GP 61: Finding the Gold Dust in a Place: with Stephanie Edwards of Urban Symbiotics

In this episode of the Grow Places Podcast, Tom Larsson is joined by Stephanie Edwards, Architect, Urban Designer and Co-Founder of Urban Symbiotics, to explore what it truly means to put people at the forefront of meaningful change in the built environment. Stephanie shares how Urban Symbiotics works at the intersection of people, data and design, using demographically representative engagement to turn lived experience into evidence that shapes better places. From street conversations and stay-and-play groups to targeted social media and multilingual outreach, she explains how her team meets people where they are, building trust and gathering insights that enrich the design process rather than replacing it. Drawing on projects spanning London boroughs, rural market towns, Lebanon and South America, Stephanie makes a compelling case for why community engagement is not a nice-to-have but an essential part of delivering places that genuinely work.

The conversation also explores the challenges of maintaining trust over long project timescales, the gap between consultation and genuine participation, and why the lessons of the Grenfell Tower tragedy must not be forgotten. Stephanie reflects on her own journey from architecture and master planning into participatory design, describing the moment she realised that engagement insight arrived too late to shape the outcome, and how that experience led to the founding of Urban Symbiotics. From meanwhile use strategies in Dagenham to community handbooks in Purley and an intergenerational master plan in the Lebanese mountains, she demonstrates how hyper-local understanding and genuine collaboration can unlock better outcomes for communities, clients and design teams alike.