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Charles Wilson Regenerating Places - an Urban Panel Perspective
What we said in 2003
Charles Wilson Regenerating Places - an Urban Panel Perspective
•found Leicester to be a great historic city which could do much more to make that quality part of its very positive image;•considered that the damage done to the city by 1960s highway engineering was profound but that the willingness of all parties now to address the problem was heartening;•urged the partners to keep their nerve by confronting as soon as possible the problem of the ring road – the humanising of which is essential for the office core to work, for the riverside to come back to life, for All Saints to be reconnected and, above all else, for Leicester to perform to its full potential;•saw no merit in superimposing the concept of a retail circuit on the town centre but believed that the identified civic buildings do have the potential to house new uses which can reinforce the economic vitality of the centre;•endorsed the view of the public that the Market Place is the right place for the market but felt that increased flexibility [e.g. of stall layout] could help the market respond to changing circumstances;•raised grave concerns about the quality and nature of the proposed extension of the retail centre at Shires West and urged the city and development partners to redesign the scheme to take account of those concerns and thereby to create a truly quality expansion of the city’s retail offer;•welcomed the engagement of elected members in the regeneration process and accepted their invitation to discuss this paper with them.
What is the urban panel
� 10 years old
� multi-disciplinary membership
� established by CABE and English Heritage
� now supported by English Heritage
Charles Wilson Regenerating Places - an Urban Panel Perspective
Currently 17 panel members Panel members are unpaid but receive expenses – renewable 3 year term
� 4 architects
� 3 architect planners
� 3 engineers
� 2 historians
� 1 landscape architect
� 1 planner
� 1 member involved with community participation in design
� 1member involved with design management issues
� 1 property developer
Charles Wilson Regenerating Places - an Urban Panel Perspective
The Panel’s remit
Charles Wilson Regenerating Places - an Urban Panel Perspective
� engage with Government policy and best practice as it
relates to urban regeneration and the historic environment
� guide English Heritage on related urban issues
� provide useful strategic advice to public and private bodies
with an interest in places where significant changes to the
built environment are being planned
� Generally undertake four 2 day visits per year
How are visits organised ?
Charles Wilson Regenerating Places - an Urban Panel Perspective
� Receive detailed brief in advance
� Day 1Receive briefing from host
Visit area and relevant locations
Dine with participants and local decision makers /opinion formers
� Day 2Further visit/s
Open discussion with host
Closed panel session
� Report stageDiscuss with host at draft stage
Issue report
Where has the panel visited?
Charles Wilson Regenerating Places - an Urban Panel Perspective
� 2000: Bath/Bristol; Norwich; Newcastle; Walsall;
� 2001: Liverpool/Chester; Southampton; Lincoln; Sheffield; Nottingham;
� 2002: Exeter/Plymouth; Cornwall – Hayle, St Austell, Cornish Mining WHS bid;
� 2003: Blackpool/Preston; York; Gloucester; Leicester; Colchester;
� 2004: Stoke on Trent; Gateshead ; Brighton ;
� 2005: Swindon; Bradford; Black Country;
� 2006: Peterborough; Milton Keynes; Harlow; Letchworth;
� 2007: Hereford; Worcester; Dover/Folkestone; Liverpool/Wirral;
� 2008: Weymouth/Portland; Yarmouth/Lowestoft; Chatham;
� 2009: Margate; Luton; Coventry; Halifax;
� 2010: Torquay; Northampton;
� 2011: Gosport; Bishop's Stortford/Hitchin; Lincoln; Bournmouth;
What topics has the panel covered?
Charles Wilson Regenerating Places - an Urban Panel Perspective
Aim for 3 or 4 topics/issues per visit
�Many shopping schemes
�Masterplanning and town/city development topics
�Coastal town issues
�Post industrial regeneration
�New towns
�Heritage destinations
Starters for 10
Charles Wilson Regenerating Places - an Urban Panel Perspective
• What makes this place tick? Which institutions, industries or individualshave made it a distinctive place?
• Has its geography, geology or topography had a profound influence on its form? How?
• How well is it connected to other places and what influence does this have on it today?
• Which institutions, industries or individuals will drive the local economyover the next decade? If the answer to that is retail, where will the customers earn their living?
• Over the past decade has the population grown or shrunk, aged or got younger? Do you know why?
Starters for 10
Charles Wilson Regenerating Places - an Urban Panel Perspective
• The development and nature of town extends way beyond political time cycles. Encourage incremental long term thinking.
• Do local people/organisations have a role in informing decisions at key design stages? What do you see as the role of the community and voluntary sector in the success of the regeneration of your area?
• Resilience is a key characteristic of people who are good survivors and of sustainable places. How would you judge the level of resilience of your community and of your local built environment and infrastructure?
• Treasure and enhance the best of existing built and natural assets. Ignore green spaces at your peril.
• Thinking realistically about the answers, should you be planning for a future urban expansion or focussing on managing decline gracefully?
Images of Place
Charles Wilson Regenerating Places - an Urban Panel Perspective
J M Gandy & Soane
Images of Place
Charles Wilson Regenerating Places - an Urban Panel Perspective
Lancaster – traditional historic town
Images of Place
Charles Wilson Regenerating Places - an Urban Panel Perspective
Charles Wilson Regenerating Places - an Urban Panel Perspective
Images of Place
Hebden Bridge – Denis Thorpe
Charles Wilson Regenerating Places - an Urban Panel Perspective
Images of Place
Images of Place
Charles Wilson Regenerating Places - an Urban Panel Perspective
Image of place
Charles Wilson Regenerating Places - an Urban Panel Perspective
Basildon
[from Government New Town Publication]
Image of Place
Charles Wilson Regenerating Places - an Urban Panel Perspective
Not everything is timeless!
Charles Wilson Regenerating Places - an Urban Panel Perspective
Image of Place
Image of Place
Charles Wilson Regenerating Places - an Urban Panel Perspective
We must avoid developments that are
“designed for nowhere and found everywhere”
(Lord Falconer)
Quentin Hughes - Liverpool
Charles Wilson Regenerating Places - an Urban Panel Perspective
• As well as a sense of place, we need a sense of time history and perspective
Kurt Rowland
Charles Wilson Regenerating Places - an Urban Panel Perspective
The shape of Towns• “Industrially produced objects have a limited life and
are eventually [now rapidly] by new, more efficient objects, but the townscape by its very nature is slow to change. Any mistakes in its design are difficult to eradicate and may spell misery for a generation or more.What is worse they may through the damaging effect on the human organism so stifle or permanently distort the normal exercises of the senses that improvements are neither demanded nor initiated”
1966
Urban Panel Visits
Charles Wilson Regenerating Places - an Urban Panel Perspective
• Coventry
• Peterborough
Charles Wilson Regenerating Places - an Urban Panel Perspective
600 years
60 years
?Coventry – speed of change
Charles Wilson Regenerating Places - an Urban Panel Perspective
Charles Wilson Regenerating Places - an Urban Panel Perspective
Charles Wilson Regenerating Places - an Urban Panel Perspective
Charles Wilson Regenerating Places - an Urban Panel Perspective
Charles Wilson Regenerating Places - an Urban Panel Perspective
Charles Wilson Regenerating Places - an Urban Panel Perspective
Charles Wilson Regenerating Places - an Urban Panel Perspective
Charles Wilson Regenerating Places - an Urban Panel Perspective
Charles Wilson Regenerating Places - an Urban Panel Perspective
Charles Wilson Regenerating Places - an Urban Panel Perspective
Peterborough
Charles Wilson Regenerating Places - an Urban Panel Perspective
Poly-role place
Historic Town - Cathedral City – Market Town
Peterborough
Charles Wilson Regenerating Places - an Urban Panel Perspective
• Rapid population rise
1921 35,500
1961 62,300
1981 134,300
2001 157,400
• Between 1971 and 1991 Peterborough's population grew by 45.4%
• 1300 Houses per year up to 2021
Poly-role place
Also a New Town & a Growth Area
Peterborough
Charles Wilson Regenerating Places - an Urban Panel Perspective
A city where car is king
Peterborough
Charles Wilson Regenerating Places - an Urban Panel Perspective
And where shopping comes a close second
Visit summary
Charles Wilson Regenerating Places - an Urban Panel Perspective
• Issue 1
Cathedral Close
Oasis in heart of city
Permeability
Development potential
Lack of conservation plan
Visit summary
Charles Wilson Regenerating Places - an Urban Panel Perspective
• Issue 2
Lack of characterisation study to inform future
Visit summary
Charles Wilson Regenerating Places - an Urban Panel Perspective
• Issue 3
Shopping – dangers of monolithic obliteration
Visit summary
Charles Wilson Regenerating Places - an Urban Panel Perspective
Issue 4
Connectivity
Train station /multi storey car
parks / dual carriageway is the
barrier between centre and west
Peterborough
Visit summary
Charles Wilson Regenerating Places - an Urban Panel Perspective
Issue 5 Townships Hampton Township
Peterborough
Charles Wilson Regenerating Places - an Urban Panel Perspective
• Panel conclusions
• Recognised Peterborough at a critical stage• Admired the historic city core and visually dominant role of the cathedral• Acknowledged the growth area challenge, and the ambitions of PCC
• Advocated a reinforcement of relationship between cathedral & city informed by conservation plan• Recommended a characterisation study of the historic core and a refinement of the plans for shopping extensions• Urged a reconfiguration of the of the relationship between the City and Station, and strongly supported the need for a new Station
• Emphasised a need to create convincing urban entities and meet 21stC aspirations within the townships• Expressed support to PCC & URC in setting demanding requirements for future growth and stressed that pressures for rapid delivery should not deflect from wider appreciation of the place, its position within the New Towns Movement and the experience of the former development Corporation
Places are more than achieving housing targets
Charles Wilson Regenerating Places - an Urban Panel Perspective
• Dr. Liam Fox MP when objecting to the Bristol growth proposals likens 9,300 houses to the town of Clevedon. Perhaps an imprecise comparison, but startling nevertheless
•Clevedon, 9300 households, 22,000 population
•1 secondary school, 6 primary schools
•1 leisure centre, 1 swimming pool
•7 places of worship
•6 pubs
•3 supermarkets, 2 post offices, lots of shops
•9 restaurants, 14 places to stay
•1 hospital, 3 doctors’ surgeries, 3 dental surgeries, 4 vets practices
•1 library, 16 community meeting places, 1 youth club, 21 sporting and leisure clubs
•1 park, 1 pier, 150 allotments
•And around 100 bus stops
Charles Wilson Regenerating Places - an Urban Panel Perspective
1 Urban structure
2 Urban grain
3 Density and mix
4 Scale: height + massing
5 Building Type
6 Frontages
7 Details + materials
8 Public realm + landscape
What shapes places?
Urban Design Principles
Charles Wilson Regenerating Places - an Urban Panel Perspective
1 Character + distinctiveness
2 Continuity + enclosure
3 Quality of the public realm
4 Connectivity + permeability
5 Legibility + identity
6 Adaptability + robustness
7 Diversity + inclusiveness
8 Integration + efficiency
Charles Wilson Regenerating Places - an Urban Panel Perspective
Just a few
personal thoughts
to finish with....
We have to recognise it isn't that easy
Charles Wilson Regenerating Places - an Urban Panel Perspective
• pressure for outputs - pressure
of electoral cycles - pressure of
markets
• Responding to community
needs
• New planning regimes
• A need to adopt the best
solutions, and the rejection of
‘second best’
• A need to respond to the
‘genius locii’ of the area
• A real need to provide
leadership
We live in world of pressure
But we have to…..
Charles Wilson Regenerating Places - an Urban Panel Perspective
change aspirations
and raise ambition
&
expand capacity
Start making places like themselves not
like everywhere else!
Charles Wilson Regenerating Places - an Urban Panel Perspective
Or we get this….
Charles Wilson Regenerating Places - an Urban Panel Perspective
I have learnt from my mistakes and I am now able to repeat them almost
exactly
Peter Cook
We have to be making places for them
Charles Wilson Regenerating Places - an Urban Panel Perspective
It will mean creating places which belong…
Charles Wilson Regenerating Places - an Urban Panel Perspective
• Working with the grain
• Respecting the landscape
• Improving public realm
We hope they will be places which have joy
Charles Wilson Regenerating Places - an Urban Panel Perspective
…& use the landscape potential
Charles Wilson Regenerating Places - an Urban Panel Perspective
…and also think about public places
Charles Wilson Regenerating Places - an Urban Panel Perspective
Aiming for
this…. Not this…..
Charles Wilson Regenerating Places - an Urban Panel Perspective
….and places that people can make work
better
Charles Wilson Regenerating Places - an Urban Panel Perspective
Charles Wilson Regenerating Places - an Urban Panel Perspective
And keep listening to the other guy!