Well planned and sustainable communities are key to our economic success and planners are key to delivering that. New housing developments need good access to local jobs, good access to public transport, green spaces, playgrounds, fast internet, and much more. It’s not enough to simply build great houses and hope everything else will fall in place and that’s why the role of planners is so critical.

But it’s not just about good planning, it’s about an integrated approach as there is only so much planners can do without investment. Our Invest and Prosper report highlighted key targets that need to be met including £400m investment in charging points for electric vehicles, £1bn investment in digital infrastructure, and improving intra-city transport links are just some examples.

Good planning can also save money with our report highlighting the £7.8bn lost as a direct impact of traffic congestion based on lost time and fuel costs. Better planned neighbourhoods combined with new ways of working enable by better digital infrastructure will reduce or in some cases completely remove the time wasted stuck on the number 88 bus trying to get to work.