Wednesday, December 17, 2025

Webinar on using historical place-names for modern street naming

 Webinar and Q & A with the Urban Design Group on using historical place-names for modern street naming


“We can’t design places for tomorrow until we have understood where they've come from and where they are today, in order to create a narrative for their future … History is indispensable to placemaking, because when we can understand what came before; the stories, the patterns, the land use, the meanings, we can create places that feel authentic rather than arbitrary” Hannah Smart. 00:00:00 - Introduction by Hannah Smart, Chair Elect, the Urban Design Group 00:04:12 – John Baker, Professor of Medieval Studies and Name-Studies introduces the work of the INS, the Institute for Name-Studies in Nottingham (the UK); The English Place-Name Society and Survey of English Place-Names. 00:09:51 – Dr Susan Kilby , Fellow INS provides a detailed account of a wide range of street names and earlier social and economic history in urban and rural settings. 00:20:44 - Some of the difficulties with modern naming e.g. individuals whose wealth has connections with slavery. 00:23:44 – Real life example of a street naming process. 00:25:45 – Abigail Lloyd – Research Affiliate INS, discusses historical place-names. Why and how should we use them? The statutory duty carried out by local authorities coupled with local frameworks and codes. The GeoPlace Code of Practice. 00:27:15 – Street naming considerations 00:27:51 – Stakeholder and public consultation 00:31:43 – Potential constraints 00:34:08 – Contributing to a sense of place. 00:37:38 – Recovering lost landscapes and industries 00:38:43 – Preserving dialects and linguistic history, contributing to a sense of place 00:39:48 – The English Dialect Dictionary 00:41:16 – Relating this to the design and development process; GIS layering 00:43:18 – Further resources. 00:43:54 – Discussion featuring: 00:45:16 - Attempts at naming through invention or AI? 00:48:04 – The potential for problematic naming 00:51:04 – Greenfield sites ‘new towns’ and naming 00:54:36 – The languages frequently involved 00:55:29 – Trends and fashions in naming 00:57:38 – Non-contextual naming 00:59:39 – Encouraging a research based approach

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