Max Lock (1909–1988) was a British postwar urban planner who emphasised the importance of incorporating social research in the planning process. His most notable contributions were associated with planning in

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

, where he worked with

Griselda Rowntree Griselda is a feminine given name from Germanic sources that is now used in English, Italian, and Spanish as well. According to the 1990 United States Census, the name was 1066th in popularity among females in the United States. It has been s ...

and

Ruth Glass Ruth Glass (born Ruth Adele Lazarus, 1912–1990) was a German-born British sociologist, urban planner and founder (in 1958) of the Centre for Urban Studies at University College London (UCL). Life She was born in Berlin on 30 June 1912, the da ...

on the 1944 Middlesbrough Survey, and

Hull Hull may refer to: Structures * Chassis, of an armored fighting vehicle * Fuselage, of an aircraft * Hull (botany), the outer covering of seeds * Hull (watercraft), the body or frame of a ship * Submarine hull Mathematics * Affine hull, in affi ...

. Lock's Hull work achieved acclaim with a 1943 London exhibition at the Housing Centre opened by the Minister of Town and Country Planning and in ''The Architects' Journal''. Darling and Whitworth describe Lock's approach to planning as the most Geddesian of the post-war planners in the UK. Other key features of his approach were to include considerations of a town's hinterland in the planning process, to incorporate insights from other disciplines, to blend both physical and social aspects, using surveys, interviews, community involvement, map overlays, topic reports, and photographs. This was a process involving ''Civic Diagnosis''. The aim was to achieve workable and acceptable plans. This could be achieved by having the public closely involved in a consultation process and making presentations accessible to them and to the press. The Max Lock Centre at the

University of Westminster The University of Westminster is a public university based in London, United Kingdom. Founded in 1838 as the Royal Polytechnic Institution, it was the first polytechnic to open in London. The Polytechnic formally received a Royal charter in Augu ...

is named in his honour and holds his archive.

Selected publications

* Lock, M. (1943) Civic diagnosis: a blitzed city analysed, Housing Centre/Hull Regional Survey, Hull * Lock, M. (ed.) (1946), The County Borough of Middlesbrough: Survey and Plan, The Middlesbrough Corporation, Middlesbrough * Lock, M. (1967)

Kaduna Kaduna is the capital city of Kaduna State, and the former political capital of Northern Nigeria. It is located in north-western Nigeria, on the Kaduna River. It is a trade Centre and a major transportation hub as the gateway to northern Nig ...

, 1917, 1967, 2017. A survey and plan of the capital territory for the government of Northern Nigeria, Faber and Faber, London

References

External links

biography at Max Lock Centre, University of WestminsterMax Lock exhibition
1909 births 1988 deaths British urban planners {{UK-business-bio-stub