Produced by RUDI

2010/11©All rights reserved. No partof this publication may bereproduced, copied or transmittedin any form or by any meanswithout permission of thecopyright holder and publisher,applications for which should bemade to the publisher.

The publishers, authors andprinters cannot accept liability forerrors, omissions or the validity ofinformation herein.

ISBN: 978-1-899650-66-8

COVER PRICE £20

PLACEMAKIN

G2010/11—

CELEBRATIN

GQUALITYAND

INNOVATIO

NIN

URBAN

LIFE

OUR SUPPORTERS

PLACEmaking 2010/11 explores best practice in local and regional placemaking involvement,participation and empowerment,discusses the solutions to ‘consultation fatigue’ and considersnew models for expressing and acting upon the views and motivations of local communities– passing genuine power down the line.

The creation of better places goes way beyond planning and design. It relates to selecting ouroptions for living, working, shopping, getting around, meeting up and relaxing. It is rooted incontrol and empowerment. Place matters. And it will be through supporting communityinvolvement in the development of places that the ‘big society’ will take shape, enablingcommunities to design, invest in and manage their own places.

A new era of people-led place shaping will impact on design, delivery and democracy acrossneighbourhoods, towns and cities. The issues are complex: working towards place-basedbudgeting, investing in skills development, enabling access to evidence bases, information andtools, and supporting social inclusion.

We will need new practical and professional skillsets, innovative land ownership, developmentand funding models, improved networks for knowledge-sharing, and effective methods ofmeasuring and evaluating success – and of learning from mistakes and failures.We also needgenuine partnerships between local authorities and grassroots activists, and the willingness toput real power in new places.

Place-shaping in a new era of civic accountability‘We’re all in it together, says Prime Minister Cameron.The only problem is that some of usmay never be able to get out, quipped one wag on a recent radio panel show. Sad to say, hemight well be right. Although we are entering a phase where government, professionals,practitioners, community activists and policymakers all claim to be on the same page when itcomes to creating places that work for people, the ongoing spectre of weak economies andstruggling currencies still haunts millions of people around the world who are living inenvironments that see little prospect of regeneration any time soon.

We may well say that people are no longer mere consumers of urban space, but are nowparticipants in placemaking, but will the proposed extension of participation reach past thedemands of ROI, past the challenges of partnership working, and connect with those whoyearn for change – and who have creative ideas about how to drive place-based innovation,given the right kind of support and resource.

The coalition government has demonstrated its commitment to raise the status andsignificance of community-led responsibility, as it asks both professionals and the public tostep forward and fill the gap left by a retreating state.But do we really have the the necessarymindset and the tools, skills and experience to do the job? How will professionals and activistsinvolved in the making of better places rise to this fundamental challenge?

Participation, consultation and involvement have been concepts espoused in the planning andneighbourhood management fields for many years.But have they been seriously embraced byprofessionals and political leaders – and will they be this time around? Critics say they thatengagement practices are often used as a fig leaf to support decisions made within traditionalestablishment and organisational structures. How do we change this suspicion?

1

FOREWORD

Juliana O’Rourke | Editor

THE ART OF MAKING PLACES

CONTENTS

DESIGN &DELIVERY

NEWCOMMUNITIES

EXISTINGCOMMUNITIES

ENGAGINGCOMMUNITIES &STAKEHOLDERS

PUBLIC SPACES,PUBLIC PLACES

EDITORIALJuliana O’Rourke, EditorE: juliana@rudi.net

CONTRIBUTORSRobert Cowan |Tom EvansPeter Stonham |Tom MooreBiljana Savic | Emily BerwynJulian Hart | John BrownSuzanna Pembroke

PUBLISHERPLACEmaking is published annuallyby RUDI Ltd (Resource for UrbanDesign Information)

ISBN: 978-1-899650-66-8

REGISTERED OFFICEApollo House, 359 Kennington Lane,London SE11 5QYRegistration Number: 768 3671 83T: 0845 270 7894

Individual copies: £20T; 0845 270 7894 E: info@rudi.net

DESIGN & PRODUCTIONNatalie ClarkeE: production@landor.co.uk

Cover image: Graylingwell Parkcarbon neutral community,courtesy JohnThompson & Partners.Developers: Linden Homes andDownland HousingAssociation/AffinitySutton. Proposals were developed bya team led by JohnThompson &Partners,with Joachim EbleArchitektur,Studio Engleback andWSP

01 02 03 04 05Foreword 1

RUDI: knowledge-sharingand networking 3

Large scale urban design 4

Dimensions of a sustainablecity 8

A strategic approach tolocal character 12

The delivery models arebroken... 16

Demistifying design appraisal 18

Delivering a carbon neutralcommunity 20

Community-focusedurban development 23

Enabling communities todeliver their own futures 26

Information, individualityand identity 30

Re-engineering the city:invisible infrastructure 33

Creative and critical: breakingboundaries in Bristol 36

Learning to love sharedspace 39

Real placemaking?Yes we can 44

Presenting the city:3D imaging 48

Testing the future 52

Not a waste of space... 55

Open source placemaking 58

From town to active city 60

A world class waterfront 62

2010/11

Muchmore than a website,RUDI facilitates communication acrossdifferent media, linking the community of placemakers via onlineand offline networks. Via discussion events, seminars,conferences,publications, training sessions, web events and multimedia, RUDItakes a creative approach to knowledge exchange.RUDI has more than a decade of experience. It is independent,

international, authoritative, inspiring and highly regarded by itstarget audience, regularly receiving messages of appreciation.RUDI supports and promotes a cross-disciplinary approach to

quality placemaking as well as playing a key role in educating awider group of current and new generation placemakingprofessionals. RUDI works closely with its sister organisation,TransportXtra, which includes publications Transport and theUrban Environment, Local Transport Today and New Transit, plus amajor portfolio of more than 30 urbanism, transport andmodelling-related events each year.A new initiative for 2010 hasbeen TransportXtra’s Efficiency Network, a resource anddiscussion forum for professionals at the ‘sharp end’ of reshapingtransport service delivery with reduced funding.

RUDI:AN INDEPENDENTVIEW BASED ON SHAREDVISIONThe‘original’ RUDI online resource,since its establishment over 13years ago,has grown progressively to hold a wealth of informationand is supported by its expanding membership network, whichcontributes ideas, experience and best practice. In a market with

many voices, including government, campaigning agencies andinterest groups, promoting a diverse and sometimes conflictingrange of policies, perspectives and agendas, RUDI continues toprovide an independent view based on shared vision.RUDI welcomes new partners who share its aims and mission:

to develop long-term,supportive relationships of mutual benefit inthe cause of the better design, management and equitable use ofthe built environment.The Resource for Urban Design Information (RUDI) main areasof activity include:• www.rudi.net – an established not for profit web-basedresource dedicated to urban design, development andplacemaking• www.urbandesignjobs.com – a recruitment platform providinga cost effective solution to finding staff with core skills• a series of placemaking-related knowledge sharing andnetworking events and conferenceshttp://www.rudi.net/urban_design_update/events• tailored training courses, study tours and CPD developmenthttp://www.rudi.net/urban_design_update/skills_and_training• a range of specialist publications including PLACEmaking,Technology, space and place and Transport and the UrbanEnvironment http://www.rudi.net/reading_room/bookshop• a publishing/content creation and dissemination servicespanning print,web, photography and multimedia.

oo

RUDI: KNOWLEDGE-SHARINGANDNETWORKING FOR PLACEMAKERSRUDI – the Resource for Urban Design Information – is an established international information and knowledge-sharingnetwork for the placemaking professions. Its core aim is to promote best practice in urban design and development, and tofacilitate the sharing of information between an ever-expanding circle of professionals involved in making better places.RUDI and partners are pioneering knowledge exchange and good practice through publications, events, exhibitions andvia an online knowledge exchange platform, rudi.net

3

Support the RUDI missionand join the network todayTo find out more about RUDI, orto discuss partnershipopportunities, please visitwww.rudi.net andwww.TransportXtra.com

CONTACT DETAILS:juliana@rudi.netor call 0845 270 7857To register for a trial of theresources and to join thenetwork, please visitwww.rudi.net/user/register

01DESIGN &DELIVERY

04 DESIGN AT THE LARGESCALE COUNTS MORETHAN EVER

08 DIMENSIONS OF ASUSTAINABLECOMMUNITY

12 A STRATEGIC APPROACHTO LOCAL CHARACTER

DESIGN ATTHE LARGE SCALECOUNTS MORETHAN EVERRegional strategies are out under the government’s new planning system –but there’s still a major role for cross-boundary working. Biljana Savic,senior design advisor at CABE, offers a way forward for large-scale projects

Despite the removal of the regional tier and the emphasis oncommunity-driven decisions in the current overhaul of planningpolicy, local authorities will still need to collaborate acrossboundaries on some issues.CABE’s recent research, Getting thebig picture right, explores ways of tackling issues that cannot besolved through local action alone. These include largeinfrastructure projects such as transport hubs, energygeneration and new urban extensions, or important newfacilities like hospitals and universities.Large-scale urban designaddresses other issues that also do not observe boundaries , forexample climate change.

Government itself recognises this continuing need for cross-boundary working, of course. In future, some of it will beoverseen by local enterprise partnerships (LEPs) which areexpected to take over some of the responsibilities of theabolished regional development agencies.They are made up ofvoluntary partnerships of local authorities and businesses. Thegovernment envisages that LEPs will focus primarily oneconomic development, but also deal with issues such asplanning and housing, local transport and infrastructure priorities

and the transition to a low carbon economy. In an earlyannouncement,communities secretary Eric Pickles and businesssecretary Vince Cable have said that LEPs should reflect thenatural economic geography of the areas they serve. Joint localauthority working is crucial for making strategic decisions abouteconomic development and infrastructure investment.

Getting the big picture right will help the LEPs to recognise thatthe spatial dimension must be locked in to the economicdimension when they formulate their plans. It highlights someof the best examples from across Europe.

CABE has long recognised the need for joint working ascritical for making the right decisions about economicdevelopment and infrastructure investment and improving thequality of life for people living in an area. Getting the big pictureright sets out the case for ‘large-scale urban design’, a new wayof designing at the level at which economic and housing marketsoperate. Large-scale urban design recognises that the way thatpeople live their lives has changed. We no longer live our livesin one neighbourhood: we consistently travel further for work,shopping and for leisure.

5

01D

ESIG

N&

DEL

IVER

Y:THECURREN

TAGEN

DA

ECONOMICS AND LARGE-SCALE URBAN DESIGNLarge-scale urban design can be used by partnerships facingsignificant social, environmental or economic challenges in theirareas. These areas may need to plan water or wastemanagement, energy production or green spaces; or they maywant to protect or enhance natural or cultural assets. Theymay be growing in population and need to plan new homes,schools, leisure and shopping centres.Or they may simply wantto improve the quality and distinctiveness of local building.

In times of austerity, there are economic benefits to planningacross boundaries. Large-scale urban design can informdecisions on where to invest limited resources, and canstrengthen local prosperity, say by linking specialised centrestogether to support a knowledge economy. With the economicslowdown offering fewer chances to rectify failures, thedecisions on where and how to invest and build or achieveefficiencies through joint action are increasingly important.

A WORKSHOP-BASED PROCESSThese issues are the focus of CABE’s new approach to large-scale design. It uses a workshop-based process split into threephases. The first phase is to prepare and understand thechallenge.The culmination of this phase is a design brief thatguides the next phase of work. It will set out the visionstatement for the project, and include a summary of theinformation and analysis, delivery challenges for the wide area,aspirations for design quality and indicators to monitor theforthcoming spatial strategy and/or priority projects.

Second is the design phase.This is based on one or moreintensive workshops with key stakeholders that are guided byexpert facilitators. It is at this point that the critical issues andprojects are identified that will need to be addressed at cross-boundary level and spatial options explored for theirimplementation.

The key output of this phase is a spatial strategy, whichsummarises the story of change for the area. It is supplementedby a design guide to support development of more detailedmasterplans, development briefs and proposals.The strategy and the guide are then published widely (informats that are easy to understand) in order to get the publicon board. The final phase is the implementation plan which setsout how the strategy will be delivered and by whom.This isbased on the earlier exploration of delivery issues and itspreparation may culminate in a dedicated workshop withdelivery partners.

THE INSPIRATION OF COLLABORATIVE WORKINGThe initial inspiration for CABE’s research project came fromthe Emscher Landshaftpark project in Germany,where 20 localauthorities decided to work together to reverse the economic,

Interestingly, the most successful of over 30 projects reviewed by CABE were not conceived anddeveloped within the statutory system.This gave them the freedom to explore all possible optionsand at the same time cemented partnerships taking them forward – probably why they worked

CABE’s workshop-based process focuses on three phases: prepare and

understanding the challenge; the design phase; and the implementation

plan, which sets out how the strategy will be delivered and by whom

(left, top)The initial inspiration for CABE’s research project came from the

Emscher Landshaftpark project in Germany, where 20 local authorities

decided to work together to reverse the economic, social and

environmental decline caused by the closure of steelworks and mines.They

produced a flexible spatial strategy to guide the work at local level and

have delivered over 400 projects on the ground since 1989

(left)The Hertfordshire charette developed a number of spatial options for

long-term growth in the county through a seven-day workshop involving

local interests groups

6

Using a non-statutory strategic approach to respond to the increasing

development pressure in and around Cambridge caused by the

phenomenal growth of high-tech businesses

CABE has long recognised the need for jointworking as critical for making the right decisionsabout economic development and infrastructureinvestment.Getting the big picture right sets out thecase for ‘large-scale urban design’, a new way ofdesigning at the level at which economic andhousing markets operate

social and environmental decline caused by the closure ofsteelworks and mines.They produced a flexible spatial strategyto guide the work at local level and have delivered over 400projects on the ground since 1989.

In New Zealand, an urban development strategy forChristchurch brought together a large number of sub-regionalstakeholders to develop a growth strategy to 2041 throughintensive design workshops. And in the UK, a Hertfordshirecharette developed a number of spatial options for long-termgrowth in the county through a seven-day workshop involvinglocal interests groups.

Interestingly, the most successful of over 30 projectsreviewed by CABE were not conceived and developed withinthe statutory system.This gave them the freedom to exploreall possible options and at the same time cementedpartnerships taking them forward – this is probably why theyworked.What made these projects successful was the focuson the qualities and opportunities of their area in all itscomplexity and the spatial, creative and collaborative approachto thinking about its future.

With the economic slowdown offering fewer chances torectify failures, the decisions on where and how to invest and

build or achieve efficiencies through joint action are arguablynow more important than ever. Our research shows that witha strong team, the active involvement of all those affected, anda flexible approach, large-scale urban design can strengthenlocal prosperity.

� For more information on large-scale urban design, and howto approach it, see www.cabe.org.uk/publications/getting-the-big-picture-right and www.cabe.org.uk/strud

On 20 October, 2010, the Department of Culture decided aspart of the Comprehensive Spending Review to withdrawfunding from CABE. The CABE team is now working withGovernment and others to try to find a way to ensure the kindof expert, impartial design advice for which CABE has beenknown remains available to councils, communities anddevelopers across the country.

In the meantime, CABE remains the government’s statutoryadvisor on architecture, urban design and public space. It iscontinuing to conduct design review and to deliver manyprogrammes. Existing CABE online resources will remainaccessible on www.cabe.org.uk

LARGER THAN THELOCAL LEVEL...Democratic decision-making that is larger thanthe local, but smaller than the national, forms akey element in the move towards locally-focused partnership placemaking

As the coalition government moves towards a localismagenda via the Localism Bill, which will devolve greaterpowers to local authorities and communities, UK plannersand designers are keen to ensure that a reformed planningsystem meets wider than local needs, calling for ‘larger-than-local level’ planning to be enshrined in any reforms to thecurrent system.With the impending abolition of regionalspatial strategies, an alliance including the Planning OfficersSociety, the RTPI and TCPA have petitioned Eric PicklesSecretary of State, DCLG, calling for ‘larger-than-local level’planning to be enshrined in any reforms to the currentsystem. By way of reply, Pickles re-assured the alliance thatthe government is ‘considering what additional tools ormechanisms can be added to the legislative framework toenable “strategic planning”.’

REINVENTING THE STRATEGIC TIER?Many placemaking professionals are wondering how alocalist approach can be relied upon to produce balanceddecisions on new development that factor in communityneed: efficient utilities, green space, mixed use and designquality, and still act in the overall interests of society. TCPAchief planner Hugh Ellis, for example, has expressed theview that the spatial strategy system should have beenreformed rather than abolished.‘If we want to go forwardwe will have to reinvent the strategic tier,’ he said.‘The onlyquestion is what shape that tier should be.’ Many have alsoquestioned the effectiveness of voluntary agreementsbetween local authorities and business in the form of local

7

01D

ESIG

N&

DEL

IVER

Y:THECURREN

TAGEN

DA

Neighbourhood plans will form a tier of planningbelow the local development plan.The plans willneed to respect the overall national presumption infavour of sustainable development as well as otherlocal priorities, such as the positioning of transportlinks and meeting housing need.The PlanningOfficers Society noted that urban neighbourhoodsin particular may be difficult to define

enterprise partnerships (LEPs), saying there needs to beobligation within strategic planning.

‘Our view is, said Mark Prisk, minister for business andenterprise, that where Whitehall engages with localauthorities on a particular issue, there might be somefunding available through a contractual agreement withcentral government. As to whether the partnerships wouldreceive any basic funding to help them operate, he added:‘We have to get away from this idea that economicdevelopment is all about funding from Whitehall.’

The Centre for Cities think tank has alwaysrecommended that economic priorities should be set at thelevel of ‘natural economic areas’ – smaller than regions, butbigger than single local authority boundaries. It supports theintroduction of LEPs and believes that they could give citiesthe powers they need to shape their local economy. LEPsare able to bid for part of the new £1bn Regional GrowthFund, and the Government is also pledging funds (£5m in2011/12, £10m in 2012/13, £15m in 2013/14 and £20 in2014/15) to deliver ‘open source planning’.This as yet ratherundefined concept appears to refer to a series of conceptswhich involve the abolition of the regional strategies and thecreation of new local and neighbourhood plans. But concernremains about the lack of detail concerning models for theways in which top-down planning would meetneighbourhood planning, and there have been calls for a linkto national policy.

NEIGHBOURHOOD PLANSThe government’s local growth white paper confirmed thatneighbourhood plans will form a tier of planning below thelocal development plan.The plans will need to respect theoverall national presumption in favour of sustainabledevelopment as well as other local priorities, such as thepositioning of transport links and meeting housing need.ThePlanning Officers Society noted that urban neighbourhoodsin particular may be difficult to define. It stressed the needto consult local people and businesses early in the plan-making process to define neighbourhood boundaries.‘Nevertheless, neighbourhood plans do have a place in theplanning framework,’ said POS spokesman John Silvester.

Savills head of planning and regeneration, Roger Hepher,said of the plans that ‘a potentially anarchic concept hasbeen tempered by the need to respect local and nationalstrategic priorities’.Town and Country Planning Associationchief executive Kate Henderson added: ‘Local andneighbourhood plans will need to have regard to nationalpolicy and establish the key strategic framework oninfrastructure, as well as other local strategic priorities.’

A survey of local authority intentions, published inOctober in the planning press, assessed how they intend tohandle the new frameworks and the imminent abolition oftargets. While less than one quarter of the surveyed sampleplanned to review housing targets, many more werepreparing to revise employment targets, potentiallyupsetting the carefully worked out balance that the regionalstrategies aimed for. Many planners, including some whosupport localism, feel that the current policy vacuum willdelay the already geological pace at which many LocalDevelopment Frameworks are advancing.

Many placemaking professionals, in the UK and beyond, are wondering

whether a localist approach can be relied upon to produce balanced

decisions on new development that factor in community need: efficient

utilities, green space,mixed use and design quality, and still act in the

overall interests of society

8

DIMENSIONS OFTHESUSTAINABLE CITYAre more compact, higher density and mixed use urban forms moreenvironmentally sound, more efficient for transport, more economicallyviable and more socially beneficial? Following five years of detailed analysisacross five UK cities, the CityForm consortium came up with rathersurprising insights. By Juliana O’Rourke

With sustainable urban development now a national priority, thisbrief summary of a complex and inter-relating series of outputsand outcomes offers food for thought on how planners,designers,decision-makers and policymakers can support movesto more sustainable and socially equitable living.

‘There is an increasingly intense debate in policy and practiceabout sustainability, and a key issue is to what extent theadaptation of the physical form of cities and the way people livein them and travel around them can improve it,’ say Mike Jenksand Colin Jones, editors of Dimensions of the Sustainable City, abook discussing the CityForm project findings.The consortium’sinsights are a key output to emerge from the EPSRC-fundedSustainable Urban Environment (SUE) programme.Compact cityarguments have, they say, become attractive to governments inrecent years and sustainability policies have focused onincreasing the density of urban development, improving publictransport,ensuring a mix of uses and containing sprawl.Yet, theyadd, ‘despite this widespread adoption of these policies, theevidence base supporting them is very limited.’

While noting that the analysis and ‘measurement’ of urbanform, along with the concept of sustainability, remain elusiveconcepts that are widely open to interpretation, the projectoutcomes suggest that despite apparent simplifications of policy,the concept of urban sustainability has become increasingly

complex.A range of what the editors term ‘contradictions andcomplementarities’ – social acceptability, environmentalconcerns and economic viability – seek priority on the policyagenda.‘The planner’s challenging task is to address and resolvethe tensions from this triangle of potential conflicts,’ suggestJenks and Jones.

For the parameters of this project, urban form wascharacterised in terms of five elements – the pattern of land use,accessibility defined by transport infrastructure, density,housing/building characteristics and urban layout. Each of these,to a degree, overlap and it is difficult to completely isolateindividual components.The core research was based on five UKcities: case studies comprising neighbourhoods located in theinner, middle and outer city zones were produced.The editorsnoted that the spatial structure of each of the five citiesdemonstrated a strong relationship between physical urban formand socio-economic demographic characteristics.

‘Elements of urban form are intertwined, and so are the keydomains or pillars of urban sustainability; namely social,environmental and economic sustainability. The aim of thisproject was to identity the optimum urban form solutions thatwould be socially beneficial,economically viable,environmentallysound and support an efficient transport system,’ says Dr ShibuRaman, a member of the CityForm consortium.

Although our research has shown the complexity ofmaking cities more sustainable, it also identified manytrade-offs and a number of potential ways of gettingthere. The important point is to approach theproblems in an inclusive and integrated way, to workin partnership across boundaries and disciplines, andtackle the issues of social, economic and environmentalsustainability in an imaginative wayProfessor Mike Jenks, CityForm consortium

9

01D

ESIG

N&

DEL

IVER

Y:THECURREN

TAGEN

DATRANSPORT:TRAVEL AND MOBILITY

Sustainable urban policy has focused on reducing the dominanceof private car use.Many designers and planners argue that citiescan be designed to create amenity-rich urban neighbourhoodsthat stimulate the use of public transport, walking and cycling.But such an approach‘faces a number of major hurdles,’ say Jenksand Jones. In the absence of constraints such as road pricing orparking restrictions, the car looks set to remain the king of theroad. And evidence suggests, they say, that even if urbanneighbourhood design could stimulate greater use of localamenities, it is probable that the savings generated may well beused for wider travel. Overall, the assumption that redesigningurban form can bring about a substantial change in travelbehaviour is ‘open to question’.

The extent to which residential location choice is theconsequence of household travel preferences is a key question,suggests project results. ‘Traditional urban forms characterisedby moderately high densities of housing, mixed land-uses,proximity to public transport and grid-pattern road layouts aredefinitely linked with lower levels of car availability,which in turnare associated with lower trip frequencies and shorter traveldistances.’ Overall, add the editors,car ownership levels increasewith decreasing population density and increasing distance froma city centre. In the highest density areas, limited parking supplyand regulatory control can also play a role in limiting car demand.

However, self-selection of residential location on the basis oftravel preferences was ‘not found to be a major influence on cartravel, with other influences such as household income being astrong influence on car ownership’.Project outputs suggest thatalthough car ownership is lessened in higher density areas, itinfluences trip-making behaviour but has no measurable effecton distance travelled.Local travel is influenced by the frequencyof use of a number of key services and facilities, declining withdistance from home.

The relationship between travel and urban form is not simple,conclude the editors. ‘At the neighbourhood level, the analysissuggests that (re)designing a neighbourhood per se will notnecessarily bring substantial change to travel behaviour. Othermeasures will be needed to secure a fully ‘sustainable’ shift intravel behaviour, for example relating to the higher taxation andpricing of fuel, increased regulation and stronger directmanagement of travel demand.’

ENVIRONMENT: ECOLOGY AND BIODIVERSITYGiven that an increasing proportion of the world’s populationlives in urban areas, the project explored the relationshipsbetween urban form, green space and biodiversity in terms ofpopulation density, the patterns of coverage of different land usetypes,and the degree of connectivity of different patches of landcover. Higher urban densities were found to be stronglyassociated with a reduction in total green space coverage, andto influence their connectivity.‘Increased population density hasimplications for essential elements of the local ecosystem thatare mediated by green space: the regulation of water andtemperature regimes, carbon sequestration and the provisionof pest control and pollinators across the urban landscape.’ Onestriking relationship between biodiversity and density is given bythe incidence of bird species. ‘Levels of bird species richnessshowed a hump-shaped relationship with housing density, risinginitially as density increased, but then declining sharply at highly

urbanised locations.’ The results also suggested that reductionsin the scale and quality of green space through higher densitieslead to substantial restrictions on recreation and experiencesof nature,especially for children.The analysis suggests that thereare opportunities for policies designed to improve theenvironmental and ecological performance of urban areas forany given level of urban density.

SOCIAL ACCEPTABILITYA sustainable city must be a place where people want to liveand work, say the editors. Social acceptability comprises twobroad concepts: social equity, or ease of access to localservices, facilities and opportunities, and sustainablecommunity or positive ‘quality of life’, which takes in highlevels of social capital and/or social cohesion (local pride,social interaction, safety and stability). Research findings showthat for most aspects of sustainability of community or

Higher urban densities in some UK cities were foundto be strongly associated with a reduction in totalgreen space coverage. In Europe, urban extensions tryto build in green space and SUDs

10

quality of life, lower density suburbs appear more popular.‘These aspects of the social dimension challenge the“compact city” orthodoxy, but there are some counter-balancing benefits of compactness in the equity aspect ofsocial sustainability, particularly access to services,’ say theeditors. Social interaction fares best at medium densities,while some aspects, for example community participation, areneutral. The editors also note that housing tenure and thesocial composition of neighbourhoods influence theseindicators: ‘the disadvantages of compactness are moremarginal once socio-demographic characteristics of residentsare controlled for’.

Poverty is often more important than urban form – who liveswhere, and whether they are able to choose where they live,matters. However, accessibility to key services such assupermarkets within the neighbourhood is identified asimportant for certain groups of residents such as theunemployed, older people and young families, and plays asignificant role in social and community life

For open space usage, perceptions of safety are crucial, butmanagement solutions can be complex, and problematic in,for example, shared communal gardens and spaces in higherdensity flats.

ENVIRONMENT: ENERGY USECities use great amounts of energy: policies tend to focus onadapting existing housing stock to improve energy conservationand promoting carbon neutral new housing.CityForm exploredthe issues of domestic energy and its influence on housing typeand built form.The analysis found only a weak relationship withbuilt urban form: residential energy use appears to be linkedmore closely to the level of occupancy within a home and typeof appliances used than house type. There is also a slightsuggestion that the organisation of a city’s economy and urbanform in shaping commuting may impact on energy consumptionvia home working.

Lifestyles and demographics influence energy consumptionmore than building type, and urban form is of only marginalimportance:connection with urban form is an indirect associationwith occupancy (particularly number of bedrooms) – the smallerthe house the less energy used, and the smaller the house themore likely it is to be part of a higher density urban form.

The analysis suggests that there are opportunities for policies

designed to improve the environmental and ecological

performance of urban areas for any given level of urban

density, as frequently happens in Holland

11

01D

ESIG

N&

DEL

IVER

Y:THECURREN

TAGEN

DAECONOMICVIABILITY

Economics is a key influence on urban form, and policy cannotwork counter to spatial market forces in the long term, notethe editors. CityForm explored to what extent the spatialeconomy is likely to constrain change,and found that argumentsin favour of higher densities ‘are based on too simplistic aconcept of agglomeration economies,which does not take intoaccount cities as dynamic entities with spatial land use patternssubject to change.’

The urban dispersal ‘alternative’, partly the inevitableoutcome of market forces, has the drawback that the existinglongstanding urban dispersal trends have substantially increasedcommuting distances and travel to work, as well asinfrastructure costs. These ‘externality’ effects are notconsidered by individual market decision-makers in theirdecentralisation decisions

CityForm’s evidence suggests that policies aimed at supportingcities’ potential to adapt existing urban form in ways that movetowards economic sustainability are welcome.However, analysisof the housing market shows that many households prefer lowdensity housing. There appears to be a household life-cycleelement to residential location choice: younger and non-pensioner single households live in the central city areas, butmove out to the suburbs as they move through the family lifecycle. It may be difficult to encourage more concentrated urbanforms without significant changes to the underlying forces of cityhousing markets,particularly where concentrated poverty makesmarket-led urban redevelopment unviable.

INTENSIFYING NEIGHBOURHOOD DENSITYA major theme of many sustainability protagonists is the needfor higher residential densities to enhance sustainability. AsCityForm demonstrates, ‘these arguments are not entirelyfounded on empirical analysis’.

The consortium’s detailed investigation of Govan, a workingclass area of Glasgow, shows that a systematic tool can beapplied to restructure cities into a series of sustainableneighbourhoods – featuring amenities within walking distanceof peoples’ front doors and local centres directly linked by publictransport – although it makes clear that those embarking onsuch a task will need ‘the courage not to compromise too soon,given the substantial upheaval involved’.

Do residents of new‘sustainable’ housing developments,askedCityForm, behave more sustainably than the population ingeneral? The group’s findings were, perhaps surprisingly, morenegative than positive. Households living in ‘sustainable’developments only appear to behave more sustainably withregard to home-based resource efficiency activities, such aswater and energy use.Behaviour toward recycling and frequencyof use of local facilities are equivalent to national benchmarks.When it comes to other activities, such as travel to work by car,owning (or having access to) a car, social participation,encouraging wildlife and composting, they behave less sustainablythan the population in general.

To put these findings in context, the authors note that thenature of high density living may make activities as outdoorcomposting and encouraging wildlife in gardens difficult.Research into private gardens demonstrates that individualdecisions made by landowners can result in large scale effects onenvironmental conditions, yet conservation biology has yet toincorporate the urban environment into conservation planningexercises, note the authors.

The interpretation of some relationships between urban formand dimensions of sustainability must be treated with care. Instudying links, for example,between density and social outcomesit is essential to control for the influence of intervening variablesthat may exert significant influence and so affect conclusions.Forexample, poverty in particular is a key influence on the socialsustainability of a neighbourhood.

To sum up more than five years of detailed analysis, the editorsconclude that their findings raise as many questions as theyanswer – although when studied in detail, the analysis canprovide strong strategic insight for policymakers. Lifestyles,including the use of cars, are not necessarily determined byurban physical form, suggest Jenks and Jones, although they maybe influenced and constrained by it.‘Consumption in its broadestsense is more broadly determined by incomes and social class.This is reflected in the patterns of the spatial viability of newhousing development being more dependent on the socio-economic status of a neighbourhood than any particular featureof urban form.’� Dimensions of the Sustainable City is published by Springer at £90Series: Future City,Vol. 2, Jenks, Mike; Jones, Colin (Eds.). 1st Edition, 2010, XIII,282 p. 58 illus. in color., HardcoverISBN: 978-1-4020-8646-5

In general, efficiently designed, mixed use andmoderately high density development has a lotgoing for it. It can provide high quality infrastructure,quality of life, richer biodiversity, and has a relativelysmaller environmental footprintDr Shibu Raman, CityForm consortium

‘The CityForm research has made a real impact outside theUK. The research approach and methodology have beenadapted to the Indian context, where rapid urbanisation iscreating challenges for long-term sustainability.The CityForm-India research network is jointly funded by the EPSRC,BritishCouncil and the Indian Government and brings togetheracademics, practitioners, built environment experts andpolicymakers from Europe and India in an internationalresearch exchange on sustainability and urban form.A similarcollaborative research project is beginning to investigate thechallenges and solutions of urbanisation inAfrica.Equally thereis a need to develop methods and tools that allow anintegrated analysis, to find the way through the complexrelationships that exists in cities’.

� Dr Nicola Dempsey and Dr Shibu Raman, CityFormSee www.cityform.org for more details

FUTURE DIRECTIONS

The EPSRC grant was GR/520529/01,and the research involvedmany people.The key researchers are all acknowledged in thebook Dimensions of the Sustainable City, and those whoundertook particular aspects of the work are listed as authorsof each of the book’s chapters.

A STRATEGIC APPROACHTOLOCAL CHARACTERLocalism means starting from the place, rather than from administrativeboundaries.The new joint Urban Design Guidance for Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council and Stoke-on-Trent City Council shows how astrategic urban design approach and cross-boundary working help realisethe potential for local distinctiveness. By Jane Dann and Katja Stille

12

STRATEGY AND CHARACTERThe brief made clear that generic design guidance would notmeet local aspirations – a place-based approach was requiredto respond to distinctive local character. The guidanceincludes a strategic urban design vision and design principlesfor the area as a whole. This adds character as anotherdimension to the spatial vision set out in the Joint CoreSpatial Strategy. It is based on a sub-regional characterassessment, and is among the first occasions such a holisticapproach has been used.

This recognises the vital importance of the conurbation’srich and unique heritage to local distinctiveness, whichderives as much from the historic pattern of development asfrom the appearance of places. The area’s topography andgeology supported the development of industries such ascoal, iron and potteries, with the central valley of today’sconurbation, in particular, becoming a concentration ofindustry. A number of towns grew up to serve theseindustries.The form of development was polycentric, basedaround the six centres of Stoke-on-Trent, Newcastle (alreadyan established market town) and Kidsgrove. Today the

Quality of place has been identified as crucial to establishinga stronger, knowledge-based economic platform to driveregeneration in North Staffordshire. The conurbation ofNewcastle-under-Lyme and Stoke-on-Trent suffered from thepost-war loss of much of its traditional economic base, andquality of proposals for new development declinedaccordingly, not helped by a degree of competition betweenlocal authorities for new development and for jobs.

In recent years, public sector agencies have adopted acoordinated approach to economic regeneration and housingmarket renewal.This extended to include planning policy, withcross-boundary working successfully producing a Joint CoreSpatial Strategy. Renew North Staffordshire, the HMRPathfinder, recognised that Urban Design Guidance, with thestatus of a Supplementary Planning Document (SPD),had a keyrole to play in raising the quality of new housing across the area.

AREA-WIDE GUIDANCEThe guidance outlines area-wide urban design guidance, notsomething that is commonly produced, says Mick Downs,executive director of Urban Vision North Staffordshire(UVNS). UVNS produced the project brief, acting for a clientgroup comprising Renew North Staffordshire, Stoke-on-TrentCity Council and Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council,with support from CABE, English Heritage and the Homesand Communities Agency.‘

Urban design guidance is normally created for a masterplan area or a town centre, but not for a whole city areawith multiple centres, suburbs and industrial developments,mixed use projects and more than one local authority,’ saysDowns.

Each member of the client group had their own priorities,reflected in an all-encompassing and ambitious brief. Thedocument was to be promotional yet regulatory, and includedesign guidance at all scales (from sub-regional to detail). Itspreparation ‘needed to’ raise design awareness and the skillsof stakeholders. It ‘had to’ cover character areas (such as towncentres, canal and river corridors); topics (such as residential,public realm); the importance of good design; and how designand procurement processes can promote good design. Theaim was to set a common benchmark for urban design qualityacross the whole area.

A wide range of environments can be found across the conurbation

13

01D

ESIG

N&

DEL

IVER

Y:THECURREN

TAGEN

DA

14

industries have generally moved on, but the legacy of thisdistinctive settlement pattern remains.

With the loss of industry, the conurbation lost much of thephysical ‘glue’ that fixed the settlement pattern. Whilst thispresents a significant challenge for economic regeneration, italso represents an opportunity for development to supporta new quality of life, to respond to changing aspirations forsustainable lifestyles and to adapt to future climate change.

To date, much of the redevelopment of former industrialareas has had a low quality, disjointed and ‘out-of-town’character, which has made the heart of the conurbationseem a confusing place, with a negative image. The designguidance proposes a new, green character for these ‘inbetween’ areas so instead they become an environmentalasset, create a more positive image, aid wayfinding andsupport sustainable regeneration.

Stakeholders were unfamiliar with the concept of strategicurban design. However, the results of a workshop sessiondevoted to this subject showed that most people felt it to bean important scale for the guidance to address.

INTEGRATED TRAINING AND ENGAGEMENTFront-loaded consultation involved council officers, electedembers, representatives of public sector agencies, developers,architects, RSLs and amenity groups.Tibbalds devised and rana programme of engagement together with Urban Vision’surban design skills training for local stakeholders. Trainingelements included an inspirational visit to Sheffield and outsidespeakers to highlight the benefits of design guidance.

Events were aligned with the work programme, so eachsession included both engagement and training. Progressupdates and workshops encouraged people to feed in localissues and concerns, to discuss concepts and debatepriorities.

At ‘guidance testing’ workshops, planning officers andpotential applicants used drafts of the guidance to assesssample planning applications (already determined). Thisformat of workshop, in facilitated groups, provided aproductive combination of feedback (to the consultant team)and skills sharing (both between participants and with thefacilitators).

The recently published Newcastle-under-Lyme and Stoke-on-Trent urban design vision is among the first in the UK to set outstrategic guidance across local authority borders and multipletown centres. But any move forward requires that key localofficials be prepared to make robust decisions in the interest ofsupporting holistic design.

The planned growth for Newcastle-under-Lyme and Stoke on-Trent is set to deliver 20,000 homes, 332 hectares of newemployment land and 155,000 square metres of retail space incoming years, together with a wide range of supportingcommunity infrastructure.Tibbalds Planning and Urban Designwas appointed in 2007 to prepare design guidance for Newcastle-under-Lyme and Stoke on-Trent.‘The key aim of the design guidewas to achieve a step change in the design quality of newdevelopment, both by the public and private sectors, says JaneDann from the Tibbalds team. ‘On the one hand, the guidanceneeded to be aspirational and inspiring, and on the other it hadto provide practical and pragmatic advice to prospectivedevelopers and their designers on how to achieve urban designquality without compromising development viability.’

‘We are already using the guidance,’ says councilor RobinStudd, Newcastle Borough Council Deputy Leader and cabinetmember with responsibility for regeneration & planning. ‘ It’sgoing to be of great value to us. Basically, our area has been abucket shop for poor design over the past years.We urgentlyneed guidance that will help us to raise the game and begin tocreate the heritage buildings of the future – and that meansordinary homes, not just iconic commercial developments.Thisguidance will become the vehicle by which we embed newthinking and a new approach.’

‘We had a lot of discussion about how broad the urban designprinciples needed to be. It was crucial to get the right balancebetween contextual issues and general placemaking principles,’says Katja Stille, urban designer with Tibbalds. Despite theproposed abolition of regional spatial strategies, the evidencebase on which they were based is still valid,says Stille.‘The designguide brings together evidence and information from a wide

JOINED UP DESIGN: STRATEGIC GUIDANCE ACROSS LOCALAUTHORITY BORDERS AND MULTIPLETOWN CENTRES

range of studies carried out over the years,a very useful processthat is far too rarely undertaken.’

Strategic planning is necessary,says Stille, to ensure that ‘largerthan local’ planning and investment initiatives make sense. Itensures that investment in major infrastructure is cost-effectiveand serves both the needs of local communities and the widerarea. ‘Placed in context with the current reorganisation ofplanning policy, it seems that design guidance created at the scaleof the Newcastle-under-Lyme and Stoke-on-Trent documentbecomes even more relevant,’ she adds.

Given that producing holistic design guidance at this scale isquite a new approach, we faced several challenges, says MickDowns, executive director of UrbanVision North Staffordshire.‘When you’re trying to get a message across to developmentcontrol officers, they’re not necessarily used to operating at thatlevel.They are more likely used to dealing with a specific site, sothey’re not used to seeing a“big picture” of the way developmentis going to form part of an even bigger jigsaw. It was problematicgetting that message across, and we went through several draftsbefore getting it right; when the local authorities werecomfortable that the guidance was sufficiently understandable tobe used by planners from day to day.’‘The complete process hastaken two and a half years, and the document has been writtenin such a way that it also has some promotional value,’ saysDowns.‘It’s painting a picture of where the area is trying to go,tobut obviously achieving aims requires pretty robust decisions bythe councils.Their support is the key to the whole initiative.’

‘I intend to stress the need to use this guidance,’ says CllrStudd.‘I understand that we may need to apply a little pressureif we want to change things.The guidance shows us what can beachieved.There are a number of policy and decision-makersacross the local authorities who are reluctant to embracechange, but I intend to encourage them to take another look attheir traditional ways.’

Although guidance rather than regulation, Downs describesthe vision as ‘directional guidance’. Enforcement remains a localauthority issue.‘I believe that the local authorities need to take

15

01D

ESIG

N&

DEL

IVER

Y:THECURREN

TAGEN

DA

a robust approach, particularly in the early stages.They mayneed to refuse a few planning applications that don’t complywith the guidance. But if they draw a line and fight a fewsuccessful appeals, then developers will have to take morenotice. It really is the local authorities’ responsibility to makethis thing work. It’s vital that they take robust decisions,especially in the beginning.’

The Urban Design Guidance has been adopted by Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council, and is subject to approval byStoke-on-Trent City Council. It is soon expected to start playingits part in shaping future proposals for the area. Electedmembers across the conurbation are positive that progress willbe made.‘I am pleased that we have a formal policy approach todesign and spatial quality,’ says Councillor Mervin Smith, Stoke-on-Trent City Council cabinet member for city developmentand regeneration.‘This will ensure that future developments willneed to be of a high standard and this can only be a good thingfor the city, and North Staffordshire. Good architectural qualitywill do a lot to lift the dignity and esteem of our builtenvironment and will help us to attract and retain residents,’ headds.‘It also means that developers need to raise their game inorder to meet the high aspirations being set by the city.However,whilst we will continue to protect and celebrate our heritageand conserve those parts of the area which need preservation,we shall also modernise wherever possible.’

Achieving such progress may not, acknowledges Downs,always be easy.‘In development control there so many factors totake into account. Many planning officers tend to regard designas just one factor, along with flood risk or traffic issues. But webelieve that good design is fundamental to every single aspect ofplanning. Reinforcing the idea that good design really can solvekey problems is our main challenge.’

� Juliana O’Rourke spoke with Jane Dann and Katja Stille fromTibbalds Planning and Urban Design,and Mick Downs,ExecutiveDirector, UrbanVision North Staffordshirewww.tibbalds.co.uk

The document, produced in an easily accessible and searchable interactive pdf format, begins with the strategic vision of good design and good

practice, followed by area-specific guidance for centres, for transport corridors and for rivers and waterways and thematic guidance for residential

development, open space and other policy and design issues

02NEWCOMMUNITIES

16 THE DELIVERY MODELSARE BROKEN...

18 DEMYSTIFYING DESIGNAPPRAISAL

20 DELIVERING A CARBONNEUTRAL COMMUNITY

23 COMMUNITY-FOCUSEDURBAN DEVELOPMENT

Kelvin Campbell of Urban Initiatives, London, has recentlycriticized the current state of masterplanning in particular as‘designed to deliver products, not places’.A back-to-basicsapproach – based on smaller, more viable plots – is required,he suggests. He quotes Sir Bob Kerslake of the UK Homesand Communities Agency:‘The old delivery models arebroken’. Einstein’s famous quote;‘insanity is doing the samething over and over again, but expecting different results’, is

relevant here, says Campbell. ‘The private sector can deliversuccessful products, but struggles to deliver successfulplaces.That can only be the role of those who have a long-term view of a place, and are willing to open upopportunities to a wider group of players, says Campbell.

But the spectres of over-commercially mindeddevelopers and errant politicians remain. Localcommunities need new powers to prevent developers andlocal councils flouting the new neighbourhood-orientedplans promised by the Government, says Civic Voice chairPaula Ridely.‘As the most numerous participants in theplanning system, civic volunteers are set to play a centralrole in the Government’s Big Society ambitions for betterplanning.‘Change is in the air, as local communities takemore control over their own future. Local people knowtheir area best.The civic movement is part of this.We wantto play a revitalised role in promoting civic pride and makingthe places where everyone lives more attractive, enjoyableand distinctive.’

But not everyone is happy.The coalition’s proposedoverhaul of the planning system lacks an evidence base andis ‘completely untested’, according to a ‘deeply sceptical’former housing minister, Nick Raynsford, who has voiceddeep concerns over the government’s plans to increaselocalism in planning and scrap regional spatial strategies.Raynsford said:We are living in a period of unparalleleduncertainty and flux. I’m deeply sceptical about the

THE DELIVERY MODELSARE BROKEN...Soon after taking office, the Conservatives published proposals for a planningsystem that calls for a more responsive and accountable system.And, judgingfrom the murmurs coming from the urban design and placemakingcommunities ever since, it’s not a moment too soon

17

02N

EWC

OM

MU

NIT

IES:THENEW

MASTER

PLANNING

proposition of an overhaul of planning.‘This is completelyuntested. Not one small locality or community has had thisnew system tested on it.We are being asked to dosomething that has no evidence base.The Conservativesclaimed that the short-term decline in housing proved theplanning system was bust, said Raynsford.‘This apocalypticcritique frankly doesn’t stack up.’ Only time will tell.

COMMUNITY-BASED BUDGETSProposals for community-based budgets will also beoutlined in the localism bill, Lord Wei, the coalition’s ‘BigSociety’ advisor, has suggested. Four councils have so farbeen testing the potential of so-called community-basedbudgets as part of a pilot programme that could lead toradical changes to the way funding is devolved. Manyplacemakers look forward to the moves: freeing localauthorities from ring-fenced grants and centrally-imposedregimes. However, the benefit of community-based budgetswould seem to be restricted to the fact that councils canhave more control over local government monies andlimited sums from other public sector budgets in order toaddress the challenges of communities with complex needs.Proposals for community-based budgets will be outlined inthe forthcoming Localism Bill, Lord Wei has suggested.Again, only time will tell.

Change is in the air, as local communities takemore control over their own future. Localpeople know their area best.The civicmovement is part of this.We want to play arevitalised role in promoting civic pride andmaking the places where everyone lives moreattractive, enjoyable and distinctive

Borneo Sporenburg, Holland, has been masterplanned as a sustainable and

affordable urban extension with good transport links and people-friendly

streets. Residents frequently bring tables and chairs into the street for parties

18

DEMYSTIFYINGDESIGN APPRAISALThe new emphasis on localism suggests that a wider range of peoplewill become actively involved in decisions about design and development,with direct impact on design quality.The Qualityreviewer toolkit can helpstakeholders to make better-informed and more thoughtful decisions.By Rob Cowan

One of the government’s first specific announcements onlocalism in planning has been that land trusts will be allowedto build small numbers of affordable houses without planningpermission, if the proposal is overwhelmingly approved in alocal referendum.The proposal has been met with some alarm.Will this not mean that people without relevant professionalskills will be deciding on the quality of development?Yes, it will.But to some extent that is already the case.

Every year one question is asked of hundreds of thousandsof planning applications, ranging from household extensions tonew settlements: ‘Will this proposal create a well-designeddevelopment?’ In many cases the judgement is in the hands ofplanners, councillors and others who have little or no trainingin, or experience of, design and who are often unable to drawon specialist support. The difference in future may be thatmany more people will be involved in considering whether aparticular development is suitable for their locality.What theywill need is some help in demystifying the process ofappraising the design quality of development.

This is just what Qualityreviewer has been developed to do.Created for the Homes and Communities Agency,Qualityreviewer helps people to think through the issues. It isnot intended to turn every planner, councillor or citizen into adesign expert, but it can help them make better-informed andmore thoughtful decisions.The Qualityreviewer method assistswith getting the best from design and access statements,as well

as helping to determine the planning application or judging theproposal. It supports the development of new skills for planners,councillors, local activists, regeneration professionals, studentsand anyone else committed to raising standards of design quality.

FOCUSING ON QUALITYQualityreviewer can structure pre-application discussions,focusing on quality, and helping planners and applicants tounderstand one another. It can structure design and accessstatements, focusing them on the important issues. It canstructure planning applications, and provide a clear and simplebasis for appraising their design quality. It can provide the basisfor a land trust and its local community to communicate withone another about a proposed housing development.

Consider this example of how Qualityreviewer can be usedin development control and management. The developerwants to discuss a development proposal. One of the localauthority’s staff – let us call her the quality champion for thisproposal – sees it as her role to help reconcile the developer’sown interests with the wider public interest, with the hope ofachieving an outcome that is better for both sides.

The first step is to make sure that the developerunderstands the site and area, and what policy and guidanceapply.The developer’s short written record of his conclusionsis useful at this stage in discussions with the local authority’sofficers, and will later become part of the design statement.

The planners ask: what is the design concept? In otherwords: what’s the big idea? The developer explains, and theplanners begin to understand how he is thinking. Now theyare able to consider the likely impact of the proposeddevelopment, and to allocate the local authority’s resources oftime and skills accordingly. As it happens, this is both asensitive site and a fairly large development.

Sometimes the local authority’s officers discuss adevelopment proposal in its early stages by exchanging writtencomments or by meeting to present individual perspectives. Insuch exchanges or meetings, the highway engineer explainswhat road widths and radiuses are specified in the regulations;the planner has figures for minimum overlooking distances;the police liaison officer explains which types of layout he orshe objects to on security grounds; and so on.

In this case the quality champion calls for a differentapproach. The officers consider what qualities thedevelopment could create for the place, and how each of theirown particular skills and perspectives could help to create aplace with those qualities. The design qualities set out inQualityreviewer, and the related questions, are used as aprompt for this.

The officers start by considering movement and legibility.Who will be able to get around most easily and reach theirdestinations most conveniently? To whom will thedevelopment be easily accessible? How will the proposal

19

02N

EWC

OM

MU

NIT

IES:THENEW

MASTER

PLANNING

Qualityreviewer can structure design andaccess statements, focusing them on theimportant issues. It can structure planningapplications, and provide a clear and simplebasis for appraising their design quality ... as forthe developer, he sees the planning process ashaving contributed to his scheme’s design quality,rather than having subjected it blindly to a seriesof unconnected standards, regulations, practicesand prejudices

accommodate existing desire lines for pedestrian movement?How will the proposal promote the use of public transportand cycling?They ask only those questions that seem relevant,and give the issues the attention that is due according to theproposed scheme’s impact and significance.

The officers follow on with Qualityreviewer’s questionsabout space and enclosure; mixed uses and tenures;adaptability and resilience; resources and efficiency; andarchitecture and townscape. It is not an easy discussion.Therewill be difficult potential conflicts of opinion and professionalperspective to resolve. But by the time the planningapplication is submitted, the officers – and the councillors whohave been involved – all feel that the final developmentscheme will achieve more for the public interest than theyhad thought possible.

As for the developer, he sees the planning process as havingcontributed to his scheme’s design quality, rather than havingsubjected it blindly to a series of unconnected standards,regulations, practices and prejudices.The developer is used toviewing the task of writing a design statement to accompanya planning application as a chore.This time, it is much easier.The design statement has been developing in draft from thestart of the project.The site and area appraisal was recordedat the time it was carried out, so now it has only to beaccommodated in the design statement.The design principleswere carefully thought out, and can now be reproduced in thedesign statement.

This design and access statement, unlike many others,shows a clear relationship between the appraisal and thedesign principles, and between the design principles and thefinal scheme. That constitutes a logical story that the localauthority, and anyone else with an interest in the planningapplication, will find easy to understand.

The aim of Qualityreviewer is to make this sort of logicalthinking more common. It was urgently needed whenjudgments about design were made mainly through theplanning process. The need will be even greater if thegovernment succeeds in involving a wider community involvedin approving development.

� Rob Cowan is a director of Urban Design Skillswww.urbandesignskills.com

The Qualityreviewer method explains how to appraisedesign quality by asking 10 questions.These questionsmay sound obvious: too often, though, a developmentproposal goes through the planning process withoutanyone asking them.

1. What is special about the place?2. How should policy and guidance be applied?3. What is the design concept?4. How significant is the scheme’s impact likely to be?5. What are the design’s strengths and weaknesses?6. Does the design team have the right skills and

approach?7. How can we ensure that the design will be well

executed?8. Is the scheme likely to be

well managed andmaintained?

9. Do we need moreinformation and advice?

10. Is the design goodenough?

Qualityreviewer is available inbook form and, in brief, atwww.qualityreviewer.co.uk

ASKING THE RIGHT QUESTIONS…

20

DELIVERING A CARBONNEUTRAL COMMUNITY

Graylingwell Hospital was part of network of hospitals andasylums built during the 19th century for those suffering metalillness or with serious disabilities. Many, like Graylingwell, wereconceived as self-contained communities, with their own farmsand kitchen gardens,orchards,administrative offices,workplaces,chapels,and therapeutic landscapes, in addition to hospital wardsand treatment facilities. But as clinical approaches to thetreatment of mental health changed, many of these placesbecame redundant, and Graylingwell was amongst 96 hospitalsites transferred from the NHS to English Partnerships, as partof the Government initiative to use public sector assets to meetthe national housing need. A competitive process undertaken byEnglish Partnerships (now the Homes & Communities Agency)was won by a joint-venture between private developers LindenHomes and Downland Housing Association/Affinity Sutton,primarily because of their commitment to a net carbon zerodevelopment, which far exceeded the performance targets.Theproposals for the 34-hectare site were developed by a team ledby John Thompson & Partners, with Joachim Eble Architektur,Studio Engleback andWSP, and driven by the idea of reinstatingGraylingwell as a self-sustaining community by using four keyapproaches: these are briefly outlined below.

1. COLLABORATIVE PLANNINGThe winning bid proposed a consensus-led masterplanningprocess, using techniques pioneered by JTP on their award-winning Caterham Barracks project,also undertaken for LindenHomes.The Graylingwell Community Planning Weekend washeld during March 2008 and involved more than 350 participantsincluding local residents, business people, council officers, artsgroups, university representatives and other key stakeholders.The community event revealed great affection for the buildingsand landscapes of the former asylum, and served as a reminderof the social importance of these civic institutions.

As a consequence, the development team set up the‘Graylingwell Forum’ for local residents, businesses and interestgroups to serve as a platform for regular communication andfeedback. From this point, the participative approach to designwas effectively an urban‘change management’ process,with localpeople having a key role in determining how the Graylingwellsite should be integrated into the town, while retaining a senseof identity as a self-sustaining community.

Graylingwell Park will be the UK’s largest carbon neutral development,located on the site of a former hospital near Chichester. Set within 85acres of parkland grounds, it will provide around 750 new andconverted homes along with a range of new community amenities,managed by a Community DevelopmentTrust. By Marcus Adams

21

02N

EWC

OM

MU

NIT

IES:THENEW

MASTER

PLANNING2.WORKINGWITHTHE PAST

The masterplan for Graylingwell Park was informed by researchinto the hospital site,and also the wider urban context,with thefinal design inspired by the ‘Chichester Cross’ – the cruciformstructure of the city centre, which grew up around the crossingpoint of two main Roman roads.The original hospital was laidout with a strong north-south axis linking the hospital to theorchards/kitchen gardens.A new cross axis was added to this,linking Summersdale Road in the west, to the farm in the east, astrategy that placed the existing listed chapel, and a new greenat the very heart of the development. Over time, the clarity ofthe original hospital had been eroded by a large number ofextensions and infill buildings. One of the key urban designapproaches was to restore the original structure of the hospital,and then enhance this using new development.This was not onlyhighly sustainable,but also built on the strong sense of place thatalready existed.A rigorous assessment of all the existing buildingswas undertaken to determine what should be retained,with thelocal community involved in considering appropriate future uses.

The original buildings were designed by eminent Victorianarchitect Sir Arthur Blomfield (1829-99), with the first buildingsdating from around 1895. Architecturally, Graylingwell is lessinstitutional in character than other former hospital sites of thesame period,due to Blomfield using a QueenAnne Revival stylefor the design of the core buildings. Existing features werecarefully considered in the subdivision of the interiors into aresidential mix that includes three-storey houses with gardens,one and two-bedroom apartments, and more quirky ‘loft- style’attic conversions designed by GillespieYunnie Architects.

The new dwellings in the refurbished buildings will be openplan in design,with contemporary finishes used to contrast withthe existing period fabric, which will be exposed whereverpossible. High ceilings and tall windows will be exploited, anddouble/triple aspects used to maximise views of the surroundinglandscape. In accordance with ambitious eco-homes targets,single-glazed windows will be replaced with double-glazedreplicas and inner walls insulated.

A parallel study examined the existing parkland which waslisted on English Heritage’s Register of Parks and Gardens of SpecialHistoric Interest. Wherever possible, new development wasplanned around mature trees, and original landscape featuressuch as the patients ‘airing courts’,allotments and orchards were

reinstated,and this ‘productive landscape’ integrated into a widernetwork of green infrastructure including ‘edible streets’.

3.CARBON NEUTRAL PLACEMAKINGWhen complete, Graylingwell Park will be the largest carbonneutral development in the UK, with all new building formsdesigned to maximise daylight and passive heat from the sun. Inaddition, the demanding energy solution requires each unit,witha south facing roof in phase 1, to accommodate 25m2 ofphotovoltaic units. Such technological advances place newdemands on urban design approaches, with street layoutsconfigured in east-west street orientations,and made wider thanusual to prevent overshadowing, and also provide space for theSustainable Urban Drainage systems (SUDs).

Streetscapes are also carefully designed to provide differentsolutions for the north and south sides in terms of elevationalapproach, location of habitable rooms, parking, and nature ofgarden space. This demonstrates how low-energy designdemands a greater understanding of unit typologies in the earlystages of a project than has previously been required.

Graylingwell Park will offer 750 new and converted homes

Graylingwell will offer 750 new and converted homes when complete,

including 300 affordable homes, along with community amenities –

artists’ studios, allotments, a farm shop, gallery space and creative

business office space, all managed by a Community DevelopmentTrust.

It is estimated the scheme will create around 200 local jobs. Some 622

mature trees have been retained and 1428 new trees, including fruit

trees, are being planted at the scheme

22

when complete, including 300 affordable homes, along withcommunity amenities – artists’ studios, allotments, a farm shop,gallery space and creative business office space, all managed bya Community Development Trust. It is estimated the schemewill create around 200 local jobs.

Some 622 mature trees have been retained and 1428 newtrees, including fruit trees, are being planted. Residents areencouraged to make the most of cycle routes and car clubsprovided to preserve this ‘green’ environment.

Other green approaches in residential design include highlevels of insulation and the use of energy efficient appliances.Homes use 33 per cent less water than traditional dwellings,and where possible materials are either recycled, or beingsourced within 50 miles of Graylingwell Park to save energy ongoods in transit.

The existing water tower at the heart of the scheme is ahighly visible and a treasured local landmark, and as such, wasthe natural location for the new energy centre.A combined heatand power plant provides heating and hot water to all homesthrough gas-powered, low-carbon technology. Excess powergenerated is fed back into the national grid resulting in lowerenergy bills for homeowners. An off-site wind farm will offsetthe remaining CO2 emissions generated. As a whole, thescheme will meet net zero carbon for the whole development,Code for Sustainable Homes Level 4, Code 6 for Energy,and EcoHomes Excellent on all refurbished buildings.

4. SEEDING COMMUNITYGood urban form alone cannot guarantee a thriving place, anda range of strategies are being employed at Graylingwell Park tomaximize social interaction and engender the sense ofbelonging required to seed a new community.Some 40 per centof the homes proposed for the site are tenure-blind affordableunits, pepper-potted across the site in small groupings, creatinga range of private sale, shared equity and social rentedproperties.These are all provided in a range of typologies ofvarying sizes, to encourage the development of a healthy mixedcommunity, made up of people from all backgrounds, and atdifferent life-stages.

A cultural strategy has also been developed, in consultationwith existing local inhabitants, to bring a sense of energy to thenew development in the early phases. Artists’ studios are

therefore included in the mixed-uses located in three ‘hubs’around the site.The hubs include community facilities, with alisted chapel and mixed-use hall, and commercial uses: a newfarm shop, café/gallery, a public house, offices and small localretail outlet.

Building on the success of previous experience at CaterhamBarracks, it was decided that all the mixed-uses should beowned and operated by a Community DevelopmentTrust, runby the new residents and businesses to engender a sense ofownership of Graylingwell Park as a place. A calendar ofactivities is being developed to act as a catalyst for socialinteraction. The first Graylingwell Summer fete was held inAugust with annual events planned for the future.These areintended to draw existing local people into the development,and further nurture good neighbourliness.

OUTCOMES:A HOLISTIC APPROACHTO DEVELOPMENTGraylingwell Park represents the latest stage in JohnThompson& Partners’ pursuit of sustainable urbanism:a holistic approachto development in which dynamic new places are created bycombining sensitive,but technologically advanced architectures,with existing historic buildings and mature landscapes. It ishighly ambitious in terms of low-energy architecture and urbandesign.The consensus-led approach to design fosteredconsiderable local support, and allowed an outline consent forthe masterplan, and detailed consent for Phase 1, granted inMarch 2009. Construction commenced on site later in thesame year, with completion due in 2016.

The project has been designed to achieve Building for LifeGold Standard, the national benchmark for neighbourhooddesign, and has already been identified as an exemplary projectby English Heritage in their publication Constructive Conservationin Practice.

Graylingwell Park has been awarded Best Low or CarbonZero Initiative in the Housebuilder Awards 2010 andSustainable Larger Social Project of the Year 2010 in theSustainable Housing Awards, organised by Inside Housing andSustainable Housing in association with the Chartered Instituteof Housing.

� MarcusAdams is Managing Partner, JohnThompson & Partnerswww.jtp.co.uk/

Low-energy design demands a greater understandingof unit typologies in the early stage of a project thanhas previously been required

Green credentials: residents are encouraged to make the most of cycle

routes and car clubs provided to preserve the ‘green’ environment.

Many of the new homes have photovoltaic roof panels and high levels

of insulation. Heating is provided by a central heating and power plant,

all appliances are energy efficient and the homes are expected to use

around a third less water than usual, keeping energy bills to a

minimum.The scheme will meet net zero carbon for the whole

development, Code for Sustainable Homes Level 4, Code 6 for Energy,

and EcoHomes Excellent on all refurbished buildings

23

02N

EWC

OM

MU

NIT

IES:THENEW

MASTER

PLANNINGCOMMUNITY-FOCUSED

URBAN DEVELOPMENTCommunity LandTrusts (CLTs) offer a potential solution to delivering developmentat local scales in urban and rural areas. A typical CLT will acquire land, develophousing and amenities and sell the properties at an affordable price, usually linkedto local incomes or fixed at a low percentage of market value. By Tom Moore

In August 2010, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg describedaccess to affordable housing as ‘one of the biggest long-termproblems in the country’. Many people have been priced out ofhome ownership due to escalating ratios between propertyvalues and average incomes.This disparity, coupled with hugewaiting lists for the limited supply of social housing, means thetrend of rising unmet housing need remains an acute problem.

One solution presented is the idea of a Community LandTrust (CLT).A typical CLT will acquire land, develop housing onit, and sell the properties at an affordable price,usually linked tolocal incomes or fixed at a low percentage of market value. TheCLT is able to do this by holding the land in trust, separating itsvalue from that of the building that stands upon it, and leasing itto the home owners on long leases. In this way,a CLT can createpermanently affordable housing by fixing the percentage ofmarket value or price the home should be sold at in the future.

Interest in the CLT model has grown in recent years andsuccessful CLTs have formed and developed housing across thecountry, ranging from the north east to the south west. One ofthe early adopters, St Minver CLT in Cornwall, developed 12self-build homes which were sold for a third of market value.Resales will be restricted to this percentage,ensuring the homesare perpetually more affordable than the market.

With this interest in mind, a National Community LandTrustNetwork has been created, hosted by the National HousingFederation and supported by Carnegie UK Trust andCommunity Finance Solutions at the University of Salford.

The London Citizens CLT gainedoverwhelming support for its bidto build a mixed use developmentin Mile End, east London

24

The Network promotes the CLT sector through lobbying andinfluencing Government and other key partners and supportsCLTs by providing much needed training and resources. aims tosupport CLT development and lobby on behalf of the trusts.

URBAN COMMUNITY LANDTRUSTSCapitalising on these developments, the Coalition Governmenthas unveiled plans to support the model.The principal supportwill be through reform of planning policies intended to create amore enabling structure for CLTs to gain planning permission forsmall-scale housing developments.However, these plans have sofar only referred to CLTs in rural areas and this neglects theinterest and development of the model in the urbanenvironment. Urban communities in Leeds and London areparticularly keen to utilise the CLT model.

Headingley Development Trust is a community-owned trustaiming to promote and develop a sustainable community innorth-west Leeds. The area suffers from a high rate ofstudentification, which is the process and product ofconcentrated settlements of student housing. As such, the areahas a particularly high rate of Houses of Multiple Occupation(HMOs), which are defined as homes shared by three or moreunrelated people who do not form a single household.

In 2008 a BBC survey identified Headingley as having thelowest level of community cohesion in the country, citing asreasons the high annual population turnover,the transient natureof a large portion of the community, and the demographicimbalances these issues generate.

Despite this, the trust has undertaken extensive work andgenerated widespread community support. It has nearly 1,000members and manages various projects aimed at stimulatingcommunity enterprise and activity.The trust is now seeking todevelop a community land trust in order to prioritise localpeople and families in the allocation of housing. Motivated bythe dual aims of providing more affordable housing andrebalancing the community, the trust hopes to create a mixedhousing market which can allow a more settled population tothrive and in turn build community cohesion.Backed by the localcommunity and local authority, the trust has explored keystrategies to advance their aims.The trust is negotiating to be apreferential partner when private developers are obliged tocontribute a portion of affordable housing as part of their

development.This may involve off site provision of affordablehousing which could be placed into the community’s ownership,or allocation of a developers’ commuted sum to allow the trustto invest the money and bring surplus student property into useas affordable family housing.

Another possible strategy would be to place greaterrestrictions on the use of properties as HMOs.Although notdirectly affiliated to the trust, the National HMO Lobby has astrong presence in Leeds and has campaigned for legislationwhich would allow local authorities more control over thenumber of HMOs in their area.This would oblige a landlord togain planning consent for the use of a property as a home ofmultiple occupation and as such ensure that concentrations ofsuch properties are avoided.

This legislation would clearly help the trust’s aims inHeadingley as they seek to create a more cohesive and balancedcommunity, but having been agreed by the previousadministration the new Coalition Government has decided torepeal the legislation, leaving local authorities unable to exerciseany effective control over HMOs.The National HMO Lobby saysthis ‘effectively sabotages’ the campaign’s efforts and undoubtedlyruns counter to the problem Headingley Development Trust istrying to solve through their CLT proposal.

Another prominent proposal for an urban community landtrust is led by the London Citizens group in east London.London Citizens CLT has emerged from the campaigning of theumbrella Citizens UK body which aims to increase the powerand influence of communities in public life.The CLT aims toacquire and develop the site of St Clement’s Hospital in MileEnd, creating family-sized housing which is affordable inperpetuity. The site is currently owned by the Homes andCommunities Agency and negotiations are ongoing as the CLTaims to acquire the land.

A team of planners, developers, architects and financiers areon board to provide expertise to the CLT as the schemedevelops, while simultaneously the project has a wealth ofsupport from the local community. Schools,mosques, churchesand other local institutions are on board in order to ensure theproject is not only backed by the local community, but alsorepresentative of it.Strong community organising and leadershipis at the heart of the CLT’s campaigning.After deciding upon theproposed site, the local community formed a steering group

which attempted,throughout the spring and summer of 2009,toestablish contact with the Homes and Communities Agency.When this proved unfruitful, the Mayor of London waspropositioned at a London Citizens meting of over 2,000 peopleat the Barbican in November, at which he pledged to lookseriously at the proposal.

Queen Mary University’s geography departmentcommissioned an in-depth study of the local area to ask themabout community partnerships proposals. Plans were met withoverwhelming approval and brought hundreds of newsupporters to the campaign, along with potential applicants forhousing on the site.

The Olympic Park Legacy Company has also met with thegroup and expressed its potential support for the scheme as ameans to create a viable pilot scheme ahead of plans to establisha CLT on its site,post 2012.The community partnership has also

A team in Digbeth, Birmingham, is proposing to use a small-scale

Community LandTrust model to build a small ‘demonstration’

sustainable development, comprising affordable/social housing, green

work spaces for environmental organisations and businesses, and a

wildlife garden, linked to neighbouring environmental community

building,TheWarehouse

25

02N

EWC

OM

MU

NIT

IES:THENEW

MASTER

PLANNINGset up an Industrial and Provident Society that is actively

fundraising so that it may become a viable project deliveryvehicle.The body has also attracted a respectable and HCAapproved investment partner and developer.

There is a Mayoral commitment to the delivery of aCommunity LandTrust in London.Boris Johnson made a pledgein his manifesto to deliver at least one CLT in the capital by 2011,while also agreeing to the possible use of the HCA as a vehiclethrough which this could be achieved. The possibility oftransferring the publicly-owned land in Mile End into communityownership offers the opportunity to fulfil this commitment, butin June 2010 the pledge to deliver a CLT was downgraded to anagreement to ‘investigate opportunities’ for a potential trust.

Despite this lowering of ambition, the trust remains hopefulof taking the site into community ownership and using it for thebenefit of local people in an area where housing demandsignificantly exceeds supply. They also intend to exploreopportunities for a CLT on the site of the Olympic Park inStratford, ensuring there is a legacy of community benefit fromthe 2012 games.

Community land trusts offer a practical contribution toresolving the affordable housing crisis. They also offergovernment the opportunity to fulfil electoral promises ofdecentralisation of power and influence,empowerment of localcommunities, and increased partnership working. Policyapproaches which allow local areas greater influence in theirhousing markets or encourage public land transfer can helpachieve these aims.

The CLTs in Headingley and in Mile End offer workablesolutions to problems in their local areas, backed by localcommunities and supported by a wider community land trustsector that is beginning to mature.The newly-formed NationalCLT Network will offer practical technical support for trusts asthey aim to bring schemes forward and build on theaccomplishments of the early adopters. All urban CLTs neednow is greater assurance that the reality of the government’s‘Big Society’ matches the rhetoric.

�Tom Moore works with Community Finance Solutions,an independent CLT research and development unit withinSalford Universitywww.communitylandtrusts.org.uk

The London Citizens CLT for the St Clement’s Hospital sitebrings together planners, urban designers and otherpractitioners and advisors with an approved HCA deliverypartner and an enabling developer.The group has prepared adetailed set of plans for the site, and is currently waiting forthe HCA tender process to begin.

London Citizens, an alliance of 160 member institutionsrepresenting faith institutions, universities and schools, tradeunions and community groups, is made up ofThe EastLondon Communities Organisation (TELCO), South LondonCitizens andWest London Citizens. London Citizens has itsroots in the campaign group Citizens UK, which set upsocial enterprise the UK Centre for Civil Society, which inturn runs the College of Community Organising (CoCO).

CoCO offers training opportunities for those who wish totake part in community organising. One of CoCO’s firstclients was David Miliband MP, who was advised on how tobuild a ‘Movement for Change’ within the Labour Party. Atthe completion of the contract, the Movement for Changehad trained over a thousand local leaders in basic communityorganising skills, and has been hailed by Ed Miliband as animportant legacy from the Labour leadership contest.

The London Citizens CLT has formed a registeredcommunity land trust with 18 trustees, evenly split betweenpotential residents, local community representatives from

ST CLEMENT’S URBAN CLT

schools, churches, mosques, Queen Mary University andprofessional practitioners.Although community land trusts aremature delivery vehicles in rural contexts, there have beenspecific challenges inherent in forming an urban communityland trust.‘The main issue has been defining the community,especially somewhere as diverse as east London,’ says DaveSmith, Community Organiser for London Citizens.‘Oursolution is to work through a really wide range of local socialinstitutions and organisations, all of whom are represented viathe trustees.’

The community has already invested considerable work inexploring the area and preparing the plans, and hasresponded extremely positively to the demands of thedevelopment process.‘I hope that, when the bid assessmentprocess is underway, the huge mount of value that we’vealready brought to understanding the potential of this site isappreciated,’ says Smith.‘It’s been a long struggle for politicalrecognition and support, and through building up a greatteam that combines planners sitting side-by-side withpotential residents in our board meetings, it is a fight weknow we can win.’ Community-based schemes like this, saysSmith, can help to prevent urban drift and gentrification, andprovide an in-built subsidy that will grow rather thandiminish over time. But above all else, they will stand as alasting legacy to what organised communities can achieve.

Smith hopes that the recognition that this scheme isattracting will make others take note. We’ve had visits fromlocal councilors, then the leader ofTower Hamlets BoroughCouncil, and then the mayor of London at our people’sassemblies, says Smith.And before the recent general election,the three leaders of our main political parties accepted aninvitation to the trust’s public assembly, at which 2,500 peopleput the case to them for community land trusthomeownership, live on national television.’

Smith also hopes that more funds will be available forcommunities in future, instead of ‘going instead to someonewho proposes to write a glossy report about nationalhousing policy and the “sad sights” to be found within partsof town they have only ever visited on Wikipedia’. And withBig Society promises just around the corner, maybe this timehe’ll be in luck.

03

26 ENABLINGCOMMUNITIES TODELIVER THEIR OWNFUTURES

30 INFORMATION, IDENTITYAND INDIVIDUALITY

33 RE-ENGINEERING THECITY: INVISIBLEINFRASTRUCTURE

36 CREATIVE AND CRITICAL:BEYOND BOUNDARIES

39 LEARNING TO LOVESHARED SPACE

EXISTINGCOMMUNITIES

Our first consideration is: how can the inherent values ofplace be identified and used to empower communities to ‘buy-in’ to their local areas?

The inherent values of a place may be defined on two levels.Firstly, there are those values that have been identified byprevious or existing communities, either through legislature(protection), use-association (tradition) or cultural references(commemoration).These may be considered ‘expert’ values,which require prior knowledge or education. Secondly, thereare those values which are universally apparent, and mayappeal to people on a basic level, with little or no priorknowledge required. Generally these values can be linked tosense-perceptions (awe, comfort, familiarity, beauty, disquiet).

Historic places and features play a major role in shapingidentity. Communities that have a long history with a placeunderstand, often at a taken-for-granted level, the role certainbuildings, places and icons play in their concept of localidentity. However ways of translating this sense of heritage topeople who are migrants from other places has been moredifficult. Conversely, both communities may relate to the non-expert values of a place, which may gain precedence in anycommunity-led process.

Where ‘new’ communities have been entrenched in an areafor some time, but have not had past values communicatedto them, those values may be lost or unappreciated, or evenviewed negatively.

In undertaking retrofit or place-making initiatives that

ENABLING COMMUNITIESTODELIVERTHEIR OWN FUTURESA Big Society goal is to enable communities to deliver their own futures.We believe that if we can provide the tools, skills and resources required todeliver self-sustaining communities, then this goal is achievable and realistic.By John Brown and Suzanna Pembroke

benefit the whole community, we need to be able to accountfor the presence of new groups, and also challenge our ownassumptions about what is considered ‘heritage’ by existinggroups. Groups such as BEN (Black Environment Network)recognise the role heritage plays in linking people with place.

It is important to define those assets within the landscapethat have a cultural value of either an ‘expert’, or a ‘universal’nature, The model we might adopt is that of Rapid AssetAssessment, based on using values defined by EnglishHeritage’s Conservation Principles for assessing significance.This baseline data survey then allows assets to be assessedspatially, relative to one another, and their valuecommunicated.

Our second question is: who are the communities that ‘holda stake’ in a place, and how can their appreciation of place-value enhance social capital?

In the United Kingdom,our local communities are composedof people with different ages,ethnicity, classes,health and socialexperience. The way in which these social factors are handledduring regeneration and maintenance of the urban environmentcan lead to opportunities for better equality, better diversity ofpopulations and inclusion of all, thus empowering vulnerablegroups and improving the communities’ wellbeing and resilience.Or they can destabilise communities by creating social barriers,false stereotypes and enforcing disempowerment of vulnerablegroups. Assisting local communities to take ownership overthese projects has been shown to go a long way towards

27

03EX

IST

ING

CO

MM

UN

ITIE

Senhancing social capital.An exemplar of this is the BoveyTraceyClimate Action Community.

Places can be shaped to encourage a greaterappreciation and valuation by those using that place. Ifcommunities understand the value of features within theirlocal space, as outlined above, and not only value but activelyengage with these features, it is likely that social capital willbe enhanced. The promotion of positive norms and thefostering of community-led projects with reference to place-shaping has strong potential to introduce positive change tourban landscapes.

To achieve this, an understanding of the spectrum ofsocial factors present within our communities, and anappreciation of place and what works for them is critical whenwe engage with them to bring about change. This can bethrough a combination of open public consultation,multimedia consultation (paper survey, online survey, socialmedia focus groups), reaching less visible groups through‘already trusted envoys’ of those communities.

A third consideration is: what barriers prevent communitiesfrom laying claim to values of place, and enhancing their socialcapital through place-shaping?

Historic forces, environmental conditions and social factors,including ideas of social class, hierarchical roles and genderhave played a big part in the development of our currenturban environments. The communities that inhabit theseplaces have often inherited an urban form which was designednot for their demographic, but usually by a body of peoplefrom a different socio-economic background.Therefore thephysical space is at odds with their needs and values.

One of the tools we use to understand how people engagewith place measures the factors that people value aboutcertain aspects of the physical environment.The features beingmeasured range from green infrastructure and public spaces,to museums or arts-focused venues, heritage places and eatingand drinking venues. The tool calculates the degree to whichour perception of place is affected by external influences suchas health, accessibility, ethnic background and employmentstatus. The tool allows us to identify the strength of theseexternal factors on our perception of an area and how theyaffect our value. The measuring of these factors allows us to

Our tools help us to understand how people engage with place by measuring what they value about certain aspects of the physical environment

identify community profiles that are not benefiting from aplace or feature in a positive way, this then allows thesecommunities to receive more attention, and the reason fortheir lack of positive values to be addressed. Empoweringcommunities to lay claim to places and to enact change,requires the identification of these barriers.

Our fourth concern is: how are these barriers andchallenges being overcome so as to enhance value and identityof a place for the future? It is in identifying those communitygroups who will invest in a place that sustainability for thefuture can best be achieved. Consultation with communitygroups is aimed at defining concepts of significance of place

from the perspective of all groups claiming interest orinvestment in a place. Often these interests are based on‘intangibles’, associated with memory, oral history, andmetaphysical perceptions of the place, as well as physical orcommemorative structures. Sometimes, although all groupswant to be involved in the consultation process, tensionbetween groups can develop regarding rights to speak, andwhich group’s interpretation of appropriate use is valid.Mediating this potential for tension is a key part of the processof empowerment.Also important is the need to recognise andengage those trusted with the role of speaking for the group,and those with the ability to ‘translate’ cultural norms and

29

03EX

IST

ING

CO

MM

UN

ITIE

Svalues between groups.The work of the group Brixton Green,led by Pete Blake, is setting a high standard of place-makingwhich seeks to embed inclusivity and community ownershipat the heart of their initiative.

The remit of the project is community-led regeneration,ensuring the community members are actually economicshareholders in the project, owning an equal share of place,and that the project delivers business and sustainable socialand economic outcomes relevant to that community. Similarly,David Barrie’s (see page 58) work with The People’sSupermarket in Camden has demonstrated viable economicresults for a community-led and managed co-operative,although it could be argued that the greater value is in itsfostering of community spirit. In both cases, the role of themediator or ‘translator’ is apparent, in engaging with differentcommunities.

There is a need to engage communities and their envoysthrough a neutral or mediated space. The space may bemetaphysical, embodied in an individual or steering group, orit may be a physical space relevant to all communities – or itmay be both. This process of mediation should allow for thegroups to become empowered to self-govern their place.

The fifth issue is:how important is behaviour change to thesuccess of people-led place shaping in achieving sustainabilityof identity and place, and how can behaviour change berealized within communities?

Behaviour change is not just about advocating change, butis rather about building upon the good that exists andaddressing the bad. Change is therefore not immediate butrather a continuum of small steps towards realising theoutcome. Enacting behaviour change means understandingthe role of internal factors such as cultural attitudes, socialfactors, norms and habits and external factors such aspolicy/governance influence. This is where ‘bridging’ and‘linking’ social capital can be most effective. As noted byGraham, Mason and Newham (2009:6), the more groups ofpeople are active in heritage or place-shaping activities thegreater the social capital that can be developed.

One of the areas in which behaviour change is linked toplace-shaping is through the role of bridging social capital: the‘bridging’ of various groups within a community to work

together to a common goal.WithinArup, a key example of thisis the work of Samantha Rex and others involved in developingstrategic international approaches to the sustainable provisionof drinking water in developing countries (the triple S project).The key to the success of this project is the realization ofcommon goals of disparate governments, local communities,and aid organizations, through a three-dimensional projectmanagement toolkit, which identifies suitable processes todeliver desired behaviour change outcomes based ongeography, the political environment, partnering agencies, andlocal community needs and expectations.

A critical process in successful behaviour change is capacitybuilding. If we cannot ensure that the knowledge and skillsbase of the originators is maintained, and inherited by the nextgeneration, than incremental behaviour change will be difficult,if not impossible, to achieve.

Finally, we consider: in order to achieve the above, whatrole does policy play in allowing community to govern theirown places? Policy provides the minimum compliance andbenchmarks against which our clients and projects will needto operate to achieve goals for place-shaping at the local level.We identify seven key areas where policy will need to providean ‘armature’ upon which successful community-led modelscan be based.

1. Greater emphasis on delivery at the local level2. Civic renewal3.The challenge of our aging population4.The eradication of inequality5. Community cohesion6. Economic prosperity7. Climate change and sustainability

Arup’s interdisciplinary approach to projects ensures aholistic assessment needs and assists in identifyingcommon values and goals.This is an area where communitieswill benefit from partnering with professional organisationsand local authorities to enable place-shaping, for example byhelping to identify assistance, funding, or tools available forcommunities to use.The development of those processes, andthe tools which underpin them, is an area which will requiresignificant contribution from external partners in the publicand private sectors, However the process need not becontrolled by them: rather they should act as mediators in theprocess, empowering communities to deliver their ownpositive futures.

� John Brown and Suzanna Pembroke work withArup Londonwww.arup.com

30

INFORMATION, IDENTITYAND INDIVIDUALITYA customisable, ‘ready-to-go’ urban realm wayfinding system named ‘frank’ is bringing established – andaffordable – best practice to a wide range of towns and cities

Many smaller cities and towns lack strong visual identities andsystems to knit together urban realm networks, to uncoverlocal assets, and to highlight hidden gems. In the currenteconomic climate, successful towns and cities must offerpublic realm quality, character and identity, backed withamenity, vision, leadership, skills and energy, all withinsqueezed budgets. Looking to the future becomes as muchabout maximising existing place assets as it is about attractingnew development. Creating a recognisable character involvesidentifying ways in which a place can define and trade on itsunique characteristics – and on the ways in which itcommunicates these assets to locals and visitors.

In the context of communicating place, there aredemonstrable benefits to be gained from bespoke wayfindingsystems. However, it is the strategy that is key – the tangible,physical structures can only be as effective as thecommunication and graphics allow. The evidence base thatunderpins informed decision-making about pedestrianmovement and choice continues to grow, but ‘no-brainers’ are

Consistency: In line with current urban design policy, frank’s goal is to bring consistency to the urban realm across wayfinding structures, street furniture, feature lighting and even street naming. frank is customisable

aesthetically, in terms of adding bespoke products, and in terms of sizing/dimensions.The system is also future-proofed, and could accommodate interactive digital technologies if required

Accurate costings: frank

is already designed and

developed, allowing the

provision of accurate

up-front costs, based on

the combination of

products and their

specification.This

overcomes a major

obstacle for many clients,

who struggle to commit to

large design budgets when

the end product isn’t yet

defined (or designed)Schemeimage:King’sCollege

Plaza,London

SE1|Projectmanaged

bySouthBank

Employers’Group

onbehalfofLambeth

Council

31

03EX

IST

ING

CO

MM

UN

ITIE

S

already leading public ream strategy across the UK: promotingwalking and cycling, enabling accessibility to diverse town andcity centre uses, showcasing local distinctiveness and thevernacular, supporting visitor management and marketingstrategies, and enhancing the design quality and consistency ofthe urban realm.

Bringing established best practice to a wide range of townsand cities, in an affordable manner, is the driving force behind‘frank’, a customisable, ‘ready-to-go’ urban realm systemencompassing wayfinding structures, feature lighting, streetnames and urban furniture. ‘Rooted as it is in current goodpractice, frank removes a considerable portion of the designcost and so allows smaller organisations with restricted budgetsto make a presence,’ says frank’s creative director RogerCrabtree of fwdesign,a design and wayfinding consultancy basedin London. Working in collaboration, fwdesign andWoodhouse,specialist manufacturer of lighting and street furniture forLegible London, Canary Wharf and Kensington High Street,amongst other projects, have created frank.

One of the key principles behind the new system is to offera best practice solution from two companies that are bothexperts in their fields, at a price that makes quality design anddelivery truly accessible.Woodhouse’s input, which includes a

crucial role in value engineering the designs into ready-to-gosolutions at a known price, bestows additional credibility uponfrank, based on its established reputation. ‘Together,’ saysWoodhouse’s Romy Rawlings,‘we have decades of experience indeveloping urban realm products.We are the ideal collaborationto bring an innovative solution like frank to market.’

TANGIBLE AND TRANSPARENTSeveral large cities such as London and Bristol have investedheavily in legibility and developed ‘best practice’ ways toencourage pedestrians to explore and discover what they haveto offer. Yet extensive investment – in terms of time as well asexpense – is needed to deliver such bespoke solutions. ‘Abespoke wayfinding system comes at a price,’ says Crabtree.‘For a typical large-scale retail development, the total cost –

Innovative:As well as providing consistency across all potential urban realm needs, frank also introduces real innovation – from the ‘marker’ which

helps define cycle routes and heritage trails, to the integration of solar powered illumination

including design, development, manufacture and installationcosts – could range from £200,000 to £500,000. A large citycentre system could be priced at twice as much – with deliveryof a tangible product in the ground often remaining a worrying‘unknown’ until some way into the design process. This iswhere frank, with its up-front transparency, offers asignificant advantage.’

Time is also a key factor, adds Crabtree. ‘Designing awayfinding system can take anything between six to 18 months,depending on place, the number of stakeholders and usergroups and the planning and development processes.Frequently, says Crabtree, the design process for physicalsignage works the ‘wrong’ way around. ‘Historically, a productdesigner would design a family of sign structures, hand it to thegraphic designer, and say “put some information on that”, and

The process of revealing the ‘hiddengems’ associated with every local areainforms our approach to wayfinding.Deliver that, within a system like frankthat brings affordable, best practicestructures to any area without the needfor big budgets and long lead times, andyou have a winning formula

’

32

map-driven solutions, as opposed to predetermined directionalsystems. ‘The map can be a very powerful device to give peoplereassurance about where they are,but can also encourage themto go and discover,’ says Crabtree. ‘Maps enforce the fact thatyou’re on a journey.What’s in front of you on the map is whatyou’ll go and find.’ There may be other tiers of information, forexample transport links, that can be embedded into thepedestrian wayfinding experience.‘But this has to be managedcarefully because you can overload the situation very quickly.’

With frank, says Crabtree, we can now begin to deliverwayfinding benefits for smaller towns and cities. ‘Being “small”no longer stops you having a successful information system –this is one of the key driving forces behind frank,’ he adds. ‘Everyplace has presence, and value, yet frequently even people livingin an area don’t know what it has to offer. But there is alwaysgood local knowledge, and making use of local expertise is keyto frank at every level.’

DEFINING THE END COSTSet within the current context of localism, using products likefrank can be free up local resource for sound strategydevelopment. Stakeholder consultation remains key. Successfulpedestrian wayfinding systems need to be designed to deliverlocal content in an accessible, legible manner. ‘We feel thatfrank’s known costs allow smaller towns and cities to get themaximum from a limited budget by ring-fencing what they needfor the implementation of tangible ‘product’ costs, and puttingthe biggest possible budget into strategy and informationgraphics,’ says Rawlings.‘We are turning traditional signageprojects on their head by defining the end cost (the physicalproduct), and allowing as much as possible to be spent onupfront strategy and information design.’

In terms of design, frank’s physical family has the flexibility,scalability and versatility to carry the information identified bya local strategy.The cost of developing the physical structurescan be as much as one-third of the entire value of a wayfindingscheme. ‘Because we’re not having to engage with the designprocess of the physical product, there’s no cost there andthere’s no lead time in that process,’ says Crabtree. ‘Moreresource can be put into contextualisation, graphic content,materials and finish.’

An information system should help to make people aware of

what is there, but should also be about surprise and discovery,says Crabtree. ‘Outside the entrance to our office, we have alocal area map for visitors,and on that map we put our favouriteplaces: a hidden local garden, the best cake shop in London anda great little place to eat.This process of revealing the ‘hiddengems’ that are associated with every local area by those thatknow it well informs our approach to wayfinding. Deliver that,within a system like frank that brings affordable, best practicestructures to any area without the need for big budgets andlong lead times, and we think you have a winning formula. ’

� Juliana O’Rourke spoke with Roger Crabtree andRomy Rawlingswww.fwd-product.com

Unique and customisable:No two versions of frank will look the

same –from the steel frame to the choice of plinth, the graphic style,

colour, materials and finishes are customised for each project. frank

also brings new products into play, for example a routemarker

Sustainability: frank offers eco-friendly illuminated mapping at an

affordable price via solar power, and has been designed with 100

per cent recyclability in mind

Photorender:solarfrankinsamplelocation

then someone would have thought about how and where toplace the structures in the context of the street.This is thereverse of what we do now. For us, strategy drives theinformation and the information then drives the physical entity.’That entity may not be a structure at all, he adds. ‘It may beintegrated with the environment, or be part of a landscape orpart of a building.’

CIVIC CONSISTENCYEven if budgets and lead times allow, wayfinding projects oftenmiss opportunities to take a holistic approach to theenvironment;encompassing signage structures, street furnitureand street names. Most cities and towns also have a wide arrayof maps from the many different agencies involved in civicgovernance, and there’s precious little organisation orconsistency. Through both consultancy and frank, Crabtree’saim is ‘to offer wayfinding solutions across all touchpoints, andthrough all media, that are a consistent extension of the placebrand.’ The team behind frank will always put the emphasis on