Responding to the 15-minute cities fallout with smarter comms  

Anti 15-minute city protest in Oxford.

Growing hostility towards ‘15-minute cities’ is one of 2023’s more startling turn of events.

If you’re reading this, chances are you know something about it. Framed in the context of making places more connected, active, healthy and less reliant on cars, it’s easy to see why it’s caught on amongst policy-makers.

But have supporters missed a step in taking people with them? And have they clearly explained what 15-minute cities are, or aren’t?

Either way, those promoting a seemingly uncontroversial urban planning concept face a backlash. 

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New developments in place and PR for 2023

Predicting developments in place and PR: a crystal ball set against a dark, urban backdrop

Volatile, uncertain, chaotic, and ambiguous. These words formed an acronym – VUCA – a few years ago summarising how modern life feels for many organisations.

Uncertainty shaped the narrative for much of 2022. Then September’s awful fiscal event brought other elements of the VUCA matrix more clearly into view.

It’s an interesting time to set up a new business, with inflation and cost-of-living concerns nudging the economy towards recession. Amidst the haze, predicting what to expect from 2023 seems like a mug’s game.

We can see this year will be challenging, for sure. We shouldn’t limit our ambition, but nor should we be too hard on ourselves if things don’t go to plan. Getting through it in decent shape, with a happy team that’s proud of its work would be a good outcome for 2023. And there will be opportunities and memorable moments too.

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My three most read blogs of 2022

It’s interesting to see all the ‘what a year!!’ celebratory posts across my social feeds at the end of a challenging 2022.

As I enter my 48th year, I too reflect on a year to be proud of, but without being too gushing about how ‘great’ it was. That’s because, in many ways, it wasn’t. It’s ulimately been a good year, but parts of it came at some personal cost. I wouldn’t be true to myself if I suggested otherwise.

I’ve returned to conversations I had this time last year, feeling ground down by perma-crises that affected all of us. Whilst the initial panic of COVID subsided, we had no sense of what was coming in 2022. Having set up Distinctive in June, two Prime Ministers and six fiscal events later, it’s a wonder I’ve found time to write any blogs.

While I haven’t completed as many as I wanted to, those I published performed better than in 2021. They also helped me process events happening around me.

If anyone who stopped to read or share them found them useful too, that’s a bonus.

Here are the three posts that had the most views in 2022.

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Fuel prices power community of interest

Price information on a petrol pump dashboard

People living in small towns and villages don’t need telling that life is harder without a car. Disconnected, underfunded and unreliable, public transport doesn’t serve rural areas well in my experience.

My home county of Pembrokeshire typifies this picture, although there are efforts to address this. Welsh researchers found this year that some areas don’t even get one bus an hour! Bus stops (reduced by 3%), routes (15% less) and opportunities catch a bus (down 22%) all contracted during the pandemic across Wales.

And thanks to global events putting a rocket under fuel prices, life is harder for drivers too. As ever, these changes hit deprived communities and people who can’t work from home hardest.

It’s a grim picture. It may explain why talk about ‘connecting places’ often hits a wall of scepticism.

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My worst (and best) business experiences of 2022

Unhappy yellow face against a brick wall

“Your call is important to us…”

Does anyone believe these empty business promises from bots while navigating automatic call filtering processes?

Services mishandled, calls unanswered and complaints ignored. Dealing with big organisations seems much more difficult, as customer services automate and default to online. It feels like only those bloody minded enough to complain or kick off online will get meaningful responses from this set-up (I am one of those people).

I’ve had frustrating times on the phone trying to resolve various issues since setting up Distinctive Communications earlier this year. A recent Sunday Times article asking why nothing in Britain works as it should highlights that I’m not alone (£).

It’s brought home to me how detached some organisations are from their customers. It also begs a question: why the hell do we put up with this?

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Post-truth mindset must leave government with Truss

Liz Truss on the podium at a press conferene on 14 October 2022

Liz Truss’ press conference performance last Friday had the air of a disgruntled employee working out their notice in a job that was never for them.

Terse and evasive, her blank stare resembled a zoned out manager who had reached the end of their tenure. Taking just four questions from a room full of journalists – and answering none properly – failed to match the seriousness of the moment.

And don’t forget, this was the moment when her economic policy fell apart, less than a month after its unveling. She announced it without contrition, suggesting that the markets weren’t ready for her Growth Plan.

It plumbed new depths for a format that too many treat as an opportunity to ‘get their message out’ rather than properly engage the media on nationally significant events. Listening on the radio, journalists’ exasperation when Truss left the room after eight minutes was palpable. I shared their bewilderment watching it again afterwards.   

Liz Truss’ eight-minute press conference on 14 October 2022

This highlights a long-running issue with spin that I’ve banged on about for years. But they’re not even spinning a line any more. They’ve stopped answering questions and left us staring at an empty podium wondering what the hell just happened.

Here are a few moments which hopefully illustrate my point.  

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