Gilbert, author of the Tenement Revealed, we find out how this city bulwark is set to evolve to meet the needs of a net-zero world.
• Inner Life
  Urban Realm digs beneath skin deep reporting of the built environment to look at how interior spaces are serving a new generation of occupants. How does the interplay of materials, Finishes and furnishings combine to deliver spaces that work?
• Wyndford Estate
  Demolition of four Wyndford Road tower blocks marks a watershed moment for housing policy in Glasgow. As the city draws clear limits on the role of retrofit solutions. We look at why tower blocks continue to fall across the country amid a housing emergency.
• Edinburgh's Best Buildings
  Architecture critic Robin Ward has returned to the streets of Edinburgh to document new arrivals and old friends. In a city renowned for its past achievements, how do today’s additions stack up? We take the tour to find out.
• Hostile Architecture
  Glasgow may be known as the Dear Green Place but concern over public spaces which foster alienation, not inclusivity, threatens to drain the colour from our streets. Journalist and political commentator Fuad Alakbarov calls out the insidious nature of hostile architecture.
• Caerlee Mill
  We take one last look around Scotland’s oldest knitwear mill before its demolition to record the dying days of an industrial complex on a par with New Lanark or Stanley Mills. If these walls could talk, what would they tell us? Photography by Mark Chalmers.
• Settlement Planning
  Leslie Howson considers the role of new settlements in addressing housing shortages and highlights the importance of geometry in how they are planned. As order gives way to chaos in the layout of our towns and cities, we rediscover the lost art of urban planning. Are we in good shape?
• Port Edgar
  Urban Realm visits a photogenic construction site that is motoring ahead. How can a World War 1 era former barracks address today's housing crisis? We investigate the role played by retrofit in bridging the gap.