Sian Broadhurst
@sianbroadhurst.bsky.social
130 followers 430 following 32 posts
Urbanism, housing, garden city movement |PhD student at York University | Trustee at Curious Arts and Groundwork SANT
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sianbroadhurst.bsky.social
In 1909 the German Garden City Association visited the UK, including the garden village of New Earswick
A formal horse and carriage drives through a decorative archway that welcomes visitors in German. In the background is the village of New Earswick
sianbroadhurst.bsky.social
Last outdoor swim of the year - 13.5 degree water temp is definitely my limit even in the beautiful sun
Sun shining on a beautiful lake surrounded by trees. In the distance there a few people swimming
sianbroadhurst.bsky.social
Allotment life is a welcome break from the news. Though the leek judges are tough. We will be celebrating our third place in the best newcomer category and my wife has accepted that she will now be forever known as Harry
Allotment competition certificate Leek entrants dismissed for being too short and having secondary growth Brass bands playing under a gazebo with brightly coloured deckchairs in front 5 beautiful pinky - purple Dalias in the allotment completion
sianbroadhurst.bsky.social
At this stage in the PhD it is becoming very definite that I am allergic to some books. I do mean this literally. Thankfully not all books and not yet had a problem with archive papers so now got to figure out the pattern. Still, pretty devastating
sianbroadhurst.bsky.social
I suspect we’ve gone as far as a 300 character exchange is going to take us. We may not agree on this but I appreciate the dialogue
sianbroadhurst.bsky.social
They should be able to make a profit, but I am cynical of financial viability assessments that reduce responsibilities locally (and they will drop social housing first because the other amenities contributes to value of private housing) while still achieving v healthy profits overall
sianbroadhurst.bsky.social
Yes, but if the developers don’t pay for wider facilities under S106 then the costs fall to local authorities or other parts of the public sector. Meanwhile the developers are still able to make decent profits nationally whole claiming locally that schemes aren’t viable if asked to meet these costs
sianbroadhurst.bsky.social
The big house builders have operating margins between 12 and 20%. When they escape their responsibilities in providing basic amenities the money is not being spent on more social housing. Government subsidy for social housing is separate from the point that the Guardian article was making
sianbroadhurst.bsky.social
But then I think you know all this. It seems unlikely that a Labour MP and a history graduate doesn’t have some sense of the problems created by housing developments built without facilities - or the logic of new towns in making sure that there are plans for these things
sianbroadhurst.bsky.social
Houses without access to facilities, transport, employment opportunities, and community networks are unlikely to provide good homes. How people feel about their wider environment and circumstances shapes what goes on at home
sianbroadhurst.bsky.social
Not much time left but if any housing geeks happen to be in Vienna this week then the Suburbia exhibition is worth a look. We combined it with a trip to Karl Marx Hof and Hundertwasserhaus
Photo of a large advert for the Suburbia exhibition at Vienna Museum of Architecture. Includes an overhead photo of a suburban sprawl and has the subtitle ‘living the American Dream’. It runs until the 4th August 2025 Karl Marx Hof - the world’s longest residential building and reminiscent of a castle. 7 storey building with large archways with trees in the background. Building is pink and sandstone, imposing, and has statues under flagpoles representing different aspects of working class life The Hundertwasserhaus combines building and nature. It is a large building with lots of colour, trees and other greenery growing out of the building.
sianbroadhurst.bsky.social
This kind of take makes me want to weep. We’ve been here before. Building houses without transport and facilities is a false economy that stores up problems that take decades to undo
sianbroadhurst.bsky.social
Building housing without an eye to how the community will function is a false economy
sianbroadhurst.bsky.social
Priorities are important but Bevan’s words still ring true: “while we shall be judged for a year or two by the number of houses we build… we shall be judged in 10 years’ time by the type of houses we build”
sianbroadhurst.bsky.social
Obsessed with allotment life
Table with various produce from an allotment: lettuce, potatoes, beetroot, raspberries, red currants, and gooseberries
sianbroadhurst.bsky.social
Wondering how many planned communities, new towns and model villages I can fit into this holiday before my wife puts her foot down. We start with Nowa Huta (with bonus points for the steel works admin building tour)
Courtyard of Nowa Huta steel works with socialist realism architecture Inside the steel works admin building, imposing corridor with 1950s furniture and lots of marble Map of Nowa Huta a communist planned city with lots of green space The internal roads and building of one of the neighbourhoods in the town. Lots of mature trees and Soviet architecture
Reposted by Sian Broadhurst
heraldscotland.bsky.social
Author Val McDermid and her wife, geography professor Jo Sharp, take part in the Pride parade through Edinburgh city centre on Saturday afternoon

𝘐𝘔𝘈𝘎𝘌: 𝘑𝘢𝘯𝘦 𝘉𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘰𝘸/𝘗𝘈 𝘞𝘪𝘳𝘦/𝘗𝘈 𝘐𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘴
sianbroadhurst.bsky.social
I’m not sure photoshop is even the right word for this. That seems to imply an attempt to look real. This was labelling - a key to understand the supposed symbols. Nothing about it was designed to look real. Can’t wait to hear his gangland interpretation of ‘fig. 1’
justinbaragona.bsky.social
This exchange is so very telling.

Trump repeatedly claims the photoshopped MS-13 on Kilmar Abrego Garcia's knuckles is real, Terry Moran keeps telling him it isn't, prompting Trump to say this:

"I never heard of you. I picked you. You’re not being very nice. He had MS-13 tattooed... Just say yes!"
sianbroadhurst.bsky.social
So excited to have made it to the top of the allotment waiting list and I think we have struck lucky with the plot
A half sized allotment that is pretty well tended, with a greenhouse in place, and very near the communal kitchen
sianbroadhurst.bsky.social
Hopscotch taken very seriously around these parts. 1 - 50 and back again
sianbroadhurst.bsky.social
Sunny days on campus really show off York’s brutalism
Photo from the walkway looking up to York uni’s brutalist library with a sculpture in the foreground York uni’s brutalist concert hall
sianbroadhurst.bsky.social
Our boy is an angry cat. He has a special note on his vet’s file. Sometimes they resort to a muzzle. Sometimes they sedate. We are trying to get several doses in a day armed with nothing more than a towel and the advice to gently stroke his chin…
Personal in medieval armor with a cat in the background
Reposted by Sian Broadhurst
uoyborthwick.bsky.social
In 1945 Rowntree's launched a campaign advertising their cocoa to women at home & in the workplace. As well as being architects, designers, musicians, reporters, librarians and bank tellers, the campaign also showed women as analytical chemists and scientific assistants #WomenInScience #WomenInSTEM
Illustration of a woman in a laboratory with the text 'Analyses, formulae, compounds, distillations, sediments - she's always on the go.  The analytical chemist is full of problems; who isn't, in these days? And so, like other hard-working folk, she's glad of a cup of Rowntree's Cocoa, so soothing to nerves that are forever keyed up. Many a housewife too, coping with all the problems that even now still beset her, finds that Rowntree's Cocoa calms down her jangled nerves and aids digestion. Unlike so many drinks, it contains body building protein, energy-giving carbohydrate and fat. Rowntree's Cocoa soothes frayed nerves'.