Celebrating Michael Edwards

Dear Michael,
I was deeply shocked and saddened to hear the news of your passing. It was hard to believe. Just one day before hearing the news, I was speaking with a prospective student and telling him how wonderful you were. I encouraged the student to get involved with Just Space as a volunteer when he joins BSP this September and shared how much of an inspiration you had been to so many students. I still fondly remember our conversations during the Welcome Boat Trip last year, and I will greatly miss your thoughtful questions at CPRG seminars. Your passion, generosity, and kindness will always be remembered. R.I.P.

Michael was one of the first Bartlett School of Planning academics to introduce himself to me when I joined the department. I was so grateful to see a friendly face and hear enthusiastic support for my research as I sat alone trying to figure out how I was ever going to get through the 14 MSc dissertations I had been assigned to mark. It was only later that I learnt of Michael’s own interests. I will miss Michael’s kindly presence, energetic enthusiasms and collegiality. I hope that all the wonderful things he inspired will grow into the socially just world that he imagined.

Meeting Michael and interacting with him at INURA spaces was always a moment of celebration, learning, and commitment for me, a commitment for a good, just, empathetic, and supportive life. I am grateful to life for having met him.

I met Michael though his work with Just Space. His knowledge, warmth, deep commitment to change and his ability to be challenged was rare and deeply appreciated. You will be so missed, Michael, but the struggle will continue, all the better and stronger for having had you with us.
La lucha continua. Venceremos!

Soon after we formed Morning Lane People's Space (MOPS) in 2020 we made contact with Michael. He rapidly saw the wider importance of our campaign to get a development in central Hackney that the community both wanted and felt a part of. By introducing us to Just space and UCL, Michael aligned us with other community campaigns over development and local democracy. Attending some of our public events and sessions with UCL students, he gave us invaluable advice on the specific issues of the Morning Lane site. As a friend, supporter, mentor and adviser we shall miss his knowledge warmth and commitment.

An indomitable spirit, role model and comrade. When we were PhD students, you were at the heart of the esprit de corps, encouraging and enabling. As a colleague, you were always there, whether to give friendly advice, or ask wry, perspicacious questions. You will be much missed, but something of your spirit will live on in everyone you inspired.

Dear Michael,
I feel truly fortunate to have met you. You are an example of what an academic should be and a great inspiration to so many of us. I deeply admire your wit, your generosity towards everyone - especially students and colleagues - , your commitment to social justice, and your engagement with the life of the school and of London. You are one of the greats, and your legacy will endure.
I will miss you.

Michael just was The Bartlett School of Planning to me. As a PhD student over at LSE, I attended The Bartlett Summer School about the production of the built environment in the early 1980s. It was a revelation. The level of academic discussion! The sheer interest in difficult questions! The posing of new questions! It included a tour of the Docklands led by Ted Johns, one of Michael's many connections in the world of planning activism. Then when I came to UCL, Michael was the enthusiastic face of welcome. He never lost his sense of urgency inquiry and for that he was unparalleled. He was and remains a shining beacon in planning studies..

For Michael. We are so grateful for your experience and counsel, which will be sorely missed. Your reassuring presence and independence of thought have long been a guiding light for so many of us fighting together for planning justice, as we try to make sense of the changes to our city and the growing impacts of financialisation. You've left behind a powerful legacy, which will have such a lasting impact on Latin Elephant and on our friends and allies. We are immensely grateful for everything you have contributed.

I feel incredibly privileged to have engaged with Michael during my MSc thesis. He was a wonderful mentor, extremely curious, and ever so encouraging. I am honoured to have got to know King’s Cross through his reflections, and to have been inspired by the beautiful entanglement of academia and activism that he embodied.

I will miss you so much Michael Edwards. You and I were friends for thirty years and we collaborated so well in opposing poor planning policies.

One of your generous acts and a prime example of your responsive nature was In January this year when the London Forum of Amenity and Civic Societies could not find a venue it could afford for a conference with the Deputy Mayor and the Head of the London Plan team on housing in London.

You offered us a conference room at UCL for which we were very grateful.

Your comments on the draft replacement London Plan, if you were still with us, would have been so helpful.

Remembering Michael with greatest fondness.

Michael was a dear friend, mentor, inspiration, collaborator, fellow thinker and teacher to me for more than 20 years. I am so sad that he is no longer in the world, but also so very grateful for the truly extraordinary impact he had on the lives of so many. I will forever remember his gentle blinking as he considered an idea deeply before responding with care and grace. Michael was warm and wise in exactly the ways that made you feel both held and encouraged to stretch. His commitment to his city, his community, his discipline, his students and colleagues, and his comrades in various urban struggles will continue to be a guiding inspiration in my own work. I recall when I started to really get to know who Michael was, having been around him and watching him work over a few years, realising that he was exactly the kind of scholar and teacher I wanted to be too. I am so grateful to you Michael and already miss you.

Thank you so much Michael Edwards for your scholarly contribution to spatial planning and practice. Your lectures during the IMSDP will be remembered. Your thoughts and works will always live on as we continue to use them in our training sessions.
Them that write, do not die.
Rest in peace dear comrade.

Dear Michael
Thank you very much for helping us to build up INURA, for explaining us London and for introducing us into the resistance against Kings X.

Dear Michael,
It is no surprise to see such a flood of letters to you at this time. You have marked so many lives, including mine - thank you for all the wisdom you have so effortlessly shared through your relentless work around strategic planning issues. You always managed to combine a commitment to the centrality of local communities with a comprehensive solid academic, yet approachable, analysis and approach to solutions.
A recurring theme in all these tributes to you is how you have been an inspiration to people and changed so many lives.
In return I expect that the work that your friends go on to do in your image will become the most powerful and lasting legacy that anyone could wish for. You deserve it.

Dear Michael you will be so missed as as a friend a teacher and comrade in our many battles over planning and development. You and I share a birthdate and much more and go back a long way. RIP dear michael

Mighty Michael a lodestone of love.

Quietly you attracted and encouraged ideas and action in so many people. You brought us together and gently guided us - pointing out paths through seemingly impassible terrain. You nurtured tiny seeds of resistance, scattered across London - building our collective power. Your voice will echo through time through all those who knew you and your work.

I am so sad that you will not be with us anymore.

Michael was my MSc supervisor and one of the people who opened the door to academia for me. He did so with generosity, humor, and wisdom. He showed us what engaged and critical scholarship can look like. I am deeply grateful to have crossed his path.

This is tragic news - and so sudden. Michael and I were friends and allies for such a long time - back to the days of Kings Cross and the Regent Quarter. He achieved so much and will be so sorely missed - his energy, his leadership.

Much love from Jeannie Burnett

Michael was a constant critical friend of the LSE London group, when I worked there. His presence and input as a scholar-activist were hugely valuable to that forum of debate. He brought a wealth of London and planning knowledge, but also genuine curiosity, kindness and respect to spaces that could be otherwise. He embodied a way of being in academia - and it’s connected circles- that many of us aspire to achieve. I’m lucky to have crossed paths.

Dear Michael, you possess a great capacity for generating theory for social transformation and a great capacity for participating in concrete struggles—like a true Marxist, like a true comrade. You are a fundamental figure for the International Network for Urban Research and Action, which could not exist without your ability to build networks, relationships, friendships, and bonds of affection. You embody the concrete relationship between theory and action. How often within INURA have we used your practices to explain what the positive relationship between theory and action can be? I thank you for everything and send you all my love. Marvi Maggio (INURA Firenze)

Dear Michael, Thank you for fighting the good fight! From first meeting you through INURA to being part of the CITY collective, you always showed up with enthusiasm and clarity of purpose. We've learnt so much from you.

Dear Michael
My thoughts are with you. They are full of gratefulness and appreciation, respect and affection.
You are a great friend, a great person who likes to share and who likes to support and assist others. You always enjoyed seeing your students and fellows thrive and succeed. That’s what I always felt when I was around you. You are always a kind and intelligent man, someone to look up to, someone everyone (at least that I know) respects and likes listening to.
I wouldn’t be where I am without you. You were of crucial importance for me becoming a) an academic and b) a political person. For me you are a role model. You always supported me. Without imposing anything on me but just by pointing things out, asking the right questions, remarking and commenting the right things at the right time. Connecting me with other intelligent, friendly, kind people.
Thanks for everything you did for me, for INURA, London and your students from all around the world.

Dear Michael
I met you, I think, in 1976. Since then you have been a true friend and colleague: sympathetic and wise. I greatly value all the support you have shown me and am grateful for the times we have been able to work together. My love to you and to Sue and Ossie. Christine joins me - she remembers with pleasure meeting you last year.

You have been a wonderful and trusted colleague for over fifty years, always ready with fresh and unusual insights. I miss you.

Dear Michael, thank you for all you did to make the world, especially London, a better place. Thank you for creating our book, King's Cross from Below, to be published later this year. I hope those of us left to finish the work will make it a fitting memorial for you.

Thank you so much for everything you have done for all the HEAR Network members with your huge knowledge and wisdom

Dear Michael, my thoughts are with you. Hoping that things could turn positively.

Dear Michael

Back in 2005, you gave me the opportunity to be community planner for the KX Railway Lands Group, a journey that led to Just Space and many other experiences. Thank you for opening the door for me, as you did for many community activists.

Dear MICHAEL, I just want to put on record my appreciation for your very long-standing support and contribution to the london PLANNING and Development Forum which I have chaired since 1990. For much of that period you have contributed thoughtfully to our lively quarterly debates, and have also kindly hosted the Forum at UCL on several occasions, even finding resources for the tea and biscuits! Thoughts are with you.
BRIAN

Michael you’ve been such an inspiration - fighting on for what you believe in with optimism and humour. Sending much love, you’re in my thoughts

Michael was my only source of inspiration during a difficult period of my PhD, and I always felt honoured to know him, learn from him, and learn about his politics. Remember all of the good times and days in Leuven, our reading group at Pancras Square Library, and Hackney Central. Sending lots of love...

So grateful for all the knowledge, care and love he has given to us, our students, our friends, members of the networks he participated in.
One of the most empathic and pedagogical teachers I ever met.

So very sorry to hear this about Michael. His contribution to urban planning issues has been invaluable

I’m not sure where we first met, but you were clearly a kindred spirit and were subsequently very patient in listening and exploring ideas over the last ten years while I have been at UCL. You will be missed

Michael Edwards is a real teacher, in the true sense.

I saw him a few weeks ago. It's hard to imagine him not being here.

Thank you Michael for holding and sharing knowledge.

My first experience of Michael was of him narrating a boat tour for new BSP students along the river Thames. As we navigated the choppy waters, near-blinded by the glimmering skyscrapers of Vauxhall / Battersea, he critiqued the past half-century of neoliberal urbanism in the capital with endearingly unflinching sarcasm. Having supported with updating the EstateWatch website, I was to find him direct, meticulous, and energetic, with we students struggling to keep up! You got the sense that he'd seen it all before, knew what needed doing, and would roll up his sleeves to get the job done whether you helped out or not.

Michael was a legendary figure of London's urban counter-narrative, an uncompromising hero of the city "beyond the brackets". He was a staunchly critical voice in the face of the boosterist nonsense that has done so much to erode this city's character. Through his work at the Bartlett, his intellectual children are everywhere: We are all Edwardians now!

I am sending all love to Michael - thank you for all the wonderful work, expertise and support all the time I have known you. Thank you and love.

Dear Michael, we have known each other for more than 20 years thanks to Inura and it took me over a month to say something in this platform. Because even if we do not meet, or see each other -if not once a year for INURA annual meeting- I know you were there, inside our online email exchanges, part of our discussions over time, present in spirit in many different struggles in and outside London. You have been a source of inspiration, respect and support to many of us and I had often found myself thinking: “If Michael cares, then it must really be worth and “we” are not alone.”
I will keep the memory of you as an elegant being and mind, gentle, never tired of being supportive, intellectually curious, and deeply engaged. You will be sorely missed and I will miss so much your personal and simple emails to me, which so often ended with “Love, Michael.”
Love to you Michael, rest in peace.

Thank you Michael for being an inspiration to not only me but all the students passing through the Bartlett; helping show me what being an inquisitive and academic and activist meant. When I was struggling with my masters thesis you were generous with your advice and time, even though we had barely spoken before. It is deeply heartening to see how many lives you touched and people you helped.

My last conversation with Michael was about Marxist interpretations of inner city policy (we were in favour 😉). He never lost his passion for social justice or his enthusiasm for making cities better for everyone. An ornament to the BSP and a fount of knowledge on urbanism and social progress. Irreplaceable and already much missed.

I last saw Michael in the July heatwave when he attended our Everyday Economies public event. It was so hot, there was no air conditioning, but Michael was there from the first presentation to the last workshop ending at 4.30pm. By this stage, he was struggling to project his voice, but that didn’t stop him offering his usual insightful gems. I’m grateful that I saw him and we hugged at the end of that day. Michael was one of the first senior members of staff at the BSP to welcome me to Wates House when I started my PhD in 2006. He was one of the few academics in planning who really understood the economy, and he used that knowledge to tirelessly lobby and carefully educate. He had a way of making you and your knowledge/contribution feel valuable no matter your experience or background. His humble approach in the classroom encouraged genuine debate between students, where everyone's opinion was valued. He remains an inspiration even now he has departed. Will miss you, Michael.

It is clear from the many kind words written about Michael's life that his heart was in the right place, and I can only reinforce that from my own experience in person and from social media. He always had his eye on the least fortunate and their circumstances with a view to helping in whatever way was in his power.

Michael was good to me over the years with information and encouragement through various times and forums. He found time to attend the Cressingham Gardens Question Time back in 2014 in support of its continued existence, which it does, thanks to his and others support.

His writing was excellent and he was able to combine the passion and depth of his social beliefs with his planning knowledge in a way that is well worth reading.

The man I knew was kind, caring, helpful, encouraging, and knowledgable. He will be greatly missed.

Dear Michael, I admired your limitless energy, determination, open-mindedness, and curiosity, which nourished our conversations about justice and degrowth. I am incredibly grateful to have met you. You be deeply missed, but you will continue to live on as a source of inspiration and knowledge.

An inspiration to activists, academics and many others. Your work, research and commitment to social and spatial justice will continue to guide many of us. I met you as an activist through Just Space and words can't express how much l valued your input and advice. Your approach, knowledge and learnings inspired the work I went on to do with Latin Elephant. I joined Just Space at a crucial time in my academic journey and your openness to sharing knowledge had a long lasting impact in my research and work with communities. The news of your passing came whilst I was away and I could not bring myself to writing this until now. Many shared instances, meetings, images, moments came to mind, too many to be able to sum up here. One thing I do know is that your legacy will live on as someone who deeply cared for social justice.

Michael, you have been an inspiration to so many. Your commitment to sharing your knowledge and expertise has been exemplary, applying your intellectual and critical skills to support those struggling for social justice. Your have always been kind but challenging in such helpful ways. It was a pleasure to work with you, exploring different approaches, to the continuing relevance of key theorists, intellectually critical but always deeply rooted in your commitment to principles of social justice. Your guidance will be sorely missed. I shall also miss your humour and generosity of spirit. Rest in peace.

I have always admired Michael's unwavering determination to engage deeply with the things that mattered, and to ask the difficult questions, however challenging or uncomfortable they might be.
To me, he embodied what it means to truly care about planning.
Thank you for everything, Michael. Barttlet will not be the same without you.

I met Michael during the EMSDP (2009), through my PhD supervisor, Em. Prof. Frank Moulaert. Michael was a very gentle teacher who was willing to share his knowledge with those who had an interest. I am very grateful to have met him.
May his family and all who knew him experience great peace and comfort during this time and beyond.
May his soul rest in peace.

I feel fortunate to have known Michael. I met him many times during my early-career research stay at the Bartlett School of Planning in 2014, and again in online seminars afterward. Michael had a remarkable ability to make people feel seen and valued, and his support for students and early-career scholars was always generous, warm, and encouraging. When you were around him, you could immediately tell how much his colleagues and students appreciated and respected him. Michael's political passion and commitment to community engagement, critical thinking, and intellectual growth in general were greatly inspiring and left a lasting impression on me. It breaks my heart that he is no longer here. I will always remember his gentle kindness and attentive curiosity.

Rest in peace, dear Michael.

Dear Michael,
Thank you for all your feedback and support in promoting the work of the Friends of Regent's Canal over the past decade. Although we met only twice you have always been my go-to person for planning issues in London. I will really miss you.

Michael offered me opportunities at UCL and Just Space, which was almost impossible to access coming from a council estate, eldest of 7 to a teen mum. I'd studied with the OU. Michael treated me the same as his colleagues, friends and students. After doing a piece of work, it would take time to process and Michael offered to give me money up front if I needed it. He asked me to join him to share research findings with the late Frank Dobson MP at a coffee shop in Russell Square. Michael met me and bought me a coffee before Frank and his assistant arrived, made sure I was comfortable and reassured me with a knowing smile that Frank was quite a talker. True, Frank was full of stories. A cherished memory. Michael also asked me to join Robin and Richard in the staff area of UCL for a Just Space meeting and was treated to fish and chips.
Michael was so driven by injustice, but what struck me was his genuine care for people, his kindness and generosity.

I'm crushed.

Michael emailed less than two months ago that INURA "has been so formative and sustaining for me" that he was sorry to have missed this year and last. Of course, I've missed INURA, and him, many more times than that.

Michael was such a good friend, such a wise and kind man, always warm and welcoming, insightful and encouraging. His unique style of non-judgemental critique is something I've attempted to emulate. I'm still working on it.

I am forever grateful to have known him.

Michael, you are a Gentle man, I have only got to know you recently but what an impact you have had on me! I would have loved to have been taught by you. The work you have done with Just Space and Estate Watch is immense. But it is your humanity, the glue binding so many strands together and your strategic thinking that has kept us going in difficult times.
You have touched the lives of so many people for the better, including me!
I last spoke to you when you had learned that I was unwell and called me to offer support and understanding. This was about TWO WEEKS AGO!
You were very supportive, calm and loving.
Thank you Michael, I will miss you.

Even the skies seem unable to hold back their tears today. Michael’s passing is an immense loss to the community and to the world. I will always remember his joyful militancy and boundless enthusiasm.

Dear Michael,
Thank you for explaining us London.

Thinking of you Micheal - you have been an inspiration in so many ways. Your commitment to social justice and community led planning. The work with Just Space and others has been amazing and profoundly important both professionally and as social solidarity - appreciated beyond what words can express

I first met Michael ten years ago during the INURA Bucharest city walk; interested and caring, and oh so brilliant, we began conversations that lasted many years. He encouraged me so much to keep connecting the urban and the political-historical, he brought me over year after year to speak his students at UCL, he helped our Bucharest struggles with great advice. He was a constant inspiration and such a good spirit. I have missed him tons the last year, and I am so sad there was no moment to say goodbye and tell him how much I treasure him. You will live through all the people whom you have inspired and touched, thank you Michael!

Dear Michael,
I didn't get to know you very closely. But the time I spent with you, allowed me to immediatly recognise your kindness, your friendly, good humour and your rigorous and critical commitment to socially just spatial planning. Unquestionably, a warm, nice and very good person, as well as an inspiring academic. I am deeply grateful to have had the opportunity to meet you, Michael.

Dear Michael,

I first got to know you throughout the 1990's when I worked both as the part time Planning Worker for KXRLG and part time Lecturer at the Bartlett. Most recently I have enjoyed working under your expert guidance on a book entitled "Kings Cross from below". Your choice of this title and subject neatly sums up what I most valued in you both as a hugely respected academic and an extremely effective community activist .

What a life ! What a legacy !

I will remember , and miss you .

Entering the late summer,
crops begin to ripen,
waters become colder,
Michael crosses the River Styx:
from a boat moving slowly forward,
he bids farewell to a better world,
illuminated by his presence,
which has blessed our existence.
And all we feel is the warmth of love.

Mulțumesc, Michael, drum bun în lumină!

Dear Michael,
I will always cherish the memory of sitting together with you at the INURA conference. The memories I talk and share with you are so precious that I will always hold in my heart. Thank you for your smile, inspiration and great teaching. Your spirit will always be with me. With love,

Dearest Michael,
I'm so grateful that I met you as a teacher, a friend, an activist, always hopeful against the odds and working towards making this world a better and just place for all. An inspiration for so many of us and a guiding light in our lives. My thoughts and love are with you and your family.

Michael is the model of an engaged academic, using his encyclopaedic knowledge of his subject, and of London, to improve the city he loves. He has been an inspiration to generations of students but equally to academics and activists interested in housing and London. A familiar presence at LSE London seminars, Michael was known for the thoughtfulness and erudition of his contributions. But his most important qualities are his warmth, humour and kindness and the respect he extends even to those with whom he profoundly disagrees. We will miss him very much.

I am devastated by this news. Michael taught me in my Masters degree, was my PhD supervisor and throughout and ever since been probably the greatest inspiration to me. He was typically the only one in the room making sense.

Despite the many injustices, frustrations and disappointments of our world, he was always directed towards working with others on whatever small or larger action or endeavour was possible and meaningful.

He made time for all students and colleagues and collaborators, endlessly generous and open in sharing ideas and initiatives together. When I first met him and participated in several INURA gatherings, he was by then already (twice?) retired yet invariably the last up. Even until just a few weeks ago he has remained the most reliable participant in departmental events and gatherings at UCL.

Michael shared his knowledge in so many ways and I am so glad we will have the opportunity to collect together our reflections and experiences substantively.

With love

Michael,

Your work rooted itself in community engagement. You bothered to understand people's actual experiences at the hands of our planning system and allowed this understanding to inform your vision of what better planning and building regulations could and should be. In having done this, you are extraordinary.

The Refurbish Don't Demolish network thanks you for your commitment to our communities as well as our environment and salutes your hopeful dedication to this work. It is our privilege to have come to know you and your work.

Refurbish Don't Demolish

Dear Michael, you were a prime example of the cadre of Northampton born economists and planners who were inspired by the experience of life in a new town to dedicate their lives to providing better homes and richer environments for all. Your care, knowledge and commitment will be much missed.

Dear Michael , what an inspiration you are and what a legacy you leave. It was over 40 years since you brought a group of students to Docklands where I was working as a community planner. Since then I have never ceased to be amazed by your unwavering commitment to creating cities based on social economic and environmental justice, your energy, your ability to sum up what is really going on succinctly and accessibly and your generosity with your time, humour and ideas in supporting groups and people. You are a truly original thinker, challenging not just ‘the system’ but making me among others rethink my ideas and ways of doing things.. When I became a planning academic it was your approach to placing people, equity and communities at the heart of planning education that was my lodestar, as I am sure it was for many others. Plus one of those students you brought with you to Docklands ended up being my life partner so I have that to thank you for too!!

Dear Michael, thank you for being an inspirational teacher, PhD supervisor, activist and tireless advocate for social justice and better cities for all. I would not be the academic I am today without your kind guidance and trust during a long PhD journey, nearly 30 years ago. I am sending you much love and warm thoughts. Merci pour tout! You are a role model.

Dear Michael,
I am so so sad to hear this news. I feel so super priviliged to have known you. I first remember meeting you in the 1980's where you came to the Docklands Forum meeting to talk about the Kings Cross Development Campaign. Across your career and campaigning you stayed true to that fight against gentrification, always advocating for socially just approaches to regeneration. More recently we connected again around the Olympic Park and your support for a community led housing and employment inclusion zone on the park - Your interest, passion and support made such a massive difference, and you have made such a massive difference to so many. Sending love.

Deeply saddened at the prospect of losing a fine planning mind, a great friend to London’s diverse communities and a very decent man. On paper some might have seen us as coming from quite different ends of the planning spectrum but he worked to try and resolve local v strategic professional differences and in private was a good fiend

My dearest Michael, as your student, my mentor and everlasting friend. I owe everything to you... how I think view things and commited myelf in education and life. I wish l could see you and discuss as we kept doing for all these years. You have devoted your life to your students and all those in need. In fact I belive that your sharp mind and intelectual genious was donated to them leaving only a tiny part to yourself. Endless things to say..never forget you brief notes that were in essence a thesis to us and kept us going for years. Big big hug to Sue, Daisy and Osie.

Since our first meeting in 2001, when he generously hosted me at UCL, Michael has been a lasting influence. His enduring commitment to engaged, critical, and just urban planning and practice has set him apart. He has bridged academic rigour with a deep dedication to social and spatial justice. His publications and blog remain an invaluable resource for students and colleagues. I am deeply grateful to Michael for the lasting example he sets as a thinker, teacher, and advocate for a fairer city

Dear Michael,
I was deeply saddened to hear that you are seriously ill. I want to tell you how profoundly grateful I am for everything you have meant to me, not only as a scholar but as a human being. I first met you in 1997, at an LSE seminar with you and Doreen Massey. What impressed me most was the authenticity with which you lived your ideas. Your scholarship, humility, openness and unassuming presence all reflected the values you believed in. Your commitment to civil society, your engagement with Just Space have inspired me deeply and encouraged me to imagine more just and caring forms of urban life. As one of my PhD examiners, your generosity and confidence in my work meant more than you realised and has guided me whenever I have examined doctoral theses. You have been an inspiring teacher, a generous colleague and a remarkable friend. My thoughts are with you and your family.
(long version attached)

I'm conscious and very appreciative of Michael 'quietly' giving so much to Just Space organisation - and recently happily discovered treasure in his blog writing! I now understand Michael's being absent from recent Leigh Street meeting; an irreplaceable person giving so much, for whom very many thanks! I am thanking you, Michael.

Extraordinarily boundless depths of knowledge, wisdom, wit, thoughtfulness, humour, energy, sarcasm, kindness, imagination, sanguinity, practical helpfulness - but shot through everything is love

Michael you have been an independent and challenging voice, much needed in planning, for the whole of my career. Your presence at an event, seminar or meeting would always ensure a good question that contributed to the debate. I have also valued your help and support in practical ways. Your contribution has been much valued

Dear Michael,
You have been such an inspiration to so many of us. I feel privileged to have had the experience of working with you. Thanks for showing us that our work at the university should engage with social justice and campaigning. Sending you my best wishes.

Someone said that there are two types of musicians, those who play music for you to listen to themselves, and others who play music for you to listen to the music itself. There are also activists who want the world to be saved. And others who want that THEY save the world. And people who are good to be admired, and others who are good to do good. Michael, for me, was this type of person, who was good in a way that praises good itself, and motivates you to be good also. And this is what I will try in order to honor him.

Michael was everything we could wish for in a teacher: a thoughtful, careful listener, generous with his time and ideas, knowledgeable and wise, yet challenging and robust when needed. Intent on encouraging enthusiastic yet raw students, he inspired us to think hard and aim for positive, practical action.
His fierce sense of fairness and social justice shone through his community activities and commitment to critical campaigns and groups such as Just Space. He showed us that planning is nothing without understanding people and politics and knowing how to get things done with compassion and humour. As my PhD examiner, he made the experience as positive as it could possibly have been.
Thank you, Michael. Your wisdom, generosity and unwavering commitment to social justice will continue to inspire us and to shape the way we think and act.

Dear Michael, Our paths didn't cross in 1969, when the Bartlett was under the Slade in the UCL quadrangle. Much later, it has been a privilege to record your clear, concise and wise contributions in Higbury Group meetings.

Michael was an inspiration to me in so many ways. He was able to connect abstract academic frameworks and debates to real-life urban issues and grassroots urbanism in a unique manner. He was extremely generous to me over many years, always offering advice and support. In 2018 he very kindly took me on a tour of the Central Stepney SRB area in east London which was a special highlight for me. On it, I learnt so much from him about the complexities of regeneration and especially on who benefits and who doesn't. And he was also a lovely warm human being.

Michael argued for interdisciplinary built-environment education that asked people to think critically rather than ‘passively adopting a predetermined mindset’. That was also how I experienced him as my PhD supervisor. My research used ethnography and visual methods to challenge the idea of a ‘creative class’ by looking at how different creative people worked, networked and used cities. Michael supported that non-standard approach and, when others questioned it, never tried to make it safer or more conventional. He focused on the ideas, trusted me to work them through, and always found time to talk, over coffee or even a social drink. I understand his support differently now that I understand myself as neurodivergent. Michael did not treat my way of thinking as something that needed correcting. He helped me turn it into a way of researching and gave me confidence that thinking differently could be useful. I am very grateful for that, and very lucky he was my supervisor.

I first met Michael when I started working at UCL in 2009 when I was appointed to the lectureship created by him formally retiring. I say formally because he continued to be a huge part of life at the Bartlett School of Planning post-retirement, engaging in teaching, research and in particularly community focussed work. It was always a pleasure to have him join staff meetings, seminars and research cluster meetings, which he did right up to this summer, offering insightful and supportive reflections and thought-provoking interventions. After so many years it will be strange being at UCL and the Bartlett without Michael being around but he leaves an enormous legacy.

I remember starting at UCL as a fresh-faced young academic. On one of my first days, Michael came up to me and said, “I am going for an interview at the Kings Cross Partnership. Would you like to come along?” Knowing no better, I said yes. We trooped down to their offices and, half an hour later, I found myself answering questions about how we would conduct a longitudinal evaluation of the regeneration. Something must have gone right (mainly down to Michael), as we got the contract. While I never worked on the project (not my thing at the time), the experience demonstrated Michael’s absolute trust in others, his inclusive approach to work and life, and his support for younger colleagues. We later worked together on a project examining the Value of Urban Design. Also initially well outside of my comfort zone, having Michael on board gave me the confidence to try. Over time, the topic became a major strand of my own research career. Michael touched so many lives. He will be sorely missed

Dear Michael
I was eagerly waiting for our lunch date, so news of your passing came as a devastating shock. I deeply regret not holding your hand tighter or hugging you warm when we last met in June.
You looked so healthy, passionately discussing your upcoming book and attending community meetings, that I believed you almost overcome your illness. One of the reasons of coming to London on sabbatical was meant to see you a few more times, making this sudden loss even harder to accept.
I will never forget your grace 22 years ago-warmly welcoming me who wanted to pursue a Ph.D. on Marx's land rent theory and organising Marx Reading Group for Capital Volume 3 just for a young Ph.D. student. Watching you fight for housing rights alongside local residents bridged academia and reality to me, making you an irreplaceable role model.
Michael, I believe you are living as brightly and passionately up in heaven as you always did here. When we meet again someday, I will give you the tightest hug.

It's been a shock to hear about sudden passing of Michael even though for some months he had been ill and yet coming to meetings and working away on projects with seemingly just as much energy as always. From the first time I met him probably on my first day at the Bartlett I have been inspired and encouraged by his quiet wisdom, clear thinking, forceful energy and inquiring mind. His approach to teaching has been through inquriy and learning from what is happening around us in London and beyond. He has been an inspirational teacher, collaborator and friend - in whose presence I always felt the possibility of new ideas, ongoing reflections and constant challenge to align passion intellect inquiry and activism in new ways.

What a loss for Michael's Greek friends... His unforgettable presence in Greek islands where we organized summer "Seminars of the Aegean" will always remain with us, in articles coming from the proceedings, in photos, but especially in discussions between lectures, where his advice followed our steps in academia. Michael's modesty despite his great importance as a planner, a professor, an intellectual, also set an example. RIP, Michael Edwards, solidarity to your family...

It is rare to meet scholars who breathe, live and act their scholarship, and who remain warm and wonderful human beings. Michael Edwards belongs to this rare species. Thank you Michael for the trails you blazed for us all, and for the ethos you taught us to live by.

Dear Micheal ,

Although I only got the privilege to get to know you over the last few years - mainly through our meetings for the book , ‘Kings Cross from Below’ . Appreciating your hard work in organising the team and working Group in its conception- Admiring your deep knowledge and commitment to the project. Also the way in which you had engaged the communities around Kings Cross - bringing us together in voicing our journey as a community , yet distinctive perspectives for all resident participants and groups engaged .

Your collaborative spirit has left a lasting impression on me and everyone involved. Being a wonderful academic with your contributions to the field and the community will be greatly missed - though your legacy will live on through this book and all the lives you have touched throughout your own.

My thoughts go out to your family, friends and colleagues at this sad time - sending much love and strength to all 🙏
Vijya

Cally Traders

AUM

Dear Michael. I remember you for so many things. For your warmth, kindness and above all generosity in an ungenerous academic world. For your real curiosity and openness. You were one of the few people in this country to show real interest in all the Right to the City activism and work we had done in the US, to make me feel as though it was worth something and could be of use here as I tried to find a way in this new place that really doesn't welcome strangers. But above all I loved that for you the point of academia was always to know the world in order to change it. And you did that tirelessly and without ego. And so your work can be measured in concrete, material things that have actually made lives better as much as the generous support and care you gave to everyone. And all lightened with that smile! I loved working with you at City, and continue to practice what I learned from you every day to leave this world a better place. As you did. I will miss you.

So sad to hear that Michael is not with us anymore. His friendly, curious and empathic character will stay with me as a souvenir.
In the early days (when he was running BIS) we shared a curiosity into the structure and finances of the building and development industry. Later he showed me how planning instruments could be used to bring forward (some) more social justice. He was a champion networker, referring his students to his many contacts.
We met at INURA conferences, where we sometimes shared a room. I remember him, his head slightly inclined (in later years with a hand behand his ear), summarizing a statement or putting the right clarifying question. A great intellectual and teacher with a panoramic knowledge.
A great friend has gone.

Dear Michael,
It isn't just the formal words we use to celebrate your life, but that your use of those words always rested on loving others . . . that whatever we call "community" rests on the base of loving and giving.

Caro Michael,
Your warm smile and inspiring words the first time you greeted me 30 years ago have stayed with me ever since, and they always brought light to my path. In fact, I originally stayed in academia and at bsp because of you.
Thank you for guidong and supporting nit just my PhD, but the way i look at the world. Your immense generosity help me understand it better; your wittiness, profound humanity and deep sense of justice were an inspiration every day. I am endlessly grateful for the long and short chats, walks and field trips, the sharp insights, and unwavering encouragement. Your legacy lives on in everyone who was lucky enough to cross path with you. I miss you deeply.

Michael, I learned a lot from your interventions during INURA conferences. I remember in particular the experiences you shared during the Havana conference. Your long term experience with planning, real estate markets and urban activism was invaluable. Thank you for sharing your insights so generously.

Dear Michael,
We met some 23 years ago in NewCastle, as I was one of the students backthen in the EMSDP Module, I really benefited alot from your lectures, and discussions. You were such a polite and open minded professor. I really wished we could have met again.
Now I learned about the Sad news and my thoughts are with your family.
Thank you for your sharing your knowledge and for being such a noble human.

Poem for Michael …

Love
dances and sings,
holding back nothing,

And, in silence
It moves

And, in stillness
it fills

each heart
to be still

giving and giving
no end to Love’s living.


Love
Steve Burak

How very sad. Michael has been an inspiration to all of us for his huge role in Just Space, in the discussions about democratising the last London Plan over 15 years ago, and locally in Haringey with the St Ann's Regeneration Trust. More recently, I was delighted to get to know him better as a neighbour when the family moved house. Sympathy and solidarity to all the relatives he leaves behind.

Dear Michael
Ever since I moved to this area I have valued your knowledge and insight. Working with you has been a pleasure and a privilege for me, most recently in contributing to King’s Cross From Below. Let’s hope that it helps to make London and other cities better.

Dear Michael,
Thank you for everything. You are such an inspiration and a beacon of light. Working with you and learning from you in the Kings Cross Railway Lands Group has been such a privilege. You gave us so much, to empower local people and put communities at the heart of planning. You brought people together. Dina’s photo captures you perfectly… listening intently. I have so many fond memories of you over the years and your huge generosity, expertise and awareness. It’s been a joy working with you again to contribute to Kings Cross from Below. You have made such a huge contribution to social justice and community, and your work is indeed legendary. Your radicalism and optimism have been so powerful. You are in my thoughts. I send love and best wishes to you and your family.

Michael opened my eyes to the hidden side of things, that of those oppressed and marginalized, and yet full of ideas and creativity. And, whatever the situation, he always and literally radiated encouragement, energy and positivity. A blessing! Thank you, Michael!

Dear Mike
I’ll always remember two things about you:-
Firstly your encouragement to us students to go and volunteer with community-based planning groups on the South Bank and Docklands in the 1980’s, to be active in current planning issues that affected the lives of these communities, and to make a difference at grass roots level.
And secondly your extraordinary pipe filling and tamping and lighting ritual which dictated the pace of all your lectures, intertwined with your soft voice, creating endless amusement and lots of space for lateral thinking. Thank you again!

Dear Michael,

I’m so grateful for your friendship and for the many years of working with and learning from you. A brilliant communicator with a passionate commitment to social justice, you have inspired many of us with your energetic and incisive teaching, courageous activism, and generous participation in university and community life. Sending you and your family my love – you are in my thoughts.

Dear Michael,
You've been the backbone of union activism in our Faculty eversince I arrived at UCL in the mid 1990s - always present with incisive and ethical critique of power structures, always present with kindness, warmth and humour, always there with fruitful suggestions for hopeful actions to come. I have learnt from you the most important thing - putting care for members first and building our struggles collectively. I will miss you very much; and thank for all you have given us. With love, gratitude and solidarity.

Michael, you have been such a good friend to me and I have loved spending time with you and working with you with tenants & communities across London. Your contributions to Just Space have been phenomenal. I have also loved following you on social media for years and communicating that way. Very sad news but you leave behind a tremendous legacy. Loretta xx

Michael, seeing you at a panel or a conference was always the highlight of the event for me, whether it was the incisive questions you asked or the conversation we'd have had afterwards. You have always been an inspiration to me and I will miss you greatly. Sending you all my love.

Dear Michael

Your generous contributions to the Network for Spatial Development Planning will always be remembered by so many. Your lectures, deep insights on difficult topics, friendly conversations, empathy, activism, warm suggestions and much more, are and will remain very dear to me.

With deep respect for you as a scientist, activist and human

When I said that I was representing the Just Space network, one of his former students replied
“Michael Edwards is a legend”.

Michael,

Your spirit, commitment, enthusiasm, and generosity will live on forever.
Go well.

Michael, dear friend, you use your great academic skills and knowledge, and enormous energy, to help ordinary Londoners, including me, to understand the plans that profoundly affect our lives. Thank you! Lots of love.

I have known Michael over the last fifteen years through the Highbury Group and the London Forum. His incisive and thoughtful contributions to discussions on housing and planning have always been an inspiration to me and many others. I particularly recall how he led debates about how housing in the UK should be more equitably distributed - recognising though that politically that objective was so difficult to achieve. A lovely man that I feel privileged to have known.

Dear Michael, You have often said nice things about my work, expressing amazement that I was a surveyor doing those things, and wished that more surveyors did and thought the same. Well, it was all your fault! Without your wisdom, encouragement, prodding, things might have been very different. Thank you for it all...but we never did sort out the missing bits of the story in your UCL review of the Central Stepney SRB in 1995...it can wait!
Stephen

Michael, I am trying to overcome the shock about your situation and want you to know that you have inspired many people from different generations of the need for planning and development policies to be based on meeting people's needs. You are a landmark figure in the field of housing, planning and community engagement. I will be referring to your work as part of a book I am co-editing about community-led development, but your leqacy is far broader and deeper than any one of us can summarise. My warmest thanks for everything you have done - and helped others to do.

You have been an inspiration to many of us. Your knowledge, experience and most of all your commitment have been invaluable.
Thinking of you