Streetscape Urban Design Group Urban

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MAKING STREETS PEOPLE ENJOY Summer 2018 Urban Design Group Journal 147Urban Issn 1750 712x Design Streetscape

Clapham Old Town Public Realm Brighton North Street Public Realm WINNER: NLA Awards 2015 ‘Best Public Space’; and HIGHLY COMMENDED at the Landscape Institute Awards 2017, WINNER: London Planning Awards 2015 ‘Best New Public Space’ ‘Adding Value through Landscape’.

Venn Street Public Realm Glasgow City Centre Avenues WINNER: London Transport Awards 2015 ‘Excellence in Walking’; UM is the lead designer for this ambitious project, making the and HIGHLY COMMENDED at the RTPI Awards 2015. city centre’s main streets better for walking, cycling, + city life.

We specialise in research, planning, strategy and design for streets, and our inter-disciplinary team has all the skills necessary to work creatively and effectively in the most complex and challenging of urban environments. Exmouth House 3 - 11 Pine Street We understand the real social, cultural and London EC1R 0JH economic value of streets and spaces, and always @UM_Streets URBAN strive to make cities and towns healthier, more +44 (0)20 3567 0710 [email protected] DESIGN successful, and more enjoyable. www.urbanmovement.co.uk GROUP URBAN DESIGN UDG_Streets_v2.indd 1 06/04/2018 16:37 GROUP NewsUDG NEWS

By my current counting, Canary Wharf is going through its third rebuilding in some 30 years, and probably its 30th masterplan. I’m also pretty sure that someone is already thinking that the pointy bit at the top of the Shard is a waste of valuable real estate, and is drafting plans for something more ambitious. I digress. What was especially delightful about the UDG’s debate was the sense of unity amongst the speakers, which included our special guest, and president of Civic Voice. Griff Rhys Jones (his talk is on Urban Nous, please watch it and share). Of course, the UDG is a broad church: we welcome the medical profession with open arms for they understand the consequences of loneliness in society; and we always have space for traffic/highway engineers, near the exit (only joking) as they have a much under- appreciated role in successful urban design. But to be able to welcome a world-famous comedian who has a significant public voice, is a first! As it happens Griff is a mixed use developer and has been a resident of Clerk- enwell for many years; who could be more qualified to represent Civic Voice and, as it happens, the Victorian Society? Incidentally talking of loneliness, the latest wheeze to address this issue, and to tackle the housing crisis (always a crisis, never a problem) is to convert student dorms into ‘shared community living’. Now, I can remember my student dorm days and it was a rite of passage to share a kitchen and toilet with 14 others. Today’s single bedrooms may be en-suite, but they are very cramped. Is this really the way forward? But I digress, again. What do pubs, Clerkenwell, meetings and making a dif- 1 ference have in common? Well, the Crown was design quality, not so much the need Tavern in Clerkenwell is where Lenin and Collaboration for it, but how to deliver it. After some 10 Trotsky allegedly first met in 1905, and we for design years of austerity, designers are very thin know what changes soon followed. Not that on the ground, as is highlighted by the the we are looking for revolution, but change quality local authorities’ design skills survey carried can be a great thing; to quote Margaret out by Matthew Carmona’s team for the UDG Mead ‘never doubt that a small group of and Place Alliance. thoughtful committed citizens can change Even if there is a design resource, there the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that Recently, the Urban Design Group (UDG) are no funds to pay for it. It’s not that good ever has’. hosted a collaborative event along with quality design is particularly expensive, it’s Place Alliance, inviting speakers from nine just that it is seemingly way down on the list Time to join the UDG! organisations to co-ordinate a response to of financial priorities for local government, • the emerging government policy on design. somewhere below pothole repairs but above Colin Pullan, Chair of Urban Design Group What started as a discussion between the annual fete. We, at the UDG, want this and Director of Urban Design at Lichfields UDG’s Director Robert Huxford and me to change. The new norm is to accept poor over a pint of beer in a local tavern, quickly design on the understanding that in a few developed into an entertaining evening years’ time, we can start again anyway. This debate, fuelled by quick-fire presenta- may be good news for architects, but it is 1 The Clerkenwell pub where Lenin and Trotsky met and tions given by some of urban design’s most bad news for anyone trying to create, or urban designers discussed progressive leaders. The underlying issue live in something a little more long-lasting. design quality.

National Urban Design Winchester Guildhall, followed by the Diary of events Conference 2018 Annual Dinner at the Cathedral. Hold the date: Friday 21 September To contribute a paper or for sponsorship Please check the UDG website with Urban Design Fest Thursday evening opportunities, please contact www.udg.org.uk for the latest events. and urban design walk Saturday morning. [email protected].

Urban Design ― summer 2018 ― Issue 147 1 and

MAKING STREETS PEOPLE ENJOY Summer 2018 Urban Design Group Journal 147urban ISSN 1750 712X Design streetsCape Contents

This issue has been kindly sponsored 28 — Why Distributor Roads?, Graham by Urban Movement Smith 31 — Zürich: Synergies of Transport Policy

Venn Street Public Realm Glasgow City Centre Avenues WINNER: London Transport Awards 2015 ‘Excellence in Walking’; UM is the lead designer for this ambitious project, making the COVER and Public Space, Willi Hüsler with and HIGHLY COMMENDED at the RTPI Awards 2015. city centre’s main streets better for walking, cycling, + city life.

We specialise in research, planning, strategy and Vitoria Gasteiz: the river bordered by a Simon Jakob design for streets, and our inter-disciplinary team has all the skills necessary to work creatively and effectively in the most complex and challenging nature corridor. Photograph by Eduardo Rojo 34 — The Renovation of Avenida Gasteiz, of urban environments. Exmouth House 3 - 11 Pine Street We understand the real social, cultural and London EC1R 0JH Fraile Eduardo Rojo Fraile economic value of streets and spaces, and always @UM_Streets URBAN strive to make cities and towns healthier, more +44 (0)20 3567 0710 [email protected] DESIGN successful, and more enjoyable. www.urbanmovement.co.uk GROUP 37 — Reclaiming Historic City Centres from URBAN UPDATE Automobiles, Michelle DeRobertis and UDG_Streets_v2.indd 1 06/04/2018 16:37 DESIGN GROUP 3 — Nottingham’s Urban Room Maurizio Tira Urban Design Group 3 — Shaping Better Places Together 40 — A Pedestrian Pioneer: Florida Street in Chair Colin Pullan 4 — London’s Public Realm Buenos Aires, Sebastian Loew Patrons Irena Bauman, Alan Baxter, 4 — The Draft NPPF – Consultation 43 — Impressions from China, Tim Pharoah Dickon Robinson, Lindsey Whitelaw and Meeting 46 — Making Streets Better, John Dales and John Worthington 5 — Design Quality Conference – Achieving Christopher Martin Well-designed Places Office 6 — The National Urban Design Awards book reviews Urban Design Group 2018 49 — Beyond Mobility – Planning Cities for 70 Cowcross Street 8 — UDG Study Tour Stockholm People and Places, Robert Cervero, London EC1M 6EJ 10 — Urban Design Library #26, New Lives, Erik Guerra and Stevan Al Tel 020 7250 0892 New Landscapes, Nan Fairbrother 49 — China’s Urban Revolution – Email [email protected] 11 — My Favourite Plan: Andy Ward Understanding Chinese Eco-Cities, Website www.udg.org.uk Austin Williams TOPIC: Streetscapes Editorial Board 12 — Street Design and Transport – 50 — PRACTICE INDEX Matthew Carmona, Richard Cole, International Perspectives, 56 — EDUCATION INDEX Tim Hagyard, Joe Holyoak, Tim Pharaoh Sebastian Loew, Daniela Lucchese, 15 — Shared Space: Helping to Create ENDPIECE Jane Manning, Chris Martin, Better Places, Pieter de Haan 57 — Obtaining Closure, Joe Holyoak Malcolm Moor, Geoff Noble, 18 — The Role of Connective Space in Judith Ryser, Louise Thomas Regeneration, Tanja Congiu and Alessandro Plaisant Editors 21 — Paris: Working with its Inhabitants, Sebastian Loew (this issue) Anne Faure [email protected] 24 — Reinventing Cities: From Urban FUTURE ISSUES Louise Thomas Highway to Living Space, Paul [email protected] Lecroart UD148 The Value of Design Review Book Review Editor UD149 Climate Change Jane Manning UD150 w Research Editors estern Europe Pablo Newberry and Contributions Christopher Howells to the journal Design Claudia Schenk trockenbrot www.trockenbrot.com If you are interested in contributing to The Editorial Board meets on a quarterly Printing Henry Ling Ltd the journal, please contact the editors basis and plans the forthcoming topics © Urban Design Group ISSN 1750 712X Louise Thomas and Sebastian Loew (email about a year in advance. If you would like to addresses on the left) with a very short suggest a future topic, please contact the Advertising enquiries summary of your proposal. We will advise editors with an indication of the issues to be Please contact the UDG office you on its suitability, best format, length addressed and likely contributors of articles. and timing for publication. The topics for the The choice of topics and articles is at next issues of Urban Design are listed above, the discretion of the editors, and is based on but contributions do not necessarily have readers’ interest, relevance to urban design, to relate to these, as other regular features, and how recently they have been featured in such as Viewpoints, address different issues. the publication.

Urban Design ― summer 2018 ― Issue 147 2 leader Learning from Abroad

The day before the start of a Urban Design Group articles on street design, that exemplifies how study tour to Stockholm (see p.8), the British much can be learned from abroad. Most articles Ministry of Housing and Local Government had deal with reclaiming the street from the car and organised the first conference on design quality giving more space to other modes of transport, in living memory, in which it placed ‘place’ design for the benefit of the whole urban population (sorry!) firmly at the core of its housing policy: and the environment. Examples vary in type and in his opening speech, the minister suggested scale, from the demolition of elevated motorways that the British development industry could learn to the redesign of streets or squares but they all lessons from other countries, a rare admission by – with the exception of China – reflect a change a British high-ranking politician, and he mentioned in culture and attitude. The results are ‘places’ Sweden specifically. that are liveable, well-connected and encourage healthy living. Serendipity did not end there. Earlier, the government had published a draft of the new So we ask, why can’t we do it in the UK? Why are NPPF and called for feedback from interested we not prioritising pedestrian and cyclists? Why parties. The UDG hosted a debate together do we build disconnected housing developments with a number of sister organisations, in order rather than places which are not dependent on to respond to this call. The contributions to the car? John Dales and Chris Martin’s article the NPPF debate and those to the Design shows that it can be done, albeit in London. Quality conference were either very similar or Will the new NPPF address these issues and will complementary, and so were the conclusions, the government’s avowed interest in design be particularly the need for more resources for local reflected by more resources to achieve these authorities (skilled staff and land), the failure of goals? We can only hope.• the market to provide good quality housing and the importance of ‘place making’ rather than Sebastian Loew, architect and planner, writer and consultant house building.

Stockholm offered particularly good examples of the latter, perhaps not surprisingly in view of the fact that the city owns 70 per cent of the land and Ho creates and manages the new neighbourhoods w to join To join the Urban Design Group, visit it develops, always starting by laying out the www.udg.org.uk and see the benefits of infrastructure. Tim Pharoah, who participated in taking out an annual membership. the tour, is the editor of this issue’s topic and has Individual (UK and international) £55 assembled a varied and very international set of UK student / concession £35 Recognised Practitioner in Urban Design £88 Small practice (<5 professional staff) £275 Large practice (>5 professional staff) £495 Education £275 Local Authority £100 UK Library £90 International Library £120

Urban Design ― summer 2018 ― Issue 147 update 3

Located in a historic building that is part Nottingham’s Urban of a regeneration area linking the railway sta- Room tion with major retail zones, the premises offer a ground floor space for exhibitions and 9 March 2018, 38 Carrington Street, events, and a basement with flexible space Nottingham available to hire for workshops, meetings and events. The opening event was a cel- ebration of local leadership and the capacity to work in partnership to deliver a shared Four years after the National Urban Design vision. RIBA President, Ben Derbyshire, ex- Conference in Nottingham, the initial discus- pressed his admiration for the commitment sions that took place then about setting up and hard work of the many partners that an Urban Room finally became a reality. Not- have contributed to the project offering their tingham’s Urban Room opened to the public time, skills and products. participated in the programme designed to in March 2018 with the 2017 RIBA President’s The Urban Room will open to the public inspire young children and showcase the medals exhibition, featuring the work of with exhibitions, fun activities and train- multiple facets and wide range of careers in architecture students around the world, ing programmes that can help the general the built environment. The children enjoyed including Bronze Medal winner Kangli Zheng public and those engaged in place-making to a two-hour class packed with fun activities from the University of Nottingham meet, network regularly and grow their place where they learned about the roles of those Since the summer of 2017, partners governance capacity together. The partner- involved in designing and delivering the across Nottingham have been working in- ship has joined the Place Alliance to share built environment. As junior architects, they tensively to create the Urban Room, both knowledge and experience, and is currently enrolled in a competition to resolve layout physical and digital ‘where the people of Not- working to consolidate a management strat- puzzles; junior engineers designed a struc- tingham go to understand, debate and get egy and to organise the curation and delivery ture with spaghetti and marshmallows, and involved in the past, present and future of of a long-term programme. The team would junior architectural technicians tested and where they live and work’. Contributors to the appreciate any input and ideas and is seek- specified the most appropriate biscuits for a vision include Nottingham City Council, RIBA, ing sponsors and public sector partners for Hansel and Gretel house’s external wall. the University of Nottingham, Nottingham the Urban Room. • Trent University, Nottingham and Derby So- Following the Urban Room ethos, the Laura Alvarez, UDG East Midlands ciety of Architects, the Urban Design Group, UDG East Midlands and akliki CIC voluntarily For more information please email: Place Alliance, Historic England, and local ar- engaged with primary schools in the Not- [email protected] chitects, surveyors and social enterprises. tinghamshire area for science week. Schools

Shaping Better all of the complex content of the report summary made available. Thus, during the Places Together interactive discussions, most focused on two questions: 'What do you see as the critical 25 April 2018, JTP Offices, London, ingredients or qualities of facilitation in com- jointly organised by JTP, munity-led planning and design?’, and 'What the University of Dundee, the UDG are the key next steps (and risks) in support- and the Academy of Urbanism ing more effective community involvement in participatory planning and design?'. Regarding the report's most significant findings, participants decided on the need Some 50 participants gathered for this of trust building, and in terms of further re- hands-on workshop to debate questions search, they suggested more longer term raised by research on public participation monitoring of the impact of participatory setting the development brief, and spread- supported by the Scottish government and planning by a pre-established group, including over three phases with feedback loops. carried out by the University of Dundee in ing key stakeholders, local authorities and However, implementation of any outcomes of collaboration with Eclipse Research and the communities concerned. such interactive charrettes is usually delayed Kevin Murray Associates. It was interesting to note that some of due to inherent inertia of the development AlWaer presented the findings of the the issues raised about group dynamics process. If the communities are to have a research into the facilitation of participa- when trying to involve the entire local com- genuine impact on what is eventually real- tory place-making: Shaping Better Places munity, played out at the feedback session ised, they would have to be involved earlier Together (http://uod.ac.uk/shaping-better- when a few vocal people dominated the and during the whole process. This raises places)seems to be the first in-depth study floor. This was seen as a critical limitation of another systemic problem of community of the process of participation, its efficiency genuine participation, whereby self-appoint- participation, namely ‘exhaustion’. Often a and effectiveness. Based on real cases, it fo- ed groups and individuals are not necessarily strong and motivated leader will take on the cuses on the role of the facilitator(s), usually representing the silent minorities who are brunt of voluntary work necessary for such a outsiders who are hired at some consider- very hard to bring to the table and who process, and most of the time the communi- able cost to the stakeholders, and explores would need active encouragement to voice ty is not sharing this load. This may become what skills they should have, The research their opinions. The fact that professional the major obstacle for genuine and sustained concluded that they had to come from the views are still considered more relevant than community participation. built environment professions, as still much those of the community, may be the critical • of such participatory place-making concen- obstacle to genuine participation. Judith Ryser, researcher, journalist, writer trates on physical transformations. It was The researched process seemed to be and urban affairs consultant to Fundacion not possible for the participants to absorb longer, albeit not engaging the community in Metropoli, Madrid

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Sadiq Khan and Will Norman to ‘get on with between engineering and urban design’, it!’, suggesting that projects need to start showing the success of professions coming happening, and that councillors should ‘use together to deliver projects. She described the propensity to cycle tool’ to target areas the Walthamstow Village programme to for improvement, a message reinforced by a calm neighbourhoods and create places for call to ‘get good data’, ‘integrate landscape’ people. Dan Kelly brought another perspec- in infrastructure works, ‘get to grips with tive to Waltham Forest: as a volunteer he new tech’ and imagine how this will change spoke about working behind the scenes, and landscapes, as well as the importance of ‘us- the importance of involving people and local ing the temporary to prove your point’. groups. Wrapping up the Borough Briefings, Iain Simmons delivered the first of the Adrian McWhinnie discussed Hackney’s suc- London’s Public Borough Briefings, where officers discussed cess with Leonard Circus. He explained how recent successes and spoke about what to the site was calling out for improvement in Realm expect next. Iain mentioned his first years at a dynamic part of the city, with more people the City of London Corporation, from tack- walking and cycling than driving. 23 May 2018, The Gallery, London ling walkways in the sky to looking at Bank Closing the evening, Christopher Martin junction. The tragic 1993 IRA bombing had from Urban Movement, reminded design- greatly affected the City, and one effect was ers that they still had work to do and spoke that fewer vehicles were using the streets, about why and how they could create enjoy- Introducing a discussion around the past, offering up opportunities to reshape the able cities, streets, and public spaces. He present, and future of London’s public realm, public realm. The successful story of Bank called for them to remember how impor- David Harrison of Living Streets called for a re- junction was central to his theme, and by tant cites are to people and people to cities. balancing of streets in favour of pedestrians, September the decision will be made as to When considering the public realm, they and presented their work, from campaigning whether the scheme can be made perma- should design a piece of the city, rather than for large scale changes to pushing for a reduc- nent, alongside a policy of a 50 per cent a street. He highlighted that the way people tion in the little frustrations of walking. reduction in traffic across the whole of the use cities currently is simply a result of how Peter Murray of New London Architecture City. the environment has invited them to act. To suggested what London’s councils should Next, Tim Meluish introduced Live West change the way people experience cities, we do to improve the public realm for walk- Ealing, a project that plans to get more peo- should change the environment. ing and cycling: ‘embrace healthy streets’, ple to walk and cycle rather than drive. He • ‘support active travel’, ‘radical walking highlighted the advantages in having politi- Chris Martin, Urban Designer and Planner, strategies’, and ‘enliven smaller streets’. He cal support and continuity through elections Urban Movement showed various examples and raised concern to deliver the best scheme for the area. that there was no strategy, as there was in Amy Priestley (pictured) introduced Melbourne’s Lanes Project. He told the Mayor Waltham Forest’s work on the ‘space

brief background of the revised NPPF. The and end up with poorly-connected areas; as a focus is on housing delivery, strengthen- result, the most important urban design deci- ing the plan-led approach and making the sions are already taken. He emphasised the best use of land. The chapter that inter- need to think of town building and not house ests us in particular is chapter 12, Achieving building. Furthermore, local plans must in- well designed places, though several other clude an urban design strategy dealing with points in the document make positive noises topography, connectivity and neighbourhood on issues close to urban designers’ hearts. structure, and having the flexibility to evolve. Chapters worth noting deal with Conserv- On delivery, he emphasised the importance of ing and enhancing the historic environment, the role of the local authority. ‘Achieving good Making effective use of land, Promoting sus- urban form’ should be a fundamental require- tainable transport, Promoting healthy and ment for any new development. The Draft NPPF – safe communities, and Meeting the challenge TCPA’s Katy Lock (pictured) was con- Consultation Meeting of climate change. Some of these introduce cerned with the way that the viability test new approaches or return to ones that had had benefited landowners to the detriment 11 May 2018, The Gallery, London been abandoned in previous documents. of the wider public interest, resulting in in- Max Farrell started by reminding the flated land values. She hoped the new NPPF audience that it was four years ago that would redress the balance. The TCPA had set the government commissioned the Farrell up eight tests for the NPPF relating to inter This rare joint event convened by the UDG Review on Architecture and the Built Envi- alia sustainability, garden city principles, brought together the Town and Country ronment. He summarised this document and health and well being, housing affordability, Planning Association (TCPA), the Academy of its proposals, suggesting inter alia combin- and the above mentioned viability; but the Urbanism, Place Alliance, Civic Voice, the In- ing work places and residential uses on new draft document failed on all but one of the stitute of Historic Building Conservation, the sites in London. tests. She regretted the abandonment of the Woodland Trust, the Transport Planning So- Roger Evans, representing the UDG, ech- obligation to produce detailed local plans. ciety and Transport for New Homes. The ob- oed the opinions of many in emphasising Predictably, the TCPA wants the reinstate- jective was to discuss the recently published the need to change the approach to house ment of a commitment to garden cities which new draft version of the NPPF and attempt to building. Roger started by describing how has been deleted (apparently by mistake) reach a common response to it, which would local authorities designate sites for develop- from the current draft document. be drafted by Matthew Carmona. ment: following a call for sites, they choose For the Transport Planning Society, Keith The UDG’s chairman Colin Pullan gave a the least harmful (less likely to be opposed) Buchan started by stating the obvious: the

Urban Design ― summer 2018 ― Issue 147 update 5 purpose of transport planning is to create councillors and the community at large; infrastructure. Transport for New Homes’ connections between places and people. he also supported design review and that Jenny Raggett reiterated some of the other But connections need not always be through should be extended to ‘place’ review. speakers’ comments: new homes must be physical travel, and the impact of trans- Place Alliance’s Peter Karpinski, explained close to places of work to reduce the need to port is often greater on non-users than on that together with the UDG, it has undertaken travel by car and encourage healthier living. users. Therefore transport planners need research on design skills in local authorities She criticised so-called garden villages which to minimise the need to travel. Getting the and on design review in London. He acknowl- are dominated by roads and parked cars and right location for development would ensure edged that the government seems to have a not accessible by public transport. its sustainable accessibility. The following renewed interest in design quality but regret- Finally, the President of Civic Voice, co- discussion emphasised the importance of ted that the draft NPPF had dropped some median Griff Rhys Jones gave a polemical planning and explored how good planning previous comments that supported this. He and entertaining talk covering a wide range and quality design could be achieved, in view asked the government to show leadership in of issues, including conservation, developers of the numerous existing barriers. making good design a top priority. contributions, NIMBYs, the housing mar- In the second half of the event, Steve Bee For the Institute of Historic Building Con- ket, and more. Like some previous speakers, of the Academy of Urbanism, objected to the servation (IHBC), James Cairn complained he emphasised that every place is different use of ill-defined terms (such as ‘design’ and that developers saw the historic environ- and simplistic solutions do not work. More ‘harm’) in the draft NPPF, and to the expec- ment as a problem, not as an opportunity. debate with the audience took place at the tation that the market would meet housing Heritage should be an integral component end. A joint response will be sent to the Min- needs. Other methods should be found to of sustainable development and econom- istry of Housing and Local Government. We capture land values, such as development ic regeneration. Richard Barnes from the hope that it will take notice! corporations. He mentioned existing sources Woodland Trust regretted that the draft • of guidance, from the UK and from abroad NPPF made no reference to the protec- Sebastian Loew, architect and planner, writer and asked for more education of officers, tion of ancient urban trees and to green and consultant

Design Quality and maintenance issues. Graham Thomas of Essex County Council confirmed that poor Conference – quality is one of the reasons that communities resist new developments. He complained Achieving Well- that local authorities lacked skilled urban designed Places designers. Tony Pidgeley (Berkeley Group) used many sound bites to show that Berke- 25 April 2018, The Institute of ley Homes do everything wonderfully, and Engineering and Technology, London blamed planning for what goes wrong, albeit in an ambiguous way: ‘If you want to improve the quality of design you’ve got to reduce the bureaucracy and change the culture of plan- This full-day conference organised by the ning. More planning officers, please ‘. Helen by Sarah Weir (Design Council Cabe). Her Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Gordon (Grainger) gave the seldom heard organisation has just signed a memoran- Government was aimed at reinforcing the point of view about the long-term rental mar- dum of understanding with Homes England, government housing policy with a commit- ket, which invests in good design quality and represented here by Louise Wyman, to pro- ment to design quality. Acknowledging that in the well-being of its tenants. mote design quality in new developments. 300,000 new dwellings will be needed by The second panel discussion, on Ingre- The importance of public land, skills, good the mid-2020s,and that large parts of the dients for Successful Places, was chaired infrastructure, community involvement, and country oppose new housing schemes in by James Scott (Urban & Civic) who rec- attention to context were again emphasised; their areas, ministers hope that good design ommended the use of several phases of Mary Parsons (Places for People) pleaded for may help transform NIMBYs into BIMBYs. The consultation starting with the big picture and the reintroduction of garden cities in the text new draft NPPF has already reintroduced gradually reconciling different objectives. Jo of the NPPF, and Emily Gee (Historic England) design on the agenda. This conference rein- Negrini (London Borough of Croydon) em- emphasised the importance of context. forced the message. phasized the importance of urban design to The most enthusiastic and stimulating The day started with a keynote speech create identity; the Borough has a dedicated speaker of the day was Lord Taylor of Goss. by the Housing Minister, Dominic Raab, who urban design team, and has created its own His message reinforced everything that had stated very clearly that good design means development company to develop small sites been said during the day, but added the im- less opposition against new schemes. It was Sue Chalkely (Hastoe) gave examples from portance of the long-term view in contrast difficult to gauge whether he believed all rural areas where high standards of design to short-term benefits (‘Good places last he said, but he certainly used all the right resulted in people wanting more housing. forever’), place-making rather than house- words: good design doesn’t mean higher Linda Thiel (White Arkitekter) mentioned the building, and the intelligent use of land and costs, place-making is not primarily about importance of the public realm as a catalyst its value. aesthetics, well-designed social housing for successful places. The then Secretary of State, Sajid Javid, helps to eliminate the stigma, green spaces After lunch, Heather Topel (North West closed the day recommending collaboration are important particularly in high density Cambridge Development) described the pro- between all professionals. He said ‘In shap- areas. cess to develop Eddington, the Cambridge ing homes we’re also shaping lives; we owe it A first panel discussion on Design Quality extension being built at the moment. This to generations to come to build a place that Challenge, chaired by Ben Derbyshire (RIBA was followed by a couple of breakout ses- lifts the human spirit’. The question is: will President), introduced themes that were to sions on community engagement, innovation, the government live up to this conference’s be repeated throughout the day: communi- tools, and new directions and young people, promises? ties’ involvement, infrastructure deficit, the A final panel discussion on design qual- • lack of urban design skills in local authorities, ity and reflection on policy was chaired Sebastian Loew

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The National Urban of the group’s achievements before hand- Argument: does it present its case well? ing over to Janet Tibbalds who said some • Design: Is the structure clear, concise, Design Awards 2018 thoughtful words about her late husband, •logical? Is it graphically excellent? who was a founder member of the UDG and Impact: what is the likely impact of the 8 March 2018, Browns, St Martin’s highly influential in the establishment of ur- •book on the practice and theory of urban Lane, London ban design in this country. design? Two special awards were presented by Marcus Wilshere: the Lifetime Achieve- Two books were runners-up: Peter Bishop ment award went to John Thorp, Leeds Civic and Lesley Williams’s Planning Politics and For the tenth year of the National Urban Architect for many years (the last to have City Making, A Case Study of King’s Cross, Design Awards, the ceremony was held in a that title) and largely responsible for his and Alexander Garvin’s What Makes a Great new venue, appropriately the Judge’s Court- city’s renaissance. His impact can be seen City. The winner was Kate Henderson, Katy room in what used to be Westminster County all over the city. The Outstanding Contribu- Lock and Hugh Ellis’s The Art of Building a Court, and now part of Brown’s restaurant tion to Urban Design award went to writer Garden City, Designing new communities for in central London. The intimate room was and influential journalist Rowan Moore. In the 21th Century, published by RIBA Publish- packed with some 100 attendees that came his acceptance speech, he remarked that the ing and obviously very topical. to celebrate what is best in urban design and bad image of planning had been improved Next came the Student award which car- eager to know who the winners of this year’s by masterplanning. He also pointed out that ries a £600 prize given by the Tibbalds Trust. awards were. The atmosphere was informal, there was plenty of space to build housing in Four projects had been shortlisted from as is usual in UDG events but the venue did this country, and various ways of fitting more 16 submitted, and the winners were Chris not allow for much informal networking, and of it in, but the way it was designed made Wiseman and Marc Miller from the Univer- the sound system was not satisfactory. On all the difference between overdevelopment sity of Strathclyde for Milton: Back from the the other hand, the pre-ordained place- (bad) and vibrancy (good). Collaboration be- Edge with their strategy, masterplan and ment of participants – necessary in view of tween planners and architects was therefore urban code for Milton in Glasgow, aiming to the pre-ordered menus – was an advantage fundamental, and that was what urban de- connect that neighbourhood to the core of avoiding the need for people to scramble sign was all about, but this collaboration had the city. The project chosen was shown in a to find a suitably congenial table. Another to start right at the beginning of the process. short, but very clear video and Janet Tibba- advantage over the past two years was that For the rest of the evening Amanda Reyn- lds presented the award. dinner (which was very good) was served at olds, wearing a silly judge’s wig to suit the A pause followed during which dessert the table and not as a buffet. venue, was the Master of Ceremonies. Next, and coffee were served, and attendees were Formal procedures were introduced by the Book award was presented by Professor able to mingle and network. Then came the UDG chairman Colin Pullan who pointed out Georgia Butina Watson. She outlined the four Public Sector award given to local authori- that this year the UDG celebrates its 40th criteria that the judges used to shortlist the ties or public sector agencies; the three anniversary, the awards were ten years old many books received and then choose the shortlisted schemes were presented in short and Francis Tibbalds’s seminal book Making winner: videos, showing the diversity in the entries People’s Friendly Towns was published just Challenge: does the book challenge ortho- received. The London Legacy Development over 25 years ago. Colin summarised some •doxies or offer something new or interesting? Corporation showed their masterplan for

Urban Design ― summer 2018 ― Issue 147 update 7

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1 Overall view of the event 2 Marcus Wilshere and Rowan Moore 3 Georgia Butina Wilson and the winners of the Book award 4 Janet Tibbalds handing their prize to students Chris Wiseman and Marc Miller 5 Janet Tibbalds with Practice award winners Andrew Mackay, Sabine Beuscher- Mackay, Chapman Taylor 6 Paul McGrath, Sudipta Ghosh, Councillor Tom Munro, Bolsover District Council 5 6 a new neighbourhood centre for Hackney providing new housing, a mix of uses and a Designing new communities for the 21st Wick in northeast London. Bolsover District quality public realm, within strict param- Century, Katie Henderson, Katy Lock and Council presented an innovative approach to eters. The scheme achieves these aims and Hugh Ellis, 2017 regeneration for the whole district, achieved is rooted in the town’s history. Noticeable in Global Street Design Guide, Global through individual frameworks for each of the team’s submission was the way that they •Designing Cities Initiative, 2016 their four towns and a number of fairly mod- drew lessons from resolving the problems Seeing the Better City: How to explore, est but important schemes, combining high they faced. Again Janet Tibbalds presented •observe and improve urban space, Charles aspirations and realism within a context of the Award together with a £1,000 prize to be R. Wolfe, 2017 limited resources spent on one of the UDG’s study tours or the The winner, chosen by the UDG’s mem- equivalent. Shortlisted Student Entries bership, was the City of London Corporation Finally Colin Pullan closed the formal Dialogue with Nature, Moonfier Li, and their scheme for Aldgate East where a procedures by thanking those who partici- •Jonathan Long Hei Chow, Hei Lau, Hermion new public space has been created following pated by submitting their schemes, books Yuenyau Au and Ekaterina Proskurina the redesign of what was previously a round- or projects, those who attended the event, Milton: Back from the Edge, Chris about. The much improved public realm those who voted for their preferred submis- •Wiseman and Marc Millerw created a setting for one of the City’s oldest sions and all those that helped to make the The Role of the Past in Waterfront churches, St. Botolph’s. Awards possible, particularly the members •Regeneration, Yue Peng Perhaps the most eagerly awaited award of the judging panel and the generous sup- Stratford Boulevard, James Egginton, is the Practice Project award, where mem- port of the Francis Tibbalds Trust. •Anna Vincent, Faye Beaumont, Charlie bers choose the scheme that best fulfils the Perkins and Hugh Canning Gibbs. criteria of high urban design quality and Don’t forget to enter for the 2019 awards! aspirations, is clearly communicated, follows Shortlisted Public Sector a rigorous process, and draws lessons from it. Shortlisted Books Entries Four practices’ schemes had been shortlisted, City of Well-being, A radical guide to Sharing Bolsover, Bolsover District Council all of them interesting and of good quality: •planning, Hugh Barton, 2016 • Aldgate East, City of London Corporation PRP for the regeneration of a 1960s estate, Designing Cities with Children and Young • Hackney Wick Central Masterplan, London renamed Portobello Square; Tibbalds Plan- •People, Beyond Playground and Skate Parks, •Legacy Development Corporation ning and Urban Design for the design code Kate Bishop and Linda Corkery, eds., 2017 for Northstowe Phase 2, part of a new town in Planning, Politics and City Making, Shortlisted Practice Projects Cambridgeshire; JTP for a major regeneration •A Case Study of King’s Cross, Peter Bishop Altstadtquartier Buchel, Aachen, scheme in Southall, Ealing in West London, and Lesley Williams, 2016 •Chapman Taylor connected to a new Crossrail station. Design Governance: The CABE South Waterside, London, JTP The winner was Chapman Taylor for the •Experiment, Matthew Carmona, Claudio de • Portobello Square, London PRP creation of a new neighbourhood in Aachen, Magalhaes and Lucy Natarajan, 2017 • Northstowe Phase 2 Design Code, Germany, the Altstadquartier Büchel. The What Makes a Great City, Alexander •Tibbalds Planning and Urban Design design had to respond with sensitivity to •Garvin, 2016 • the historic character of the city whilst • The Art of Building a Garden City: Sebastian Loew Urban Design ― summer 2018 ― Issue 147 8 update

far from being chivvied out on finishing our meal, we were invited to just sit and chat. What a contrast to UK restaurants!

The Main Course Friday brought an early start and an easy bus ride to the Stockholm city planning office for presentations by members of the city planning team. In impeccable English, Anette Scheibe Lorentzi and Thomas Stoll told us about their target to be fossil-fuel free by 2040. Already 70 per cent of the city’s 950,000 inhabitants use public transport, no doubt encouraged by a congestion charge. The city plans to deliver 140,00 new homes during the period 2010-2030 and is on target to do so. This contrasts with previous policies which essentially considered the city full. The population growth has been stimulated by inward migration both from other parts of Sweden and from aboard. The 1 expansion will be achieved by increasing block was identified by a classical deity as densities and by the redevelopment of four UDG Study Tour well as a street name, a tradition we were large brownfield areas: Hammarby Sjöstad, Stockholm later to discover still continues today. All the Hagastaden, the old meat-packing area, marks of the invasion of tourists that flood which was presented by Soroor Notash, and 26 – 29 April 2018 the area when cruise ships visit the city were the former Royal Seaport. The presenta- there, but in spite of the veneer of posh tour- tions were followed by a walk through the ist tat, tiny ‘dishes’ of detailed care showed central area to the city’s cultural centre, the through, and the domestic scale of the lanes Kulturhuset which houses a fine model of the ‘…Many small dishes make a great feast….’ made for a comfortable environment. There city and allows citizens to have an immediate So said a label in the Nordiska Museet in were only slight signs of this being a place bird’s eye view of it. The building looks over Stockholm’s Djurgården. To me, that just for living in, and it seemed that locals might Stockholm’s main civic space, Sergels Torg about sums up both Stockholm and our have been forced out by the pressures of with its distinctive paving and street theatre recent visit to the city. What follows is a tourism. The area is not all narrow high-den- and dance. personal note from one who went to those sity streets: regular glimpses can be had of Our first encounter with one of the devel- who did not. It is not a formal urban design the surrounding harbour with its glistening opment areas was at Hammarby Sjöstad. In view, but an expanded postcard home. In water and bustling boats. In the north- the distinctive Glass House visitors centre, preparing this note I have also had help from eastern corner, the Kungliga Slottet (Royal the sustainability credentials of the develop- Tim Hagyard. Palace) overlooks a collection of formal ment were explained to us by Stellan Fryxell spaces marred now by the seemingly inevita- of Tengbom, who had worked on the scheme. Hors d’oeuvre ble concrete security blocks. It was amusing Particular focus was on the recycling of Gatwick was the early morning gathering to note that human security was provided by waste and its use for energy production, place for the majority of the group led by a lone uniformed guard, a sign of manpower the reduction of car usage, the creation of Sebastian Loew. Twenty-seven of us boarded cutbacks. The palace itself is undergoing a a quiet environment and the fostering of an the sparkling new Norwegian airlines plane major programme of restoration. The space inclusive society. The manifestation of the for Arlanda Airport. We followed in the wake behind the palace is now unfortunately cut concern with waste and energy production of Brian Quinn and were ahead of David off from the Norrström inlet by a major road. did not appear to impact on the broad urban Bevan, who had been delayed by the con- Back in the heart of Gamla Stan is the design context. It has introduced a new ele- gested M25. Arrival at Arlanda was clean and Swedish Academy building, formerly the ment of street furniture: the trio of vacuum simple, and our journey in the quiet luxury Stock Exchange, and now home of argu- tubes that feed sorted waste to the remote of the Arlanda Express was a contrast to the ments about Nobel literature prizes. The incinerator power plant or compost. These so-called Gatwick Express. At Stockholm public space was dominated by an intrigu- were quite large and intrusive, and in some Central we had our first encounter with the ing structure that, we eventually discovered, instances did not seem able to cope with the Swedish plastic economy: this was not quite was a pendulum water pump. Our stroll over, volume of waste being fed into them. The re- as rigid as I feared, as cash could still be the weather broke and people scattered to duction in car usage was achieved by a very used to buy the 72-hour travel-pass that was find places to eat; my group was drenched low level of car parking, coupled with good to give us the opportunity to use a range of by rain and frozen by hail. An enforced shel- public transport links. This required a fairly the public transport modes serving the city. ter meant we were able to view one of the wide transport corridor to accommodate At the station we had our first experience typical early 1900s brick and stone build- footpaths, tree planting, cycle paths, road- with a Hulot-like practice that involved us of ings that are scattered throughout the city, ways and a tramline. There were few cars going down one escalator only to go up an- marked by small details; one more small dish and they travelled slowly and quietly. other, then down another in order to find the to delight our day. Eventually we found the Typically, two four-storey housing blocks right platform. Our first stop was Oldenplan old market hall, a fine brick building, cur- flanked an irregularly-shaped public space and our hotel. rently being refurbished; the food hall has whose form was intended both to give a After a short break, we all gathered for been relocated into one of the best tem- sense of place and protection from noise. On our stroll round Stockholm’s old town. This porary buildings I have seen, on the former the main frontages, the ground floor was lim- is based on the islet of Gamla Stan. Here, market square and capable of being dis- ited to non-residential use. There seemed to narrow lanes and tenement like blocks domi- mantled and moved elsewhere. There, we be no conscious effort to create a hierarchy nated the rounded form of the island. Each had a great meal in great surroundings and of public spaces, but we observed that the

Urban Design ― summer 2018 ― Issue 147 update 9

2 3 large green area fronting the ferry terminal together. Vällangby has aged with dignity. functioned as the centre. Whilst displaying Dignity is the watchword for Asplund’s many of the standard characteristics of 21st cemetery and garden (Skogskyrkogården); century developments, Hammarby did seem after 103 years, this splendid blending of el- to be an entirely liveable place. egant building and calm landscape is still a On returning to Odenplan, several of us moving place to visit. took the opportunity to visit Asplund’s iconic library (1928) and admired its range of de- Post prandial lightful small dishes, in the form of details, Our final day was the time for members to to add to our feast. go their own ways. Some went to the outer parts of the city. The intemperate weather Dessert meant that a boat trip on the archipelago Our next course took us to the Royal Seaport was not an attractive idea. Part of the group development area. Not only was this a port took a bus to the old fishing village of Vax- area, but it had been the site of a refinery holm to get an impression of a connection and old gas works. The amazingly detailed between the city and the sea. I chose to visit brick-covered gas cylinders are to remain in the warship Vasa museum. The building is situ and one is to be a theatre. disappointingly lumpen, but the display of In this area, the housing followed the the warship is excellent. The walk back to pattern set by Hammarby, but somehow the the city centre is also a fine urban experi- quality of space seemed even more comfort- ence: elegant buildings and a fine esplanade able. It was perhaps due to the proximity of overlooking the sound, make it an attractive 4 water and parkland, or perhaps the range route. A splendid finale was provided by of materials used, which included weath- the flush of cherry blossom in the Kung- ered timber and surprisingly, Corten steel. A strädgärden. Locals and visitors alike were particular delight was the living willow play delighting in this feast of spring. tunnel in one of the courtyard areas, another • dish to add to our feast. Richard Cole architect and planner, formerly Next was the Hagastaden area where Director of Planning and Architecture of the a higher density and stronger commercial Commission for New Towns presence have created a much less humane environment. The slight bending of the housing blocks, so successful at Hammarby, 5 became almost threatening here. It is early days to judge this development, but at the moment it is a little disappointing. It was only a short metro ride to one of the seminal pieces of post-war urban planning, the new town of Vällangby. Started in the 1950s, it was to inspire the designers 1 Gunnar Asplund’s 1928 Public Library of Stevenage. As is the case there, public 2 UDG members admiring the design of transport arrives in the heart of the town. Hammarby-Sjöstad 3 The willow tunnel in a housing development Here however, the centre is still fresh and a in the Royal Seaport 6 relatively new canopy unifies the expanded 4 Gamla Stan main square; the pendulum shopping area. One of Vällangby’s strengths pump is its strong underlying topography. The tree- 5 Royal Seaport: the magnificently restored gasworks building covered hills and grassy valleys allow the 6 Recycling rubbish vacuum tubes in separation of housing areas, yet tie the areas residential buildings

Urban Design ― summer 2018 ― Issue 147 10 update

Perhaps because of her wider ex- that there is a real sense of optimism as to perience, having lived in London and how this will be achieved: Buckinghamshire, raised a family and written a variety of books before taking up land- ‘By the goodwill of an industrial popu- scape architecture, Fairbrother’s comments lation, by the public ownership of land take on a different, wittier and more engag- inevitable in an industrial economy, by ing tone than that of other commentators of the management of the increasing areas the early 1960s. Initial publication by the in- for which industry provides no ground- fluential Architectural Press was widened by use, by planning controls in the cause Penguin’s reissue through its Pelican series of amenity – this would be to solve our on planning (edited by Peter Hall), bringing it landscape problems, as they must be into the company of Colin Buchanan’s Traffic solved, not in terms of a vanishing past in Towns and Herbert Gans’ People & Plans. but of the new industrial economy which Fairbrother thereby reached a wider reader- has itself produced them.’ ship, which had been her aim. The book came out at a time of grow- Read today that concluding paragraph could ing environmental and ecological concerns easily invoke cheers, rage, laughter, tears or about the impact of industry on human so- indeed all of the above, as we are still chal- ciety. Dereliction and destruction both by lenged by those concepts and see how far we physical as well as managerial actions or have yet to travel. inactions are continuing themes of the book, However in the preceding paragraph but the author goes beyond another treatise Fairbrother sensibly states: on the environment to clearly set out a public policy agenda. ‘The proposals suggested in this book The cover of the Pelican edition shows have been an attempt to translate ac- Urban Design Library a gravel quarry with dinghies sailing in the cepted land use policy into appropriate newly formed lakes, making the point about landscape by simple general principles. #26 marginal, rururban land and the need for Even if incompletely applied these could continual management of the landscape do nothing but good.’ New Lives, New Landscapes, Nan and nurturing of new relationships between Fairbrother, Architectural Press, 1970 places and people. Whilst being a book very much of its time and Penguin (Pelican) Books, 1972 Its publication was also when the pro- and place, Nan Fairbrother has given us fessions were realising that their separate very wise guidance, and remains a source of skills in architecture, planning, engineering practical advice and a justification of why her and landscape needed to be better related. themes still matter. The 1964 Planning Advisory Group report • A sign of the times is that a book I purchased had called time on the UK’s still incomplete Graham King, Head of Strategic Planning, in January 1974 can now be had for a penny coverage of Development Plans which had Westminster City Council on Amazon! started in 1947. Planning legislation in 1968 New Lives, New Landscapes indeed. introduced a strategic approach, as well as a Read on Minton Anna, 2012, Ground Control, Fear and This seminal book, published in paper- new emphasis on housing improvement and happiness in the twenty-first century city, back a year after the death of its author, was conservation. General Improvement Areas Penguin one of a number of works that reached be- were introduced in 1969, in an all–too-slow Nairn, Ian, 1959, Outrage: On the yond the professions to a wider audience. It response to housing conditions, and the Disfigurement of Town and Countryside, Architectural Review addressed profound environmental concerns admission that the 1957 Public Health Act and marked the transition from a post-war to powers on clearance and new house building a contemporary society. were not going to solve the housing crises. Nan (Nancy) Fairbrother was born in 1913 All these initiatives made her broader ap- and qualified as a landscape architect but proach in tune with the times and New Lives drew on a wider background as an English remains invaluable as a commentary on its graduate, physiotherapist and writer. Fair- author’s time and ours. brother was also one of a group of important A thorough bibliography of 106 en- female contributors in an otherwise male- tries from John Evelyn to Lynch, Nairn and dominated built environment world, and in Jacobs, as well as all the key reports of the this light she can be regarded alongside Syl- era, demonstrate the range and depth of her via Crowe, Elizabeth Denby, Jane Drew and studies. Jane Jacobs. Although not avowedly political, New An abiding theme of the book is the con- Lives is a book of its time and offers practical cern for the way that people lived, alongside proposals to address the issues the author an almost Arts and Crafts preoccupation has raised. They are reflected in her notion of for what contemporary living required. The ‘landscapes for an Industrial democracy’ and New Towns movement, reaching its apogee a four-point plan based on the landscape at the time of writing with the delivery of concepts of organisation, pattern, material Milton Keynes and Cumbernauld, was under and texture. scrutiny. These considerations are fully set out in Fairbrother was reacting to the degra- the book as how to improve the management dation of places across the country which in and development of such a new industrial the mid-1950s had led another outsider, Ian landscape to create new landscapes for new Nairn, to warn of the perils of unrestricted lives. and ill-planned development. Looking back at this work, it is striking

Urban Design ― summer 2018 ― Issue 147 update 11

Taunton Vision, New Masterplan

portable A4 square. When open, each key My Favourite Plan: message occupies one of the six squares. Andy Ward Despite the downturn in 2008, the plan has helped to deliver new river crossings and Taunton Vision 2005 link streets to improve pedestrian priority in the town centre, new squares, enhanced parks and gardens along the river and major flood alleviation. Crucially, it convinced Som- Why I like it… erset Cricket Club not to move out next to My favourite plan sets out a vision for how the motorway but to stay and become part the town centre of Taunton could expand of the town centre, with new mixed uses and from the retail high street in the south to housing overlooking the river and into the connect with the railway station in the north. ground. The vision was developed in partnership Twelve months of engagement in 2004 with the District and County Councils, Envi- and the quality of the ideas generated means ronment Agency, the Regional Development the plan is still robust today. The proposed Agency and many local stakeholders. I was block structure is flexible to accommodate a Current Position the urban designer in the team of consult- range of uses, even where the plan intended Founding Director, NEW masterplanning ants which produced the vision documents, large scale offices near the station. Ltd running into hundreds of pages and covering a range of issues. The challenge was to sum- What to learn from it… Experience marise the vision in a memorable way, easily It is unfortunate that the decision-makers Led urban design and masterplanning accessible, focussing on key principles and changed due to reorganisation and public team at Terence O’Rourke the potential for change. sector funding cuts. This, combined with a City Centre Urban Designer, Birmingham We chose a double sided A1 plan (one reliance on large corporate development City Council side is shown here). Orange and salmon col- partners who reduce risk and listen only to Young architect, Phil Pryse Associates in ours were used for the network of streets the market, has resulted in the depreciation Oxford and Broadway Malyan in London and spaces highlighting the importance of of the vision. For example, public money was public realm and connectivity. This contrasts used to turn a small surface car park next to Education with the blue and green of the River Tone the museum into a square of little regenera- BA in Architecture and Diploma in Urban corridor to emphasise the idea that the river tion value. In terms of priority, maybe the Design, Oxford Polytechnic should become the heart of the town. investment should have gone into opening Diploma in Town Planning, UCE A hand-drawn cartoon layout gives up the strong pedestrian desire line from the Birmingham enough detail to indicate the level of thought station to the river, to encourage key sites to and proving put into the plan, without the come forward earlier. Specialisations impression of ‘fix’ that CAD might infer. A se- Summarising a vision onto one fold-out No boundaries…..I just enjoy all aspects lection of 3D views and sections are arranged plan forces you to think hard about the clar- of urban design around the plan to draw out character and ity of your messages. Not only do ideas and particular features. strategies have to be strong, but a success- Ambitions The reverse side can be downloaded ful plan combines punchy graphic design and As a trustee of The Poole Communities from the website www.newmasterplanning. the ability to be used in marketing and deliv- Trust, I look forward to delivering much com under ‘strategic projects’. It sets out the ery. But ultimately it’s the continuity of the needed community centres in deprived thinking behind the plan, the principles and people involved and the process that deliver areas of our town approach to delivery. The bit I like most is the plan. the way that the plan folds up into an easily •

Urban Design ― summer 2018 ― Issue 147 12 Topic Annual demonstration on motorway in Montreuil that is to be converted boulevard with tram. Image by Paul Lecroart IAU

Urban Design ― summer 2018 ― Issue 147 Topic 13 Street Design and Transport – International Perspectives

What presents itself in any particular street or from the ‘damage caused by the overwhelming place is not there by chance; it will be a reflection presence of cars’. In Paris we learn from Anne of the city in its widest possible sense, and the Faure about the ambitious reconstruction of design of public streets and spaces always has seven major grandes places to transform traffic a transport context. The opportunities in any roundabout mayhem into civilised city spaces. particular situation are strongly influenced by John Dales and Chris Martin provide us with an how many motor vehicles there are, both moving insight into a scheme that typifies and influences and parked. That in turn will be an outcome of contemporary best practice in London and the whatever transport policies have been in place wider UK. Their Clapham example shows that it – traffic restraint, parking controls, provision of is not just in highly populated or prestigious city railways, bus services, cycle networks and so on. centres that action needs to be taken to reclaim In turn, all of these will be both a product and space from motor vehicles. a determinant of the structure of development, whether sprawling or compact, high or low Paul Lecroart looks at an altogether bigger scale density, etc. More widely, both transport and built of urban reconstruction. Although based in Paris, environment are bound up with the economy, he takes us on a world tour of projects that social attitudes, history and culture of a place. reclaim whole swathes or corridors of a city, by tearing down massive highway infrastructure from Now, increasingly, the question is being asked: the era of modernism. He focuses in particular to what extent can it work the other way round? on the re-humanisation of major corridors in San If we design streets and places to make the Francisco, Seoul, and Birmingham, but mentions most of what they have to offer in terms of urban many other major cities where similarly bold life, how will transport adapt to fit round that? actions have been taken. Alternatively, can it be made to do so? A common thread running through the articles here is the A common theme in the articles that follow is the experience of doing just that. While many cities enhancement, or creation, or revival of a ‘place’ have developed trying to accommodate the motor function, rather than the street being simply a car, a body of experience from around the world conduit for movement. Transport for London demonstrates not only that those efforts have recently held a seminar on the topic Hard Working proved futile, but also that they can be undone Streets, those which deliver a lot for their users, to the great benefit of city life. All of the authors perhaps because of the sheer volumes of people, have a positive message regarding future street but more importantly because of the range of design. different and often conflicting activities. People on foot require safety, interest and space, which Reclaiming space from the car (and other motor is difficult to provide when there are large volumes vehicles) is not a new idea, as Sebastian Loew of people (and goods) in vehicles. Certain users demonstrates in his story from Buenos Aires, bring their own distinctive challenges, notably which is home to perhaps the world’s oldest cyclists, public transport services, and goods pedestrianisation scheme. Michelle deRobertis vehicles and deliveries. The notion of hard and Maurizio Tira describe how more than 300 working streets also carries the implication that historic city centres in Italy have been rescued some streets have little to do, or even are lazy.

Urban Design ― summer 2018 ― Issue 147 14 Topic The former might be quiet with little activity, the which continue to divide communities and make latter might be streets that cater for only one kind walking difficult and dangerous. of user without due regard for others. The heavily engineered car-dominated streets created in the Willi Hüsler and Simon Jakob remind us that 1960s and 1970s would fit that description. Or ‘public space is a cultural achievement’, requiring rather, those who promoted such urban disasters some form of planning and control. They point to were guilty of narrow or lazy thinking. Much of African informal settlements where an absence of the narrative of the following articles is about the such control means that public space is almost removal of ‘lazy streets’ and the reconfiguring impossible to achieve. They demonstrate some and redesigning of streets and public spaces interesting approaches to the management of to address the needs of all users. This includes transport in public spaces in the city of Zürich prioritising people on foot and sustainable modes that have proved successful. Interestingly, some of travel (walking, cycling and public transport), as of these run counter to the prevailing thinking well as the use of streets and spaces for sojourn in other European countries. They conclude by rather than just movement. lamenting the lack of action to improve conditions in the low-density outskirts of the city, a theme Several of our authors describe the specific mentioned in other contributions. design of particular city streets. The London (Clapham) and Buenos Aires articles have already The ‘shared space’ concept has generated some been mentioned. Eduardo Rojo Fraile brings us a controversy in the UK to the point where many perspective of holistic design from Vitoria-Gasteiz are abandoning its use. Pieter de Haan provides in the northern part of the Spanish peninsula. us with a view from the Netherlands where it all His inspiring example is a major avenue that began, and reassures us that research from that has been transformed to enhance the social country shows that de-cluttered designs which and economic value to its local community by remove priority from motor vehicles present introducing greenery and a waterway, as well as no threat to safety, provided they are carefully the integrating provision for sustainable transport thought out, speeds are kept low, and courtesies modes. are observed. He notes that this chimes with the recent Chartered Institution of Highways and Tanja Congiu and Alessandro Plaisant present Transportation review of shared space. a scheme for a peripheral neighbourhood of Cagliari, the capital of Sardinia, which In contrast, my own contribution is a glimpse of brings together landscape, regeneration and practice in central China, where the provision connectivity measures. They rightly argue that and design of streets is heading in the opposite street regeneration should not always be about direction. There, the pace and vast scale of urban city centres; many suburbs are in dire need of growth provides little scope for careful planning attention. and design, especially as a large enough body of expertise to tackle the issue has yet to develop Some contributions focus on generic aspects there. Change is infrastructure-led and pursuing of good street design: the continuation of a vision for motor-oriented cities increasingly the footway across the mouth of side streets rejected in the West. described by John Dales and Chris Martin is now part of the designer’s template for good I hope that the schemes and insights presented street reconstruction, at least in London (this was here will inspire and inform, so that more effort inspired by practice in Denmark). will go into the reclamation of urban spaces and urban life, even in motor-oriented places. This is a Graham Smith shows the merits of careful worldwide challenge; let’s hope we are up to it.• boulevard design in the Netherlands, and

contrasts this with the UK, where bad practice Tim Pharoah, independent transport and urban planning consultant, lingers in the shape of soulless distributor roads, and winner of the UDG Lifetime Achievement Award 2017

Urban Design ― summer 2018 ― Issue 147 Topic 15 Shared Space: Helping to Create Better Places Pieter de Haan advocates the use of shared spaces under certain condtions

1 he concept and reality of shared space has attracted some Support for Shared Space controversy in the UK. However, the view from the Neth- More recently, Enrique Peñalosa said: T erlands, where the idea first blossomed, is that discussion ‘A city can be friendly to people or it can on shared space needs to continue. The recent Chartered Institu- be friendly to cars, but it can’t be both.’ tion of Highways and Transportation’s (CIHT) review does this. (Cited in Happy City, Charles Montgom- This article adds to the discussion on the basis of history, experi- ery, 2013). The CIHT report reviewing ence, research and evaluative studies. After 20 years of research shared space, tries to combine both. In (initially at the Dutch Shared Space Institute in Drachten with my opinion it is possible when we treat finance from the EU, and later at Noordelijke Hogeschool, Leeu- cars like people and as long as their driv- warden – Stenden University) we now can say that shared space ers behave like other people. The report is becoming part of the urban designer’s toolkit and has become concludes that there is no definition acceptable in many places throughout the world. of shared space that makes it easier to In the 19th century when in Amsterdam more and more assess the outcomes and guidelines for it: canals were being filled in, a famous Dutch painter (Jan Veth) ‘Shared space is clearly not a ‘one size fits wrote about ‘town rape’: all’ concept’. Hans Monderman already ‘Future cities will just consist of loads of repositories, mentioned this as the defining character warehouses and offices… Towns in which people’s interest is of shared space. not in living but in working; towns in which streets are not free In the 20th century there were 30 places for lingering and passing of a happy nation, but drains for million fatal traffic casualties worldwide. discharging a tortured slavery.’ In the second decade of that century After this, the infilling of canals stopped. A heritage organi- regulation started and the first traffic sation was formed, monuments were kept and renovated, and 1 Laweiplein shared signs were erected as a consequence of now millions of tourists come to see Amsterdam’s canals. The space, Drachten, the arrival of cars and the fear of the ‘high’ concern was to retain the humanity and heritage of public places. The Netherlands speeds of the first cars. Streets became

Urban Design ― summer 2018 ― Issue 147 16 Topic

2 roads, giving priority to cars over the other road users, and the consequences can be summarised as follows: A sort of cascade and accumulation rules and regulations of measures ended up ruling and separation of cars, cyclists and pedestrians more legislation influencing behaviour, and the public more signs space became a dangerous place more control more police instead of a pleasant place more examination and testing more education severe fines and penalties we could do or evaluate, or are known where will this end? by the Knowledge Center Shared Space, we are still finding schemes with higher A sort of cascade and accumulation of measures ended up ruling vehicle volumes, and we haven’t yet and influencing behaviour, and the public space became a dan- found the maximum workable volume. gerous place instead of a pleasant place. Streets were widened, Manual for Streets reports that: ‘people asphalt was better for cars, speeds increased and so did the will treat a street as a space to be occu- difference in speed between pedestrians and cyclists; as a result, pied and not a road to be crossed when accidents between them became more and more serious. traffic flows are not more than about From our experience at the Knowledge Center Shared Space, 100 vehicles per hour’. We have found we can identify conditions and characteristics. Although we shared space locations that have far don’t yet have all the knowledge, our studies indicate that shared more than 100 vehicles and still work space is possible under certain conditions, and we can identify quite well. What is more important the main features that define a shared space. is that there should be a more or less equal number of different road users. Conditions required 4. Variety in the context of the space is 1. There should always be more functions in the public space important: building façades varied in than just moving from A to B: schools, offices, businesses, height, in texture and at ground level. public transport stops, restaurants, other people-attracting These attract the attention of road services, and housing. These functions create a living place: a users and slow down their speeds. Vari- place to be in as well as to go to and come from, a place with a ation in the greenery and landscaping mixture of traffic and many types of movement. of the space and its surroundings is 2. There should be an alternative route or network of streets also welcome. A choice of facilities will with a 50km/h speed limit that can be reached within about encourage people to stay longer in a three to five minutes at a maximum speed of 30km/h, a dis- space. These characteristics give a place tance of around 2 kilometres. This will ensure that people will an identity and are attractive to people. not become impatient with driving at a slow speed for a short 5. A place is ‘made’ or ‘designed’ and

time. 2 Shared space at the formed by its users. They contribute 3. Our studies haven’t yet established what the maximum new Friesland Museum the most to giving it an identity. So the number of vehicles can be in a shared space. Of the projects Leewarden process of designing a shared space is

Urban Design ― summer 2018 ― Issue 147 Topic 17 critical: users should not only be involved from the beginning, but should lead the process. Engineers and designers have a role as advisers.

The features of a shared space These can be described as: An urban space of higher quality: instead of a traffic space, it •becomes a human space. This aesthetic aspect is confirmed by the users of the space in post-construction evaluations. Through increased uncertainty (for example as to who has •priority), behaviour will be safer. There is much debate about this, especially in relation to the safety of more vulnerable users. In the Netherlands we worked with the Royal Visio, a specialised and hi-tech institute for the blind and visually impaired. Our research concluded that experimental shared space areas felt no more unsafe than ordinary places. In one of the three compari- sons, orientation posed a problem. This led to the conclusion 3 that its design could be better. As a result of this experiment and other evaluations, we developed (together with the organisation for blind and visually impaired people) a guidance document on how to design for better accessibility of shared spaces. As the CIHT report says: ‘the building line is the best form of guidance (for cane users)’. In too many cases we see tactile guidance paving blocked or absent. Blind people also use resonance for information, and street furniture can help them providing it is well placed and built with robust materials. A small groove within the pavement can also serve as guidance. Communication between street users is the key issue for •successful shared spaces. Communication in shared spaces is two-way. In signed and regulated traffic, communication is one- way: people communicate with the system of signs, lights and lines, rather than with each other. Research by the University of Groningen found that users in shared spaces indicated more 4 of what they meant to do than in traditional traffic situations. Shared space invokes the need for communication, because not everything seems clear. In shared space personal responsibility is key, users can no •longer blame the situation: what counts is their own behaviour and attitude in relation to others. Information comes from the context and from other road •users. Speeds are harmonised and pedestrianised. The design of the •place makes road users adapt their speed to that situation. There is no need for maximum speed measures and enforcement. Social control and influence appear to work better. Shared spaces encourage people to stay longer than just mov- •ing from one place to another. There is more lingering and people meeting each other. As a result shops are likely to have a higher turnover than when 5 •road users are just moving. However more research is needed on After years of involvement with traffic this, specifically on shared spaces and on the long-term effects. and transportation studies at Nottingham A shared space consumes less urban space than most traffic- Trent University, I can conclude that traf- •oriented designs. For example a standard roundabout covers fic in the UK is not different from other more area than a crossing designed as a shared space. Shared western countries. From my own observa- space solutions can also be cheaper, certainly in terms of annual tions and from contacts with experts, it costs when compared to traffic lights, even though the initial seems that the UK is particularly suitable investment may be higher. for shared spaces because people already act more politely to each other than Conclusion on the Continent. So shared space, as The primary aim of shared space is not greater traffic safety, but the CIHT review says, can make better the creation of better places – a public space more human than a places. traffic place. After 20 years of working on shared spaces we can • also say that they are safer. Pieter de Haan, Consultant and Researcher at A recent article states that places like Kensington High Street, Knowledge Center Shared Space, www.vox.com/2017/11/24/16693628/shared- Ipswich, Drachten and others in the Netherlands show drastic 3 Informal residential space-design reductions in accidents, and certainly in incidents with the most street, Friesland vulnerable road users, the pedestrians. 4 Shared space References at Beuersplein, Creating better streets – Inclusive and Users of shared spaces report that the quality of the Leewarden accessible places: Reviewing shared space, public realm is much better, and more liveable than before the 5 Shared space at Chartered Institution of Highways and reconstruction. Hogeskool, Leewarden transportation (CIHT), 2018

Urban Design ― summer 2018 ― Issue 147 18 Topic he urban regeneration project of the Sant’Avendrace neighbourhood in T Cagliari is designed to emphasise the role played by the accessibility system in creating connected spaces and reviving the character of marginal areas in the city. Sant’Avendrace is a district of about 7,000 inhabitants located at the periphery of Cagliari, the capital of Sardinia. In 2016 the Municipality of Cagliari took part in a national competition promoted and funded by the Italian Office of the Prime Minister aimed at launching and financing the regeneration of peripheral urban areas. The project for Sant’Avendrace neighbourhood ranked 23rd out of 120 with a proposal focused on new urban functions and land uses, together with different levels of accessibility and connectivity. Indeed, the neighbourhood is characterised by a mixed medium density urban fabric with low quality buildings, a lack of public spaces and several abandoned sites awaiting renewal. A number of busy transport routes (the railway line, the freeway, the neighbourhood’s main road) cross the district providing both access and physical fragmentation. At the same time, its geographical position, the presence of metropolitan and regional level functions in the southern part of the district, together with two important features of the landscape system (the Santa Gilla Lagoon, and Tuvixeddu Hill which houses perhaps the largest Punic necropolis in the Mediterranean) make for an interesting area with significant potential. The current condition of Sant’Avendrace with a high level of spatial fragmentation and land use segregation suggests that the focus of attention should be on physical and functional accessibility and the integration of spaces and land uses. The concept of accessibility here is intended in its widest sense, including the physical connection of 1 elements and the possibility to access a rich variety of destinations and urban opportunities. The project therefore combines The Role of the improvement of physical connections with the introduction of new land uses and services, and the reconfiguration of public Connective Space in spaces, together with policy actions to promote and support urban services and a better Regeneration quality of life. Neighbourhood structure Tanja Congiu and Alessandro Plaisant explain The district has an incoherent urban structure with predominantly residential uses the role of connections in the regeneration of mixed with urban and local scale services a Sardinian neighbourhood and derelict areas. The transport network traverses the neighbourhood, ensuring on the one hand a high level of accessibility by different modes at the urban and metropolitan scale but, on the other hand, producing longitudinal fragmentation and the isolation of built-up areas. For instance, although the 1 Sant’Avedrace railway line and the SS195 highway directly district, Cagliari: the connect the city of Cagliari with its suburbs, proposed masterplan they present a physical barrier between the with the new housing development, park urban fabric and the lagoon. and redesigned street To the north, Via Po, a traffic corridor network serving the city with wide lanes and no

Urban Design ― summer 2018 ― Issue 147 Topic 19

2 relationship between the carriageway and its surroundings, Accordingly, the project aims to radi- acts as a physical and functional break in the urban fabric. In cally change the face of the neighbourhood the middle of the district, running from south to north, Viale physically, functionally and experientially, Sant’Avendrace is both a neighbourhood main street and an starting with repairing and reconnecting urban arterial road. It channels high volumes of through traf- the most fragmented and dilapidated parts fic to the nearby adjacent districts as well as accommodating and establishing new roles and new rela- neighbourhood services which generate pedestrian movement, tionships among its elements. To achieve buses and high car parking turnover. However, the congestion this, the proposal includes an integrated and poor quality of the spaces alongside the road do not attract schedule of carefully combined interven- people to linger. tions at three different scales: micro, urban The sense of place is generally lacking even in the minor and metropolitan. transversal streets, which are characterised by a monotonous The project consists of three main layout with ordinary residential frontages, continuous rows of actions: parked cars on both sides and no trees or furniture. These east- 1. A new social housing development west streets also represent potential links with the two environ- located in the former slaughterhouse of mental and cultural landmarks of the wider area (the lagoon and Via Po Tuvixeddu Hill), but their perception as such is often negated by 2. A new sports and educational park in physical and visual barriers. the neglected area of San Paolo Such an unfriendly character becomes more evident as one 3. The redesign of the street network moves to the north-west of the district, where the urban struc- including the main Viale Sant’Avendrace ture reflects its former function, with inward-looking big blocks and the conversion of its transversal bounded by blank walls containing disused industrial plants (a streets into safe and inviting places to slaughterhouse, pasta factory, fuel storage, and railway ware- live in, walk and rest. houses). However, in recent decades, the location of these sites at the entrance to the city, and their proximity to main transport Each action has been developed to con- corridors has continued to attract activities that need large sites, sider the benefits at each of the different such as the postal service headquarters, or the legal and illegal scales: use of the San Paolo area for dumping, railway yards, the storage At the local level, the new network of of boats, and occasional circus performances. •walkable spaces connects the different parts of the neighbourhood, making a The proposal 2 Impressions of the permeable living environment. Areas of The contrasting nature and neglected quality of Sant’Avendrace existing situation, new urban development will be linked with with traffic dominated has a negative impact on how people experience the area. It is streets and abandoned the dominant environmental elements, mainly a district where people pass by rather than decide to sites in relation to the thus helping to revitalise those parts that spend their time. lagoon and hill are currently ignored and marginalised.

Urban Design ― summer 2018 ― Issue 147 20 Topic road, and the lagoon and the hill acting as dramatic settings 3. To increase the permeability of minor streets in order to reduce the longitudinal segregation of the district.

Throughout the spine, continuous, safe and comfortable walking and cycling paths will join the core of the neighbourhood with the new council housing at 3 Via Po and the metropolitan park of San Paolo. The spatial quality of these paths will produce a vibrant living environment, connecting commercial activities, residential uses and renovated open spaces. Streetscape interventions will convert the sequence of spaces along the axis, currently undifferentiated and underutilised, into a linear system of 4 attractive environments. A system of micro-connections will climb up the hill to the east, re-establishing a physical and The transport networks, designed as a system of visual relationship with the archaeologi- connected public spaces, underpin the whole project, cal site, while some of the cross streets will provide a visual connection with the making the different parts accessible and reinforcing lagoon and the whole Gulf of Cagliari to the relationships between the existing neighbourhood the west. The scenery will change radically and the renovated components at the intersection between Viale Sant’Avendrace and Via Po, giving place to a new urban boulevard, with generous At the urban scale, a recognisable and comfortable network tree planting, and large sidewalks that •of non-motorised paths and lanes will connect with the adjacent become medium and large squares in districts, making north-south travel in Cagliari continuous and front of the new and regenerated blocks. pleasant for walking or cycling. The efficient public transport This urban setting will undergo the most routes will run alongside these paths ensuring the integration of radical transformation and the redesign modes and the linkage with other more distant urban areas. of the streetscape will lead the regenera- At the metropolitan scale, the provision of a new large area tion process. Together with the conver- •equipped with sport, educational and leisure facilities, next to sion of the brownfield sites on both sides the lagoon and at the entrance of the city, and well connected of the road, the redesign of the connective with the outskirts by a train line and fast thoroughfares, spaces will contribute to the transforma- represents an opportunity for the whole metropolitan area of tion of the urban fabric, by establishing 450,000 inhabitants. The same principle applies to the new new relationships between outer and social housing complex with public spaces and innovative and inner areas. A sequence of spaces, varied services, which will benefit not only local residents but diverse in size, shape and function, open the whole population of Cagliari. and covered, narrow and wide, public, semi-public and private, suitable to be It becomes clear that the transport networks, designed as a crossed or as destinations, conducive to system of connected public spaces, underpin the whole project, play, meeting friends, exercising, trading, making the different parts accessible and reinforcing the resting or studying, will pervade the area relationships between the existing neighbourhood and the creating a continuum from the street to renovated components. The project reverses the usual hierarchy the centre of the blocks. of transport modes by prioritising sustainable forms of mobil- With these specific actions, the acces- ity. The new street layouts, intended as the three-dimensional sibility structure supports and drives the spaces between building envelopes, convert important areas cur- neighbourhood transformation. It binds rently devoted to cars (moving or parked) into new public spaces and gives coherence to the individual for walking, cycling, resting and meeting people. It is intended interventions. Thus, the system of con- that new inhabitants and new social activities will be attracted nections will provide a new spatial and by the improved conditions. functional order that supports a better Within the system of connections, the axis Viale quality of life in the neighbourhood. Sant’Avendrace – Via Po acts as a spine for the neighbourhood • that both gives access to and connects the various elements. Tanja Congiou civil engineer, research The new spatial configuration, which entails new land uses and 3 Viale S.Avendrace: fellow in Urban Planning and Environemnt , supports new functions within the urban space, responds to examples of proposed Department of Architecture, Design and Urban street profile with Planning, University of Sassari different needs: landscaping and Alessandro Plaisant Associate Professor 1. To keep its role as a traffic artery which handles flows at the integrated cycleway of Urban Planning in Land Engineering, city level 4 Examples of Department of Architecture, Design and Urban proposed integration Planning, University of Sassari, Sardinia, Italy 2. To give back to the axis its original character of urban avenue, of streets with enhancing its relational and social nature, with activities and landscape, with views collective spaces, at local and urban level, overlooking the across to the lagoon

Urban Design ― summer 2018 ― Issue 147 Topic 21 Paris: Working with its Inhabitants Anne Faure describes a participatory approach to the redesign of emblematic spaces in the French capital

had been defined by the Paris Council: ‘The project is an answer to four objectives for the design of public space: Giving a better balance in the use of •public space in favour of pedestrians • Answering users’ new demands • Answering ecological constraints • Renewing and bringing innovation.’ A process of consultation of inhabitants was organised for the seven sites and lasted about a year. People were asked to explain their demands, to send sketches or projects, and then to discuss them, on the basis of a synthesis, during several meetings organised for each square. The city of Paris has approved a budget of €30 million for these projects, to be shared among the different squares. The consultation documents, available to anyone interested in participating, contained very good information explaining the situation and the proposals: a short historical context, aerial photos, and a range of detailed maps about public transport, density of pedestrian presence, 1 shops (type and floorspace), sun expo- sure, vegetation and water, time taken to ‘Giving more space to those who want to live in a more peace- cross the space, and car traffic. ful city, with fewer cars and less stress’ The meetings were very well attended. Anne Hidalgo, Mayor of Paris The squares are generally black spots: noisy, polluted, impossible to cross as a aris is changing: more space for cyclists, walkers, young pedestrian, dangerous for the cyclist, and people, and fewer cars. Also, more participation. Each congested for drivers. Everybody wanted P year, the inhabitants are invited to suggest improvements things to change, but the desired balance for their neighbourhood, which can be financed by a small part between friendly modes and cars was not of the city budget. the same for everyone. Nevertheless, the Among the numerous projects which are being studied by schemes proposed by the City Council at the city authorities, some are not readily accepted, like the the end of the process were well received. ‘reconquest’ of the banks of the River Seine for walkers and The result of the workshops was a cyclists instead of cars; or rejected, like building new bridges series of guidelines for the seven squares: with shops over the Seine. Others however, attract much enthu- To bring an end to congestion, and give siasm, including the refurbishing of seven emblematic squares of •more space to a diversity of uses the capital: Place de la Bastille, Place de la Nation, Place d’Italie, To reduce the space dedicated to motor place Gambetta, Place du Pantheon, Place des Fêtes, and Place de •traffic la Madeleine. To increase the number of cycle lanes Some years ago, significant improvements were imple- •and footpaths and make them more user- mented on the famous Place de la République. The result was friendly, with single-stage crossings very positive: the new layout was adopted by inhabitants as soon To ease access to public transport and as it opened. This positive outcome was partly due to the long •facilitate interchanges and extensive consultation, which lasted two years and included To increase vegetation, and create many categories of users, inhabitants, shopkeepers, people •people-friendly green spaces working in the area, and people of different ages. Taking advan- • To value the architecture and history of tage of this success, the mayor of Paris launched the project 1 The city of Paris and the squares Réinventons nos places on 20th June 2015. The targets and goals the seven squares • To facilitate sport, cultural and art Urban Design ― summer 2018 ― Issue 147 22 Topic

2 the Bastille prison is the symbol of the French revolution of 1789, and political meetings and celebrations are often organised there. As a result, and because of the inefficient traffic and permanent congestion, 350 individuals participated in the workshops. The project consists of enlarging the centre of the square, to give more space to pedestrians and cyclists; to plant new trees; and to cut the traffic roundabout by attaching the centre to a planted area on one side. This first phase will be launched in 2018. A contribution sent by two civic associations (Fédération Nationale des Associations d'Usagers des Transports and Rue de l’Avenir) was more ambitious: their proposal was to join the existing planted area with the central area but also to create a more impressive setting for the Opera House, merging the two in a large pedestrian zone. A second phase will open a link with the River Seine through the existing dock, the Bassin de l’Arsenal. This will be more difficult because of the difference in level between the square and the quays, and by the integration of a Metro station in the project. A large stairway will be built under the Metro line.

3 Place de la Nation: the most activities, and to install innovative urban furniture impressive To open the squares to users and to neighbourhood life. The most impressive project is Place de • la Nation (49,800 m²), where works will After defining the intended outcomes, the next step was to pro- begin in 2018. This former toll gate on duce a detailed master plan, which could be more controversial. the east of Paris is a circular square with a Further dialogue with stakeholders was therefore organised in a huge area dedicated to cars. Crossing it is different way. For every project, a team of architects, landscape very dangerous and access to the green in designers and planners was chosen to work in the project area 2 CGI of Place de the centre is not possible. The paths dedi- la Bastille and the itself, and so be available for members of the public to drop in to adjacent dock cated to pedestrians are neither legible discuss their work. 3 Place de la Bastille nor easy to use. The footways adjacent to proposal: instead the buildings are narrow. Place de la Bastille: the most emblematic of a roundabout, the space becomes Since March 2017, a shipping The most emblematic of the seven squares is Place de la Bastille a square with two container converted into an office has (29,100 m²), due to its historical importance: the storming of roads on two sides allowed the team of planners to meet

Urban Design ― summer 2018 ― Issue 147 Topic 23

4 5 people locally. The new shape of the public space has been represented on the ground by a temporary layout. In spring The results of the dialogue with the users 2017, the inhabitants held a party to demolish the hard surface made clear that an important part of the and plant the parts of the carriageway which will be changed into a garden. People can understand the project better when it population no longer wants to suffer the is simulated on the ground than on a map. They enjoy participat- pressures created by traffic ing, planting and meeting other inhabitants. They more readily accept changes in their environment, which can often be trau- matic. In addition the simulation is useful to check the relevance A new way of working on of the project. public space in Paris Eight traffic lanes will be reduced to four, the green in the For the first time in Paris, a programme of centre will be enlarged, the gardens near the buildings will be change included the very important part enlarged, and in some cases merged; footpaths will be enlarged of ‘co-building’ with the users of public into meeting zones; and a large number of trees will be planted. space. This method consisted of work- This new design gives the inhabitants a larger green area (4,285 ing with people at the beginning of the m²), makes crossing the reduced carriageway safer, gives more process and not after the project had been space to cycle lanes and pedestrian areas (52 per cent more defined, as is so often the case. Different space for pedestrians), offers more opportunities for children tools have been used including meetings, to play and for neighbourhood events to happen. Because of its walks, internet platforms, questionnaires large size, the square is to become a park – very useful in an area and registers in the districts’ town halls. where there is a lack of gardens. Altogether some 2,000 people were involved in the process. The crowds The other squares attending the meetings and the number The objectives emerging from the public consultations will be of suggestions sent into the dedicated applied to the other squares, but adjusted to respond to specific website suggest that Parisians have been constraints and problems. waiting a long time to express themselves Place d’Italie is presently quite similar to Place de la Nation: about their environment. The results of a huge circular space with more than 50 per cent dedicated to the dialogue with users made it clear that cars, a green in the centre which it is impossible to reach, etc. an important part of the population no The project is designed on the same principles: reducing car longer wants to suffer the pressures cre- space and expanding green areas in the centre and on the edges. ated by traffic. The desire for facilities for Place Gambetta, another circular space, is smaller but walking and cycling has been proven. almost entirely dedicated to motor traffic and the many buses This new way of working is an experi- that terminate there. These will be relocated in a nearby street ment. The cost of such a process makes it and the space available will be used for planting. difficult to reproduce for every proposal The problems of the Place des Fêtes have been discussed for public space improvements, but it has for a long time. Several projects have been implemented since been useful and could be justified by the high buildings were built in the 1970s. The existing layout with a sensitive character of these emblematic fountain and a market does not allow space for neighbourhood squares. The benefits will be a better life life. The market will therefore be moved to a street close to the for residents and a more attractive image square. of the city for visitors. On Place de la Madeleine, the church and its surroundings • provide an impressive architectural context. Valuing the herit- 4 Place de la Nation: Anne Faure, city and transport planner, and age is an important goal, but the proposal has to deal with dif- People enjoy planting President of civic association Rue de l’Avenir ferent problems: little space for walking and cycling combined and participating in the remodelling of the with the constraints of an historical area. space The evolution of Place du Panthéon was the most controver- 5 Place de la Nation: sial: the objective was to remove the parking which covered the the scheme reclaims space from cars to square. At the beginning, inhabitants and elected representa- create extended green tives were strongly opposed to the project. areas and pedestrian spaces

Urban Design ― summer 2018 ― Issue 147 24 Topic Reinventing Cities: From Urban Highway to Living Space Paul Lecroart shows the many benefits of transforming urban highways into people-friendly boulevards

1 n 1974 Portland replaced its Harbor Drive with a waterfront within metropolitan areas. However, park; in 1991 the Embarcadero Freeway in San Francisco was these limited-access grade-separated Idismantled; in 2001 New York rebuilt the 12th Avenue where roads create physical barriers, tend to an elevated highway had stood; in 2005 the Cheonggyecheon devitalise centres, neighbourhoods and Expressway in Seoul made way for the river hidden underneath; waterfronts, and hinder regeneration. and between 2013 and 2017 Paris pedestrianised the Seine The high levels of traffic they support riverbank highway. Now Paris Metropolitan Region is launching generate noise, dust and air pollution, an international design competition to rethink the Périphérique raising health and social justice issues. and the Grand Paris motorway network. By providing seemingly easy access for So will segregated highways become a thing of the past in cars, extensive highways networks tend the post-car and carbon city? Research by the Planning Agency to encourage car-centric lifestyles, urban for the Paris Region (IAU) suggests that converting stretches of sprawl, and more traffic congestion. highways into multi-use boulevards and public spaces may open In the last decades, many cities up new avenues for rethinking our cities in terms of liveability, have successfully started tearing down mobility and resilience. 1 Seoul: the obsolete urban highways and replacing Cheonggyechon River, formerly a highway them with multi-use boulevards lined Highway-to-boulevard case studies carrying 168,000 cars with mixed use new development, or new Functionalist thinking and post-war planning have left many a day; removal of the linear parks. Why are they doing that? viaduct and restoration large cities, including London and Paris, with extensive, yet of the river significantly What happens with the traffic? What are unfinished networks of urban highways. As they were built they reduced traffic. Image the benefits and costs? Are these projects were used, and still have a role in moving people and goods by Paul Lecroart iAU backed by public support?

Urban Design ― summer 2018 ― Issue 147 Topic 25 To find answers to these questions and others, I have looked into over 20 highway-to-boulevard experiences either fully completed or planned in cities worldwide. Of these, nine cases were studied in depth on-site with reports published (in French): Seoul (Cheonggyecheon Expressway), Portland (Harbor Drive), San Francisco (Embarcadero, Octavia), New York (West Side, Sheridan), Milwaukee (Park East), Montreal (Bonaventure), and Vancouver (Northern False Creek Viaducts). Most of these cases involve fairly central stretches of highways supporting heavy traffic volumes (in the range of 50,000 to 150,000+ vehicles per day), before being replaced by a boulevard and/or a linear park. This research is reference material to inform highway transformation strategies and projects in the Paris Region.

Why do cities get rid of urban highways? Depending on the physical context and circumstances, city authorities decide to remove highway stretches for quite a 2 pragmatic combination of reasons, including: Aging infrastructure and rebuilding costs. In San Fran- •cisco, Seoul, New York (West Side), or Toronto (East Gardiner), it appeared cheaper to dismantle crumbling elevated highways than to rebuild or bury them. Recycling viaducts into pedestrian connections can also give a new life to obsolete infrastructure cheaply, as in Seoul (Seoullo 7017) and Paris (La Défense Boulevard). Revitalising blighted areas and unlocking redevelopment •opportunities. This is a main driver for change in Vancouver, Milwaukee, Montreal, Birmingham (Inner Ring Road), Lyons (A43 Mermoz), and Oakland (I-980). Reclaiming the waterfront. Transport engineers enjoyed •building highways along river or seafronts, but these created barriers and therefore suppressed real estate values. Reconnect- ing cities with their historic setting and ‘giving the waterfront back to the people’, residents and visitors alike, often means 3 converting the highways, such as in Portland, Seoul, New York Average daily traffic in the road cor- and Paris. ridor may decrease dramatically after Reducing through traffic and related nuisances. This is removal – from 20 per cent in Portland to •central to the strategy supporting the Seoul, Paris, Lyons (A6/A7 up to 82 per cent in Seoul. When account- Confluence), and Strasbourg (A35) reconstructions. ing for trips diverted to alternative roads or to public transport, a significant share These context-specific goals are usually part of wider urban of earlier traffic appears to have simply intensification policies, eco-friendly transport plans and evaporated, typically in the range of 10-25 economic strategies. However, many highway removal projects per cent in the cases studied. Faced with were accidental: both the Embarcadero and Central Freeway a reduction of road capacity and speed, viaducts in San Francisco were closed after being damaged by a proportion of motorists change their the Loma Prieta earthquake in 1989, and New York's West Side routes, time of travel, trip frequency or elevated highway collapsed when a maintenance truck went activity programme, while others switch through the viaduct in 1973! to alternative modes. Changing conditions makes car drivers think twice, lead- Does highway transformation really help ing some to change destination or give up regenerate cities? less essential trips. Evidence from research shows that redesigning highway corridors can be a powerful driver for regenerating blighted or Increased connectivity for abandoned parts of cities, with a lasting positive impact on the everyone city as a whole. Removing visual barriers, reconnecting streets, Some cities back up removal projects with and improving the quality of the environment has changed the specific alternative transport and travel face of Portland, San Francisco, Seoul, Milwaukee and Birming- management strategies. While reducing ham. Replacing interchanges and ramps by straightforward road supply on the Cheonggyechon cor- crossroads unlocks vast pieces of land that can be reconverted ridor, Seoul increased metro and express into denser mixed use districts and parks. bus services, and discouraged solo car use through infrastructure tolls and parking Where do the cars go? 2 San Francisco: policy. Local accessibility often improves To many traffic engineers’ surprise, closing highways does not Embarcadero Freeway with the removal of detours. A decrease in the 1960s, photo Tim usually create traffic chaos beyond initial adjustments. Where Pharoah of vehicular trips may mean increased spare road capacity did exist in some of the cases studied (Seoul, 3 The same area after accessibility for people as a whole. San Francisco, New York), car traffic switched to local street the removal of the Pedestrian and cycle mobility and Freeway gave back the networks. Traffic thus gets distributed more evenly on a larger Bayfront to the people. static uses of public space for enjoyment number of streets. Congestion remained limited and less than Image by Paul Lecroart increase sharply. However, more people forecast. IAU on streets with still heavy car-traffic

Urban Design ― summer 2018 ― Issue 147 26 Topic

4 citizen participation, and political will play key roles. Convincing car-users and business interests requires lots of data, meetings and leadership. While controversial to begin with, these projects often win over the public during the process… or not, as in the case of Seattle (Alaskan Way). Just as in the 1970s, extensive highway plans were defeated by public opinion in San Francisco, London and other cities, many smart grass-roots coa- litions are pressing governments today to remove existing highways and flyovers in cities including Paris, New York, Denver, Dallas and Sao Paulo.

Symbolic actions or paradigm shifts? Highway transformation projects have 5 a strong symbolic impact because they levels (80,000 vehicles a day on New York’s 12th Avenue today) affect objects traditionally connected may result in more car-pedestrian or car-cyclist collisions: the with the idea of freedom and modernity. careful design of multi-lane boulevards is critical to their overall They bring us back to some of the fun- success. Ultimately, what we may see is a shift from a system damentals of city development, such as providing off-peak fast travel for some (the motorists) to a 24/7 nature, heritage, parcels and streets, and system of slower accessibility for all. into a more holistic way of thinking.

Environmental effects Learning from international A reduction in the volume of motorised traffic and distances experience travelled tends to reduce fuel consumption, as well as CO2 and From an urban planner and designer’s fine particle emissions. Perceptions of noise levels decrease, perspective, the main lessons can be sum- even when actual levels remain high. Some highway-to- marised in four points: boulevard projects providing more greening may have a positive Transforming urban highways into impact on the local climate: in Seoul, summer temperatures 4 New York: plan •boulevards encourages people to change along the former highway corridor are now a welcome 5°C lower for the Sheridan their travel patterns: less essential car Expressway in the than on other arterial roads. South Bronx. Highway- trips tend to disappear and eco-friendly to-boulevard projects transport modes tend to increase. This A favourable cost-benefit ratio? can help deprived can free-up road capacity for other needs, Transforming highways has a cost: in the cases studied, capital neighbourhoods while such as higher added value car trips maintaining road investment was in the range of €35-70 million (about £30-60 capacity. Image by or goods distribution. Improving local million) per kilometre. In view of the costs of maintaining or New York City accessibility is not detrimental to longer- rebuilding infrastructure nearing the end of its life, transforma- Department of distance metropolitan or regional trips. tion often proves cheaper. It may be a more affordable and City Planning-ARR An integrated boulevard offers a com- 5 New York: the • longer-term solution than capping or tunnelling. Land freed for boulevard replacing prehensive metropolitan level of services redevelopment can contribute to meet the costs. the Westside Freeway connecting people and activities, moving (2001): spectacular as many people, if not more, than a growth in bike and Complex processes, public support? pedestrian traffic. highway, but at a slower, smoother speed. Redesigning a highway into a boulevard is always a lengthy, com- Image by Paul Lecroart Boulevards enable social and cultural plex, and uncertain process in which open technical expertise, IAU interactions to take place, ultimately the

Urban Design ― summer 2018 ― Issue 147 Topic 27

6 7 raison d’être of cities and a key to their economic performance. Replacing a highway with a well-connected high-quality Highway transformation projects •multi-use boulevard creates value and can unlock the mixed use have a strong symbolic impact regeneration of deprived urban spaces and improve the liveability of the city as a whole. because they affect objects As a tool in the sustainable planner’s kit, highway conver- traditionally connected with the •sion can be used pragmatically, for instance to leverage the revitalisation of a specific area. Successful tactical action on a idea of freedom and modernity. short stretch where the highway is easy and cheap to change rapidly will help garner support for the transformation of longer stretches in the future. This is the strategy chosen by New York City for the Sheridan Expressway (by the Bronx River). In the United States, the country of the automobile par excellence, the success of removal projects stimulates many other cities to redesign obsolete highways. Seoul has removed 16 flyovers since 2005. International successes in highway-to-boulevard transformation offer food for a wider rethinking of the functions, uses and status of urban highways in city regions. Profound changes are affecting the behaviour patterns of people and businesses, and the way that cities and regions are organised. Many developed cities worldwide, including Paris, New York, Los Angeles, Tokyo, London and Stockholm, have experienced an overall reduction in car use, traffic levels, and car ownership over the last decade. Redesigning the existing urban highway network of large cities may be a smart way to address citizens’ aspirations and metropolitan development challenges, including global warming 8 related issues. It is not just about design: it is about rethinking the planning, movement, lifestyles, and wealth creation of cities and regions. This is a major trans-disciplinary task for the coming decades.• Paul Lecroart, Senior Urban Planner, Institut d’Aménagement et d’Urbanisme de la Région Île-de-France (IAU), the Planning Agency for the Paris Metropolitan Region

References Cairns (S), Atkins (S) and Goodwin (P), Disappearing traffic? The story so far, Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers Municipal Engineer 151 March 2002 Issue 1, pp.13-22. Congress for New Urbanism (CNU), Freeway without futures, 2017. 6-7 Montreal: the Lecroart (Paul), Transformer une voie rapide en avenue urbaine : une Buonaventure bonne idée ? Neuf études de cas internationales, IAU îdF, 2013- Highway, before and 16 [Transforming highways into boulevards: A good idea? Nine after the viaduct was international case study reports, IAU îdF, 2013-2016] Downloadable demolished with a online in French https://www.iau-idf.fr/savoir-faire/nos-travaux/ positive impact on the amenagement-et-territoires/amenagement/avenues-metropolitaines. environment. html 8 Paris: former Left Lecroart (Paul) et al., Les Métamorphoses de l’Autoroute Urbaine, Points Bank Expresssway, FNAU, Paris, 2014. now a pedestrian and cyclist promenade. Image by Paul Lecroart, IAU

Urban Design ― summer 2018 ― Issue 147 28 Topic Why Distributor Roads? Graham Smith goes in search of better practice for place-making

barriers to local movement. Furthermore, the relative isolation of the peripheral roads and their potential hostility for people on foot encourages car ownership and use.

Radburn’s legacy The built basis for the DB32 ideas, developed via Buchanan and Traffic in Towns (1963), is the community of Radburn, New Jersey in the United States. This development, designed by Stein & Wright in 1928 was, according to Clarence Stein ‘… realistically planned for the Motor Age’. It was the first modern design with culs-de-sac as a major concept and faster peripheral roads for motor vehicles giving access. A key aspect of the design, apparent on inspecting the plans and visiting the place, is that there are largely no footpaths on the outer roads, which would be consistent with DB32 advice. From the visual evidence it could be conjectured that walking is a mode associated with recreation rather than travel, whereas driving or being driven is the dominant means of transport. In Radburn this con- straint may be of lesser importance as the parks are indeed comfortably large and well integrated, and it is possible to access the local centre on foot, mostly off-road. While the relaxed planning density is not repeated much in modern Britain, the car- dominated distributor road is. The hegemony of the distributor road follows from the road type classifications developed mostly after the Second World War in Britain and crystallised by Traffic in Towns. That major roads should be 1 separated from ‘environmental areas’ he kind of layouts shown in the influential UK guidance was a clear message of Buchanan’s report Residential Roads and Footpaths, layout considerations and was seen as such in other continental T (Design Bulletin 32,1977 & 1992) have contributed to the practice. Today it could be claimed that in car being the predominant means of transport. In spite of its Dutch and German practice the whole city claim that ‘Residential roads and footpaths are an integral part has become the environmental area, once of housing layout where ... in the patterns of movement around one has left the motorway. buildings the needs of pedestrians and cyclists for safety and This road type classification that has convenience are given priority in design over the use of motor come to be regarded as normal in Britain vehicles’, the local application of standardised geometric data in seems to create as many problems as it the guidance has led to quite a different outcome. solves. The focus on small areas as an Design Bulletin 32 (DB32) was officially withdrawn in ‘environment’ or ’place’, with a wasteful England and Wales in 2007, and replaced by Manual for Streets 1 Radburn, New amount of land given to the surrounding (MfS) (2007) and MfS2 (2010). But DB32 thinking lives on. Con- Jersey, the Stein carriageway and its edges, means that & Wright layout ceived to enable desirable places to live by separating busy roads separating pedestrians residential cells are merely the interstices from homes, it fails in practice. All too often, cars dominate from cars, created a of a grid of roads, with driving the de- the residential enclaves, while the busy distributor roads act as cult of the cul-de-sac facto means of travel.

Urban Design ― summer 2018 ― Issue 147 Topic 29 Poor practice A recent housing proposal has an enlarged peripheral distributor road displacing through-traffic from an older north-south connection across the site. This older road is partially faced by new housing but with limited or foot-only access. The new road is met with housing backs. Only one non-vehicular access respects a pre-existing path. The junctions are defined by large roundabouts of a type often hostile to cycling and walking. 2 Such roundabout designs may be sourced in the Design Manual for Roads and Bridges (DMRB), applicable to the seven per cent of roads under the control of Highways England (i.e. Motor- ways and Trunk Roads). However, too often it is the highway engineer’s go-to source for local roads and streets as well. For half-a-century or more, planning guidance documents have sought to address issues of urban quality, and by implication safety for walking and cycling. They have not faced-up to the shibboleth of seeking uncongested motor traffic which then dominates the places to be served. The recent draft for a renewed National Planning Policy Framework (2018) says in paragraph 103 that ‘Transport issues should be considered from the earliest stages of plan-making and development proposals, so that opportunities to promote walking, cycling and public transport use are identified and pursued’. However, these positive words need a specific, even technical, reinforcement within national guidance. Local development guidance too often marginalises cycling, and makes walking inconvenient with relatively large-radius kerbs that make crossing awkward, 3 even within many brand-new estates. The Essex Design Guide Highways Technical Manual introduces off-line facilities for walking even at access and minor access road types. For new housing development, public transport also needs a changed rationale to ensure direct and convenient connections for passengers, across the heart of any community, as recom- mended in the new guidance Buses in Urban Developments. Getting to and from the bus stop by walking on quiet and isolated paths, and waiting at an unsurveilled bus stop on a distributor or grid road with fast traffic, are poor invitations to choose bus travel.

A change in approach An alternative to the ‘blank edge distributor’ (i.e. with no frontage development) for use in all county highways authorities outside London is needed, with a concept capable of respond- ing to both a high traffic function and to what needs to be 4 recognised as a high place function. Surprisingly this guidance of traffic capacity within the central already exists in Manual for Streets, effectively explaining lanes.’ why a distributor road category is not needed, if not explicitly outlawing it. The boulevard form is not often advo- Several documents show how the function of a street can be cated and yet has the potential to blend described in terms of its role as a movement conduit (link) and link and place functions, and avoid major its role as a destination in its own right (place). The implica- segregated road construction. The reac- tions for design are dealt with in Manual for Streets 2 (2010) tion against major segregated road con- which refers to link and place, and Transport for London struction in London is also reflected in provides guidance in its Roads Task Force Report (2013). Europe. The following two schemes from the Netherlands are offered as examples The too-little appreciated Planning Practice Guidance, Design, of new construction or the reconstruction 2014, offers this solution: of roads, which in most of the UK would ‘… streets should be designed to be functional and acces- be engineered as frontage-restricted sible for all, to be safe and attractive public spaces and not distributors. just respond to engineering considerations. They should 2 Design guide junction reflect urban design qualities as well as traffic management ensures inconvenience Cornelis van Eesterenlaan, considerations and should be designed to accommodate for walking Amsterdam and balance a locally appropriate mix of movement and 3 Livingston New This single-lane, traffic-calmed, dual place-based activities.’ Town: aerial view carriageway is a public transport cor- showing how residential enclaves ridor. It has a generous footway and an It continues and breaks new ground with the following advice: are separated by excellent, segregated cycling provision, ‘For example, boulevards which include service lanes, can distributor roads and both carry on over side junctions at 4 Warrington, Butts support continuous frontage development by providing Green, Kingswood grade, without material or colour dif- direct access to buildings and the parking and place-based Road: no social safety ference. Side entries are defined simply activities they generate, whilst still providing a high level at the bus stop by bollards and a dropped kerb to the

Urban Design ― summer 2018 ― Issue 147 30 Topic

5 6

7 8 carriageway, rather than radiused kerbs that interrupt walking and cycling paths. Local development guidance too Adjacent to the road centre median, between the trees, is a often marginalises cycling, and car parking area with dedicated loading spaces on both sides. The neighbouring buildings are a mixture of residential, café makes walking inconvenient with and restaurant, retail, and office uses and a school. A market is relatively large-radius kerbs that held on the roof-deck of the Piet Hein tunnel to the S114 road, which runs beneath the harbour waters and connects to Ijburg make crossing awkward, even within Island. The scheme was completed in 2003 and links parts of a many brand-new estates major former docklands area, now transformed into a residential area with some 8,000 dwellings. Conclusion Rijksweg Boulevard, Sittard-Geleen, Limburg The continuing British obsession with Rijksweg Boulevard, connecting the centres of Sittard and creating local distributor roads as motor Geleen, was rebuilt in 2016. Together with a major services traffic links without any place function, renewal scheme, the opportunity was taken to change the separate from the areas that they serve, 5 Sittard-Geleen, road. Formerly a three-lane highway with only advisory cycle Limburg, Netherlands: with neither frontage activity nor attrac- provision, the road was subject to speeding. A key design objec- newly reconstructed tive facilities for walking, cycling and tive was making the enlarged town read as one place, whilst Rijksweg Boulevard public transport, is out of step with the improving cycling and walking provisions. The boulevard is – the segregated best of contemporary practice. This is footpath and cycle now coherent and continuous. Side road junctions, including path continue despite appropriate design guidance in crossroads, are subordinate to the cycling and walking provi- uninterrupted across a Manual for Streets being available now sion, being indicated by bollards. At the crossroads a diagonal side turning for over a decade. We can see how Euro- marking on the central brick area indicates this as a ‘no parking’ 6 Swindon Typical pean places are demonstrating that things area. Ramps are provided for pedestrians crossing from footway British suburban could be better. distributor road with • to carriageway level. no active frontage, and The carriageways are narrowed to one 3m lane in each poorly overlooked bus Graham Smith, consultant urban designer, direction to minimise overtaking. Parking places are in double stop. Image by Tim former lecturer in Urban Design, Oxford Pharoah Brookes University bays beside the carriageway, between planting. These are not 7 Amsterdam easy to use for larger vehicles; consequently the road centre Eastern Harbour, C. itself is marked as a place for delivery vehicles. This is a counter- van Eestrerenlaan: intuitive decision as loading often creates risk for other road segregated footpath and cycle path users. Here the driver has to cross a carriageway to reach a continue uninterrupted destination. across a side turning The bus stop layout brings the two 3m lanes into one 6m 8 Bonn, Germany: example of continuous central carriageway with a short chicane, changed paving, raised footway across a side borders with bus shelter and seating, and ample bike racks. The street entrance. Image cycle path continues directly behind the stop. by Tim Pharoah

Urban Design ― summer 2018 ― Issue 147 Topic 31

1 Zürich: Synergies of Transport Policy and Public Space Willi Hüsler and Simon Jakob argue that the intelligent use of space can reduce motor traffic

ublic space is a cultural achievement. This comprises the other means of transport, a displacement planning, construction and maintenance process, as well battle evolved, in the course of which P as the definition and enforcement of the rules for their all other functions of public space were use, which became obvious to the authors while working in the marginalised. large slums of Nairobi and Kampala. In the spontaneously formed shantytowns, with populations of up to 400,000 inhabitants (e.g. Kibera in Nairobi), all free Space used by a car in areas get occupied and appropriated instantly so that squares urban space and streets are practically non-existant. The inhabitants are Moving car: At least 50 m2 road area mostly poor people who have migrated from rural areas, and • Parked car: At least 2 parking struggle desperately to make a living in the city. In this context it •spaces, 2 x 15 to 25 m2 becomes obvious that public space cannot be taken for granted. In the more differentiated structure of established cities, the increasing importance of cars affected the design of streets and A change of paradigm started to become squares in a dominant way, as the design was mainly aimed at the apparent at the beginning of the 1970s. requirements of moving and parked motor vehicles. In the 1960s At the time, using a cold-war metaphor, 1 Zürich: the the American Highway Capacity Manual was the starting point Limmatquai is now a we called for a ‘peaceful coexistence’ in of all traffic-related lectures at European technical universities. pedestrian riverside the public space, and a change of values As the space consumption of a car is much higher than that of promenade with a tram eventually became unstoppable.

Urban Design ― summer 2018 ― Issue 147 32 Topic

Annual number of traffic- related fatalities in the city of Zürich • 1970: 80 • Since 2005: Fewer than 10

Road safety issues have been one of the priorities, and over the years, traffic and design measures have had considerable success in improving this. In redesigning public space (including traffic space) it has become accepted best practice to involve all stakeholders in the planning, layout and design process, as well as in the definition of the terms of use. It has been shown that, especially in dense 2 urban environments, a well-balanced public space design cannot be arrived at without firstly questioning the abundant parking of private cars on streets and squares; secondly implementing well worked out areas with mixed functions; and thirdly adapting the amount of car traffic to the new context. This is what our culture of using urban space in all its diversity consists of, and what needs to be developed and defended in the outskirts as well as in the historic centres of cities. More recently, increasing attention has been paid to the design and assignment of public space, and there are now many interesting examples and experiences showing the great potential of collaboration between traffic policy and urban design. The following examples from Zürich are convincing not only because of their extraordinary design, but also because of the pragmatic solutions 3 that they incorporate.

Integration of public transport The goal of public transport (PT) is user friendliness, not just to have its own lane. In order to ensure the right of way for buses and trams, it is often argued that public transport needs its own continuous lane. In the city of Zürich, however, positive outcomes were achieved by implementing a design of stops that contradicted this principle. In the vicinity of a public transport stop, motorised individual traffic (MIT) is led on to the PT lane, which avoids having to provide a separate waiting area for passengers between the PT lane and MIT lane. This enables bigger and more connected pedestrian areas to be provided. In addition, video observations and traffic simu- lations also show that with a conventional 4 PT stop design, the MIT gets interrupted 2 Zürich: example of a by pedestrians crossing in the vicinity of tram stop with shared lanes the stops. 3 and 4 Zürich: Mehr als Trams, buses and pedestrians can use Wohnen neighbourhood: the same lane without a problem. The limited car access, underground parking and insertion of tram or bus within pedestrian continuous pedestrian level areas can quickly lead to ideological road surface discussions. In cities with experience of it,

Urban Design ― summer 2018 ― Issue 147 Topic 33 nobody talks of banning PT from pedestrian areas. Nevertheless to reach this level of acceptance, an appropriate street width and an adequate traffic speed play important roles.

Reorganising Parking In 1996, the historic ‘parking space compromise’ was reached for central Zürich. It says, that the number of publicly accessible parking spaces should be capped at the amount existing at that time. Furthermore it was, and still is, an explicit goal to free the streets and squares of the inner city of parking spaces, and to relocate them in underground parking facilities. This has led in the last 20 years to an appreciation of the inner city that wasn’t previously thought possible. A particularly successful example is Sechseläuten Platz. This space was partially used for parking and the rest was covered by a barely usable green space. The new design with its beauti- 5 ful Quarzit surfaces and otherwise minimal design elements, quickly found its way into the hearts of residents and tourists It was, and still is, an explicit goal alike. The easily moved heavy iron chairs form ever-changing to free the streets and squares patterns as a consequence of their use, even in winter. Parking has been relocated to a garage under the square, and tram routes of the inner city of parking continue to operate through the space. spaces, and to relocate them in Concepts for non-car-reliant living underground parking facilities The residential estate Mehr als Wohnen (More than Living) was built on an area of approximately 41,000 m2 in the northern part of Zürich, by private non-profit associations without public subsidies. In 2015 approximately 1,200 people moved into the 395 flats and about 150 employees moved into their offices, workshops and restaurants. The estate also includes a guest- house, music rooms and other communal facilities. Based on a new concept about mobility, the authorities were able to approve a significant reduction of parking spaces.

Parking spaces allocations

Parking spaces User 57 1,200 inhabitants 34 Visitors of inhabittants 5 Car shareing 31 150 employees 6 36 Visitors of the businesses (restaurants etc.) which means that the maximum speed is 9 Coporate vehicles of the businesses set at 20 km/h, there is no differentiation 172 in total (of which 104 in underground parking) between the footway and carriageway, and parking is only allowed in marked If normal Swiss parking standards had been followed, 521 bays. parking spaces would have been required, and even with the application of generally accepted reduction factors, would still Conclusion have resulted in 312 parking spaces. The City of Zürich is the heart of a much larger metropolitan area. Increasing The main components of the concept that enabled this reduction urban density and limited urban space to 172 spaces were: are the main challenges of modern Short distances to schools (reachable by foot) and the provi- transport planning and design of public •sion of facilities for small children within the estate space. Zürich has found some interesting The implementation of a ‘concierge-service’, receiving deliver- approaches to manage both. The real •ies, etc challenge now is to find and implement Five parking spaces for car-sharing vehicles. equally successful schemes in the low- • Generous facilities for bikes density outskirts of the larger metro- • A commitment, in form of a written contract, by the tenants politan area. It is hoped that the positive •not to own a car, with possible exceptions for people with dis- experiences in Zürich will inspire similar abilities or working shifts schemes in other urban centres around Restricting car access to the inner part of the estate the world. • The connection to the public transport network by a direct • •bus link to the main train station of Zürich Oerlikon. Willi Hüsler, Dipl. Ing. ETH, founder of IBV Hüsler, traffic consultant, lecturer and researcher The design of the road network inside the estate features narrow Simon Jakob, transport and mobility routes for vehicles through pedestrian areas without any differ- consultant for IBV Hüsler 5 and 6 Zürich’s ences in level. Vehicle access is limited to authorised people and Sechseläuten Platz blocked to others by moving barriers. Public space is signed as a before and after the Begegnungszone (meeting zone, similar to the UK HomeZone), remodelling

Urban Design ― summer 2018 ― Issue 147 34 Topic The Renovation of Avenida Gasteiz Eduardo Rojo Fraile shows the advantages of redesigning a main road

1 he city of Vitoria-Gasteiz lies inland from Bilbao in the By 2011 the urban landscape was very north of the Spanish peninsula, and is the capital of the dilapidated, the environmental quality of TBasque autonomous community. the area was poor due to the heavy traffic (with high levels of noise and air pollu- Background tion), and the neighbourhood had entered Avenida Gasteiz is a large urban street built in the 1970s into commercial decline (a number of according to the urban standards of the time. Its wide cross- retail establishments and restaurants section was occupied by a large road with several lanes in had closed since passers-by were too far each direction, a central reservation designed as a pedestrian away). It was clear that the design and promenade, five parking lanes and a side access lane for structure of the street were not in line with residents. The space set aside for pedestrians was limited and its geographical centrality, or with criteria the central promenade, flanked by the road and the tramway for sustainable mobility and high quality constructed in 2007 was detached from both homes and public spaces. 1 Vitoria-Gasteiz: shops. aerial view of Avenida The Batán river used to run along the avenue, flowing from Gasteiz today with the Purpose of the intervention the hills of Vitoria south of the city, to the Zadorra river, to the tram, cycle lane and The project, promoted by Vitoria-Gasteiz traffic north. This was channelled to collect the city’s wastewater. 2 Part of the plan City Council and funded by the Basque gov- After considerable urban growth Avenida Gasteiz went from for the redesign of ernment, was designed as a comprehensive being a peripheral road to a focal point of the city, an unavoid- Avenida Gasteiz intervention aimed at recovering public able road en route to the northern neighbourhoods and the 3 Avenida Gasteiz spaces for citizens and improving the before the renovation new bus station for inter-urban services at the city’s northern 4 Vitoria-Gasteiz; environmental, social and economic condi- end. Its central location was used to establish some of the location map of the tions of the neighbourhood. The following city’s important facilities such as the Europa Congress Palace. sites objectives and criteria were proposed:

Urban Design ― summer 2018 ― Issue 147 Topic 35

Reduce the space dedicated to private motor traffic, and •increase pedestrian areas and space for cycling and public transport infrastructure Transform Avenida Gasteiz into an energy efficient, more •permeable urban corridor with more greenery Improve water management • Improve the environmental, sensory and convivial quality of •the place Socially revitalise the neighbourhood and promote commer- •cial dynamism.

The project is part of two main sustainability strategies for Vitoria-Gasteiz: the Sustainable Mobility and Public Space Plan, launched in 2007 to continue promote sustainable modes of transport to replace private vehicles, and the Urban Green Infrastructure Strategy approved in 2014, which aims 3 to enhance the ecosystem of the city through solutions based on nature. The urban renovation of Avenida Gasteiz is one of the first two actions carried out in the city in terms of green infrastructure and, in this sense, has a clear demonstrative and innovative character. Our concept of green infrastructure incorporates mobility as one of its main components. Our urban paths, pedestrian highways and public transport lines are a fundamental part of the green infrastructure grid. The Sustainable Mobility and Public Space Plan groups blocks into superblocks. The streets inside the superblocks become places of peaceful coexistence between pedestrians and vehicles. Many of them become pedestrianised, especially in areas with a greater deficit of public spaces and high population density. The plan defines main roads for motorised vehicles on the periphery of the superblocks. It also defines a network of urban paths for pedestrians and cycle lanes that structure the city. The public transport network runs along the main roads.

Previous actions: construction of an urban path The renovation of Avenida Gasteiz is part of a pedestrian axis that links the central Virgen Blanca Square with the new bus station in the north of the city. In previous years a series of works were carried out until they reached Avenida Gasteiz. First, at Virgen Blanca Square, the heart of the city, a traffic lane was taken out to provide terraces for the adjacent cafés. Since then, lighting has emphasised the architectural framework of the square leaving the central area in shadow. A series of water fountain spouts on the ground help to refresh passers-by on hot days. Second, in Prado Street, the perpendicular parking spaces were eliminated to widen the pavement and provide the start of an urban path. It became an important public transport 4 interchange zone, with tram and taxi stops in nearby areas. The List of places mentioned: works included a system of cameras to prevent non-residents 1. Virgen Blanca 4. Batán river and 8. Constitución from accessing the large superblock that contains the old town. Square Avenida Gasteiz Square 2. Prado Street 5. Europa Congress 9. Bus station Only public transport can enter the historic centre. 3. Sancho el Sabio Palace 10. Zadorra river Last, Sancho el Sabio Street was radically transformed. It Street 6. Cruz Blanca 11. & 12 Avendaño went from having four traffic lanes and four parking lanes to 7. Navarro Villoslada and Zapardiel

Urban Design ― summer 2018 ― Issue 147 36 Topic The river system as a landscape project The resolution of the water programme is a very important part of the functional and formal landscape project. Some of the water of the Avendaño and Zapardiel rivers come to the surface in the renovated section of the avenue. This reclaimed river gives structure to the new avenue and has enhanced it with a more biodiverse landscape. The traditional parterres that accompanied public spaces have been replaced with a nature corridor. It is one more element added to the grid of urban green infrastructure in Vitoria-Gasteiz. Between the promenade and the channel, an undulating wall has been constructed that gives structure to the public space and provides successive rest areas along the promenade. It serves as a continuous seat and limits access to the river. It is made from the limestone of local 5 quarries and is of dry stone construction. It houses a rich micro fauna, in a similar way to the low walls of the farms in the local rural environment.

Other actions The installation of a green façade and photovoltaic panels during the environmental rehabilitation of the Europa Palace was carried out at the same time as the public space project. The lighting has been installed according to Starlight criteria (see http://fundacionstarlight. org), leaving the river in shadow.

Assessment This spatial reorganisation, with the removal of more than 400 parking spaces, has been possible thanks to the dialogue with and support of the different groups 6 involved. Approximately 4,300 cyclists being a pedestrian street with a single access lane for local resi- travel daily along the new cycle lanes and dents. In its middle, a large pergola houses markets and other 24,000 people travel by tram, while the urban activities. A large screen in front of the tram stop informs number of cars has been reduced by a citizens about the main events in the city. Public transport users third. The wide pedestrian pavements are have better access to information. revitalising shops and restaurants, setting tables outside. The decrease in traffic has Public spaces in Avenida Gasteiz reduced the levels of noise and atmos- The identity of the public spaces has been enriched with envi- pheric pollutants, which together with the ronmental improvements. The interventions included actions creation of new rest areas and the general aimed at improving mobility, biodiversity, water management, landscape improvement of the area, has energy management and the quality of public spaces. meant an increase in public use and social An urban path, the tram, a cycle lane and a road with heavy interaction. traffic run along the avenue in parallel. Noteworthy actions The diversion of water from the Batán carried out include the pedestrianisation of the side access lane river and the installation of sustainable and the elimination of four of the five lanes reserved for park- drainage systems have limited the flow ing. Refurbishment of the great urban path has been extended, 5 Vitoria Gasteiz: Well of clean water into the sewer system, used cycle lane on the connecting it with the Sancho el Sabio section and ending at redesigned Avenida improving its efficiency and prevent- Constitución Square, accompanied by a reclaimed river and its Gasteiz ing flooding. The introduction of new tree covered riverside area that makes the urban environment 6 The undulating wall elements of biodiversity (green façade, more pleasant. A two-way cycle lane has been built on each side gives structure to the indigenous plant structures, etc.) and the public realm of the avenue. 7 Avenida Gasteiz: water element, in addition to improving The two perpendicular streets, Cruz Blanca and Navarro before and after landscape quality, humidifies the earth, Villoslada, are inside a superblock. The latter is now pedestri- cross-sections with provides freshness, contributes to reduc- redistribution of anised, incorporating areas shaded by birch groves. The other functions. ing air pollution, and offers many other street, Cruz Blanca, retains a traffic lane but this is level with the All images by the benefits for the health and well-being of pedestrian areas. author citizens. The reclaimed river has become

Urban Design ― summer 2018 ― Issue 147 Topic 37 a biodiversity corridor that functions as an ecological connector between the hills of Vitoria and the Zadorra river. The new LED lighting system has led to a reduction in light pollution and energy consumption. The energy efficiency measures associated with the environmental rehabilitation of the Europa Palace are also reducing the city’s energy bill. The urban renovation of Avenida Gasteiz is a good example of rebalancing the mobility network to apply nature-based solutions to the improvement of major public spaces. It is led by a holistic vision for urban interventions that brings together different elements. These include: The development of good transport networks for walking and •cycling, and an efficient public transport system; and, The introduction of nature in the city, improving the perme- •ability of the ground and promoting ecological connectivity supported by the hydrological network.

The resolution of all these environmental issues results in an improved urban landscape that is attractive for urban life and supportive of the local economy.• Eduardo Rojo Fraile, Head of the Public Space and Natural Environment Service, Municipality of Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain 7

Reclaiming Historic City Centres from Automobiles Michelle DeRobertis and Maurizio Tira discuss the Italian approach to reducing traffic

or centuries, if not millennia, Italian streets were designed for either the Fpedestrian or the horse and cart. While for the last 80 years the automobile has dominated street design, there is a consistent outlier that remains frozen in time: Italian historic city centres. Whether dating from Roman, medieval, Renaissance, or fascist times, these unique places retain their historic form whose function is to serve pedestrians. Outside the city centre, the current concern in Italy is to design streets for all modes; solutions include bus-only lanes, cycle lanes and/or allowing bicycles to use bus-only lanes. In the city centre, however, the issue is not only to manage but to reduce excessive traffic. This article will discuss the uniquely Italian concept of Zone a Traffico Limitato, traffic- limited zones (ZTL).

Background By the 1950s, Italy, like most of the developed world, was experiencing 1 phenomenal growth in car ownership and use. Many city plans such as those for Bologna and Rome were proposing more and wider roads even within the historic centres. Paradoxically at the same time, 1 Brescia: pedestrian street

Urban Design ― summer 2018 ― Issue 147 38 Topic 1. Through traffic does not belong in the historic city centre; 2. The primary mode of circulation should be walking for residents, shoppers, workers, visitors and tourists alike; 3. High quality public transport is essential; 4. The only motor vehicles allowed should be those of residents to access their private off-street parking spaces, deliveries for stores and restaurants, and vehicles for the disabled.

What is a ZTL? ZTL are zones where only authorised users may enter, either 24 hours a day or during a specific time period. Even within the same city, ZTL may operate part-time on some streets and 24 hours a day on others. Each town decides the hours and the authorised vehicles, which typically include residents’ cars, taxis, vehicles belonging to people with a disability, 2 emergency vehicles, deliveries within a smaller timeframe and sometimes motorcycles. A pedestrian area, on the other hand, restricts virtually all motor vehicles. Authorised users receive a permit to display on their windshield; this also allows them to park on-street in designated areas. In the past, enforcement against cars which did not display a permit, depended on the local traffic police. With the advent of electronic methods in the late 1990s, this became easier. Many cities also allow one-time entrance permits for a fee. To prevent abuse or evolution into de-facto tolls, the number of times per month that one can obtain such a permit is limited. While the vast majority of ZTL are implemented within an historic centre because of its uniqueness as a major attractor for people from all over the city, 3 and in many cases all over the world, there was a growing awareness in Italy that the priceless herit- some large cities such as Rome and Turin age and ambiance of city centres were extremely compromised also have smaller ZTL outside the historic by the noise and pollution emitted by cars, impacting not only centre, in areas with particular traffic famous landmarks such as the Coliseum in Rome, but also the problems. Rome, due to its size, has seven residents. ZTL, three of which restrict traffic only As a result in 1962, Siena banned cars from Piazza del Campo late at night, to control traffic related to and in 1965, the four main streets of its centre were closed to nightlife activities. traffic 24 hours a day, with exceptions for buses, taxis, ambu- lances plus a delivery window for local shops. Bologna created ZTL and Street Design its first pedestrian-only street in 1968, and between 1972 and Italian historic city centres are like 1975 through traffic was banned from a small area within the outdoor museums, so an attractive historic centre and some streets were designated for buses, taxis streetscape is an important part of their and residents only. In 1974, Brescia designated the core of its character. historic centre as a Pedestrian Area, although with exemptions ZTL reduce traffic but are not similar to those in Siena and Bologna. Rome finally implemented pedestrian-only areas, and in some cases a ZTL in 1989, the same year that Italy passed Legge Tognoli, streets must also accommodate public the law which formally defined both ZTL and Pedestrian Areas transport. Mostly the implementation (PA). This law was expanded and incorporated into the Italian of ZTL is simply indicated with signs Highway Code in 1992. The number of cities with ZTL blossomed and without street redesign. This ease throughout the 1990s and today over 300 cities and towns, some 2–3 Rome, the of implementation is considered one of as small as 1,500 inhabitants, have one. Most of the larger cities Coliseum The effect of their advantages. In contrast, streets the ZTL designation: have pedestrian-only streets as well. Unrestricted outside that became pedestrian areas were typi- From the very beginning, these actions were based on the the ZTL (top) and cally completely redesigned, including following premises: inside it (bottom) surface materials, more street furniture,

Urban Design ― summer 2018 ― Issue 147 Topic 39 the presence and quantity of outdoor seating, and bollards to prevent errant cars. Indeed ZTL can be considered precursors to a fully pedestrianised street. This evolution occurred in Brescia where, since 1990, 2.5km of streets that were initially part of ZTL are now pedestrian-only streets. Given a typical building-to-building width of 8 to 12m in the city centre, with carriageways of 4 to 6m for two-way traffic, there is no opportunity to narrow lanes further or to convert a four-lane road into a two-lane road, as is common in the USA. Thus bike lanes are essentially impossible. But with lower traffic volumes and speeds on these narrow lanes, the road can easily be shared with bicycles and in some cases pedestrians. Furthermore, the reduced volumes of traffic and, above all the removal of through traffic, allow for two specific traffic- engineering measures: the creation of one-way streets, and the elimination of on-street parking on one or both sides. These measures can free up space and allow for new or wider footways, the removal of raised kerbs, more outdoor seating, attractive street furniture and planters. In addition, since high 4 traffic speeds and volumes are specifically discouraged, many cities have replaced the asphalt surface with a more historically appropriate material such as stone. A survey of the 300+ Italian towns to determine whether and how they have redesigned their streets since introducing a ZTL is something the authors would like to pursue further. To offset restricted car access, ZTL are typically accompanied with other measures including improved public transport, parking lots at the periphery, and cycle-ways along ring roads and radially. ZTL apparently have not discouraged visitors from coming to city centres.

The benefits of the ZTL ZTL are intended to improve the ambiance and restore the historical integrity of city centres as well as improve health and safety of both residents and visitors. Photos of two locations a block apart near the Coliseum, inside and outside the ZTL, illus- 5 trate the improved ambiance which is enjoyed by all. Various cities have analysed one or more of the anticipated benefits. Several cities have shown that as expected, traffic volumes decreased measurably, including in Rome where even the number of delivery vehicles decreased by 25 per cent, despite the fact that they are still allowed within a restricted timeframe. Another positive consequence was that bus travel times demon- strably improved. An analysis of traffic collisions revealed that within the ZTL, they decreased at a greater rate than collisions in the rest of the city. In Bologna, collisions decreased by 20 per cent in the ZTL in the first year after electronic enforcement was implemented in 2005, and by a total of 45 per cent by 2014. This is contrasted with a 30 per cent decline in citywide collisions by 2014. Man- 6 tova experienced a more dramatic result: in the 12 months before the damage caused by the overwhelming and after the expansion of the ZTL, traffic collisions within it presence of cars. They are also relatively decreased from 10 to 4, a reduction of 60 per cent, while city- easy to implement and do not depend wide collisions decreased by 7 per cent from 391 to 363. on expensive renovations and street Qualitatively, preliminary results from a survey in Brescia redesign. The most common changes found that over 80 per cent of the residents of the ZTL rated to the streetscape that accompany ZTL their street as very liveable, liveable or average, essentially the are reduced on-street parking and the same as those residing elsewhere. However, disturbances from creation of one-way streets. ZTL are often traffic noise and traffic fumes are more common inside than precursors to fully pedestrianised streets outside the centre, unless a ZTL is implemented. Despite this, which further reduce the adverse impact residents remain split on whether they would prefer to see the of the motor vehicle on the city centre. hours of the ZTL expanded or remain the same. These, in contrast, typically do involve extensive street redesign. Conclusion 4 Cyclist in Ferrara’s • ZTL, Emilia Romagna ZTL in Italy have mushroomed since the 1990s. All Italian 5 Brescia: Corso Michelle DeRobertis, civil and traffic engineer cities with a population of over 100,000 have them, as well Garibaldi in the ZTL in California, currently doctoral student at the as over 250 smaller towns. ZTL are not congestion charges or where stone paving University of Brescia researching ZTLs has replaced asphalt Maurizio Tira, Environmental Engineer, environmental zones; you cannot ‘buy’ your way in. From this 6 Salò: ZTL sign Professor of Town and Regional Planning and perspective, they are socially equitable. Their main purpose is All images by the Rector, University of Brescia, Italy. to restore the beauty of the Italian historic city centres from authors

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of six lines. The trams have been replaced A Pedestrian Pioneer: by buses and offer a fairly efficient 24-hour service. The capital also has a huge fleet of taxis, some 40,000 licensed, Florida Street in half of which are permanently on the streets. The fares are relatively cheap and therefore taxis are widely used. Buenos Aires In spite of this good public transport service, streets are congested and as Sebastian Loew recounts the history drivers have little discipline and ignore regulations, traffic in the city is chaotic. of a precursor pedestrianisation scheme Within this context, traffic management and restraint can only succeed through drastic measures and draconian enforce- uenos Aires, the federal capital of Argentina, covers an ment. The latter is sporadic and easily area of 200 square kilometres, and has a population of defeated by corruption, while drastic Babout three million; the much larger metropolitan area measures have appeared in various ways has a population of 13.2m, about a third of the country’s total. over many years and the history of the Car ownership is fairly high with some 1.8m cars licensed in the calle Florida is emblematic. This north- capital. Cars are, for most Argentines, an extension of their bod- south street is in the middle of what was a ies and this is true even in the capital in spite of its excellent and mixed use urban core and is now the city’s cheap public transport system. office and commercial district. Its scale might be compared to that of London’s Background Bond St and for many years it played a Founded in the 16th century, Buenos Aires follows the grid pat- similar role in Buenos Aires, an upmarket tern of all Spanish colonial cities as prescribed by the Laws of and at the same time popular commercial the Indies. From humble beginnings, the so-called ‘big village’ street. started growing in the middle of the 19th century, welcoming At the beginning of the 20th century, wave after wave of immigrants from Europe. By the dawn of the Florida Street and its surroundings 20th century it had become the most elegant and progressive boasted some of the most aristocratic city of the continent, known as the Paris of America, the capital houses. It had become the citizens’ of a very rich country. favourite street, gas-lit from 1856 and British investment brought the railways to Argentina in with electric lighting some fifty years 1857 and the electric tramway to Buenos Aires in 1897. Soon the later. It was the best paved and the best-lit

central area of the city was filled with a grid of tramlines; by 1910 1 Buenos Aires, street in the city and by the 1890s, it Buenos Aires had some 600km of tramways. Three years later Argentina: Florida also had a tram line. People strolled up the first underground was built and today the city has a network Street today and down Florida to see and be seen; it

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2 3 was the city’s salon. The street was lined with glamorous shops, Office workers would almost always make coffee houses and symbolic buildings where the upper classes a detour and walk down Florida rather met: the Jockey Club (eventually burned down under President than on other congested and polluted Peron’s orders), the Club del Progreso and the Sociedad Rural streets. (the farmers’ association). As the area became more commercial, the aristocratic residents gradually moved away. Total pedestrianisation In 1971 the Municipality designated Daytime pedestrianisation the whole area as the microcentro and Soon the porteños (as the citizens of Buenos Aires are known) banned all but essential vehicles, buses started complaining about the street’s congestion, and and taxis from it. Florida was now shopkeepers demanded action by the authorities. In 1911 the completely pedestrianised 24-hours a day Municipality banned vehicular traffic between 11am and 9pm following major resurfacing works, new on the whole length of the street, making it perhaps the first infrastructure and landscaping. Sidewalks pedestrianised street in the world. The tramline was dismantled were eliminated to ensure a uniform floor two years later. Florida’s popularity increased even more as new surface from wall to wall. At the junctions stores opened along it, notably Harrods at the north end (the with cross streets, approximately every only branch beyond Knightsbridge) and Gath & Chaves, another 100m, vehicles interrupt the pedestrian British owned department store, at the southern end, both flow. However, the surface of Florida inaugurated in 1914. continues across the junction like a carpet The timetable of banning vehicles changed several times and the vehicles go up and down a slight during the next forty years, but pedestrians in Florida had ramp. The exceptions to this happen at priority even when vehicles were allowed to circulate. This was the junctions of four major avenues where confirmed in a 1953 lawsuit when a judge stated that ‘Florida the flows are controlled by traffic lights. belongs to the pedestrian…vehicles, even during the hours Lighting was renewed, a main water where they are allowed…are intruders in the real life of Florida. collector was laid in the middle of the Therefore they have to behave by asking for permission at every street along its whole length, and new moment and try not to bother the pedestrians’. At one point the street furniture and landscaping were pedestrian flow became so thick and disorderly that in 1933, the introduced. The works were not carried Municipality tried to regulate it by forcing pedestrians to walk out without hiccups: they lasted much on the right hand side in each direction. As might be expected, longer and went well over budget. Some this regulation was unenforceable and was soon abandoned. 2 Florida Street in of the original design proposals had to be the 1960s before the Meanwhile the financial and office activities had started redesign of the street abandoned, and not all of the new furni- replacing the residential ones and their expansion would have an surface ture and landscape survived. Nevertheless effect on future developments. By the 1960s, the southern end of 3 An intersection newsstands – small kiosks – still exist between Florida and the street and its surroundings had become Buenos Aires’ finan- a cross street with more or less in their original form. cial centre. During office hours the traffic situation was chaotic continuous pavement In spite of criticisms, the result was for both pedestrians and vehicles in the surrounding streets. level a success. By the end of the 1970s the

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4 5 traders’ association estimated that about one million people New measures used the street every day, around three times more than 20 years Nowadays, after years of decline, the earlier. Property values had gone up and not many shops had street has recovered some of its glamour changed hands or disappeared. Regulations controlled the kind although it is a pale reflection of what it of retail outlets allowed – for instance limiting the number of was in its heyday. Grand buildings have banks to one per street block – and the design of shop fronts and been converted to new uses and their advertising. Small carts with rubber wheels pulled by hand were upper floors still show their Art Nouveau used for deliveries in the early morning and rubbish collection or Beaux Arts architecture, but the was done at night using electric vehicles that had to travel at ground floors are likely to be occupied by pedestrian speeds. a fast food chain or a less than glamorous In 1977, Lavalle, one of the cross streets within the microcen- brand. tro renowned for its cinemas, was also pedestrianised for some In recent years, a Pedestrian Priority 500m. The repaving to form a uniform surface from building line Programme for the city centre has been to building line followed a similar but improved pattern to that of initiated, and two parallel streets have Florida: all services were laid in accessible trenches without the been reconstructed on the Florida model, need to break the pavement. resulting in significant reductions in noise and pollution and an increase in land Decline values. Though these schemes were very successful at first and did not Traffic considerations have also suffer from the problems encountered in other cities, decline meant major change in Avenida 9 de Julio, started a few years later and was dramatic. The country’s parallel to Florida four blocks to the west, economic situation deteriorated during the 1980s and affected and at 125 metres, one of the widest urban the street’s commerce. At the same time the whole central area boulevards in the world. In recent years, suffered from the competition from other areas: the shops from a four lane busway (the system is dubbed peripheral shopping malls, and the offices from new locations Metrobus) has replaced four central traf- more suited to modern needs. Florida was no longer the prime fic lanes, though 16 general traffic lanes retail destination; a number of traditional shops closed down remain! By gathering the bus routes from and even Harrods started emptying its upper floors in 1989, and nearby parallel streets onto the busway, finally closed definitively in 1998 (though the empty building further pedestrian priority schemes have still stands). Trying to revive the street’s fortunes the Mayor had been enabled on these parallel streets, the pavement replaced with a black and white pattern of granite with calle Florida providing the model. tiles. But soon after, in 2001, the Argentine economy collapsed, What can be retained from Florida’s affecting commerce even more. long history is that its pedestrian status The next phase was probably the worst for the fortunes of has never been contested. Its commercial Florida. Gradually the street was invaded by street vendors, the rents are still amongst the highest in so-called ‘manteros’ because they laid a cloth or blanket (manta) the city, it continues to be a favourite on the pavement to display their wares. Eventually the whole promenade for the porteños and one of street was covered by these blankets and pedestrians had to the first areas visited by tourists. Florida walk on the narrow paths left in between. The city authorities can be compared to a commercial mall but estimated that there were 100 illegal vendors per block. This contrary to most of these, it happens to affected the shops as potential customers – now including large be a normal city street, part of and con- numbers of tourists – were deterred from entering them and nected to its urban grid. Its streetscape even from walking along the street whose status was now mar- has been modified a few times without ginal. The situation led to demonstrations and clashes between changing its essential role and its success opposing groups, and eventually in 2012 the city managed to has influenced the way other streets have remove the illegal vendors, enforcing the ban with a strong 4 Florida Street around been treated. 1900 • police presence. 5 Florida Street before full pedestrianisation Sebastian Loew

Urban Design ― summer 2018 ― Issue 147 Topic 43 Impressions from China Tim Pharoah laments the effects on the public realm of fast and frenzied urbanisation

1 China’s population has doubled in 50 years to reach 1.4 billion. The vision of modern China recalls Of much greater importance from a planning perspective is the 1950s North America, rather than 21st fact that the urban population has grown in that time from 150 century Europe, but the story behind million to almost 800 million, the proportion rising from 20 per the vision is rather different. In the US, cent to over 60 per cent. This scale and pace of urban growth is high density had been a consequence of unmatched in the Western world at any time in history. The total high levels of (mostly streetcar) transit. urban growth in 19th century England was no more than that The insertion of high capacity roads and experienced in Shanghai in the past decade alone. the switch to the private automobile China is building fast to accommodate the urban hordes, and prompted sprawl and low density growth. to cater for their travel. In Shanghai the number of metro lines In China the growth is occurring with an has gone from just one to 15 in the past 20 years. It is a similar assumed goal of motorisation from the story in many cities: there are now more than 20 cities with over start. High density is achieved within resi- five million population, of which 15 cities have over 10 million dential enclaves, but gross densities are inhabitants. very much lower because of the large size So what is frenzied? The word might apply to energetic and frequency of the road network. The children, who tear around the playground simply because they volumes of travel are also exacerbated by can, without much thought to any particular purpose or conse- the way that activities are configured. quence. Similarly, much of what is being built in China appears to The rise of car use has been inexo- be without a guiding vision, and with a disregard for the longer rable in 21st century China. But just as term consequences. In children such abandon is delightful. In noticeable is the flooding of city streets city building it can be a disaster. with electric motor scooters, which now Almost any judgement about Chinese cities will be true in at seem almost as numerous as the humble least one place, because it is such a vast and populous country bicycle once was. This has created a new with much diversity, but this article explores some generic set of challenges in managing the street aspects of contemporary urban transport and development in environment. China and their urban design outcomes. Gated compounds High and wide 1 Barriers impede Much development occurs in gated Two features immediately stand out: for urban development, access to the enclaves, very often of some consider- it is concentrations of tall blocks and towers; for transport, Zhengyangmen able size. Limited entry and exit points Museum and despoil wide roads are the dominant element. How these two features the streetscape in a mean that connectivity between areas is play out in terms of urban density is key to understanding how major tourist area near difficult. One can find oneself 100m or modern Chinese cities work. the Forbidden City so away from local shops and facilities, in

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2 3

The impermeability created by the gated compounds is exacerbated further by the frequent inability to cross the street in convenient locations

4 terms of crow-fly distance, but the lack of permeability between be expected or trusted to observe any enclaves means that considerably longer journey distances are traffic rules. In order to achieve any sort involved. It is common therefore for people to use motorised of order, barriers are needed to keep transport to undertake local journeys, which in a permeable opposing flows apart: local and through European city would involve a short walk. flows, public and private vehicles, The compounds themselves can have both positive and two and four wheeled vehicles, and negative features. The concept has historical roots, with the pedestrians and any sort of vehicles. The Forbidden City offering a well-known example. The contempo- result is a horrendous degradation of rary compounds also seem to be aimed at protection and the the streetscape. Barriers are ubiquitous creation of defensible space. Whether such fear is justified in a even in highest foreign currency-earning country with a relatively low crime rate in public spaces, is hard tourist areas, for example outside the for an outsider to judge. The creation of a quality environment gate to the Forbidden City. within the compound is by no means guaranteed. Attractive and Equally hard to accept is the impact safe residential environments can be created, and have been, of these barriers on local movement. The certainly in the more up-market developments. Such examples impermeability of the gated compounds usually involve parking provided underground. But the potential is exacerbated further by the frequent for safe play spaces or attractive gardens is destroyed when the inability to cross the street in convenient gated area is simply a car-park. locations. If, as is common, the gates to compounds are located mid-block, and Streets or highways? barriers run from junction to junction, Any street with a significant role in providing connectivity will a walk between compounds involves have (to European eyes) extremely generous widths. Inevitably a major detour. In addition, the sheer this has a huge impact on the townscape, characterised perhaps width of the street and the difficulty as canyons with fast flowing rivers of movement. Unlike natural of traversing it means that it is not canyons, of course, the rivers flow in both directions. This surprising to find that people choose affects street life, and the design and management of local to drive their car or scooter to make 2 Zhengzhou City access. today even the most local of journeys. For the 3 Dan Ryan same reason, very often vehicle users, Barriers, barriers and more barriers Expressway, Chicago especially two-wheeled vehicles, will be 1960s The UK had a love affair with pedestrian barriers in the latter 4 Zhengzhou: gated ridden in the opposite direction to the half of the 20th century, but it was a mere fling compared to that compound with car intended flow, to avoid having to cross to which has unfolded in China. It seems that people there cannot free interior the correct side.

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5 6 There may be some potential benefit in the wide street dimensions in the future for reallocating space from vehicles to pedestrians, cyclists or public space. Some reallocation has already occurred in some cities, for example in order to insert a segregated bus rapid system (BRT), but the impact on local access is likely to remain a problem.

Edge conditions The liveability of streets depends not only on the ease of crossing and re-crossing them, but also on the conditions for pedestrians to engage in activities or simple perambulation, which must usually, for practicality and convenience, take place at the edge of the street adjacent to building frontages. However in Chinese cities, it is these edge conditions that create a poor quality of street life. The parking of motor scooters and bicycles on the footpath can be chaotic, obstructing movement on foot, and taking space that should contribute to the quality the public realm. To western sensibilities, the undisciplined movement 7 and use of the side or edge spaces creates a potentially unsafe Conclusion environment, and limits the potential for sojourn. Social inter- This article is based on recent visits to action, it seems, takes places almost exclusively indoors. central China, including Beijing and Zhengzhou. My overriding observation, Too many cars, too little transit apart from being in awe at the vastness Zhengzhou, the capital of Henan Province, has become a major of the place and the apparent ability of city almost overnight, and provides a useful example of how people to carve out their lives in hostile major expansion has been handled. Public transport so far environments, concerns the type of has lagged behind population growth, but the building of big future to which Chinese cities are head- roads has not. Traffic and parking have become the dominant ing. The aspiration seems to be to create features of the urban realm. BRT has mitigated the transport transport systems and urban environ- situation to some extent, impacting visibly on the design of the ments based on individual motorisation, major road network, but to release more space for develop- and in this way reflects the aspirations ment and public realm, it is necessary to provide higher capac- seen in European cities more than four ity and higher speed rail transit. decades ago. What is seen as modernity So far Zhengzhou has only two metro lines, but a further in China today is to many European eyes 12 lines are currently under construction. These could open an ill-considered vision that is neither opportunities for a major reduction in car use, but it does not 5 Zhengzhou city attractive nor sustainable. A change of seem to be the aspiration, and in any case such a goal is being centre with nowhere to direction is needed, but undoing the undermined by an equally vigorous development of the major walk anti-urban infrastructure that has already road network. A new CBD has been built, remote from the 6 Zhengzhou gated been created will be a daunting task. compound dominated city centre, which has some impressive spaces and buildings. by parking. Changing mindsets may prove to be the The image of this commercial and cultural area, however, All above images by most difficult challenge of all. is promoted as a motorway city rather than as an attractive the author • 7 Zhengzhou: Tim Pharoah destination. promotional image for the new CBD as a motorway city

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1 Making Streets Better John Dales and Christopher Martin demonstrate that learning from observation is one of the main keys to successful schemes

Transport and streets are pretty much what get us and our col- leagues out of bed in the morning. They’re the raison d’être of the small company to which we have devoted our working days (and nights) for nearly a decade; and they’re what we’re fasci- nated by in our spare time, too. But why? There are probably two key reasons. The first is our shared, joyful conviction that streets are the lifeblood of towns and cities; that, to borrow a phrase from a speech made in Athens around 2,000 years ago, they’re where ‘we live and move and have our being’. The second is the unhappy recognition that, since the internal combustion engine came along, we have stead- ily ensured the almost complete subordination of both living and being to moving, especially in private motor cars. This means that streets, on the whole, have had transport done to them, that the means have triumphed over the ends. We see our work, our calling almost, as being to do what we can to ensure that transport is an enabler of living and being, not a dominator. While we understand the vital importance 2 of transport in terms of economic, social, environmental and public health, we have seen how the pursuit of narrow, usually

Urban Design ― summer 2018 ― Issue 147 Topic 47 was completed in 2014. Perhaps the most innovative features we introduced in the Old Town – uninterrupted, continuous footway crossings over the mouths of quiet sides streets – were dubbed Copen- hagen Crossings by the Council because we drew our inspiration from layouts we saw as commonplace in that city. But there’s a lot more to the scheme than just these features. The historic heart of the Old Town had been all but forgotten by people and emptied of community life, with the central space laid out as an expanse of tarmac to serve as a bus stand, and no thought given to how locals, visitors, and businesses might want to use the space and engage with it. Other streets in the study area were similarly designed 3 around the requirements of motor vehicles. Accordingly, the core aims of the design brief were to raise the quality of experience for local people and visitors; to challenge the current use of space and maximise environmental and road safety benefits; to emphasise and enhance the area’s unique relationship with Clapham Common; and to reduce the dominance of traffic and improve pedestrian and cycle access. Appointed in 2009, our first task was to fully understand the series of connected streets and spaces, of widely different characters, that make up the Old Town: how they were currently being used, what activities they were inviting, and what potential energy they held that we could release through the design. During the first few months of the commission, we therefore spent a great 4 deal of time, at different times, walking motor-centric, transport goals has often been to the detriment of the streets, sitting in the public spaces, cities, towns and streets in general, a modern parallel to Aesop’s drinking in the pubs and cafes, eating in fable about the goose that laid golden eggs. the restaurants, and speaking with local people. This kind of immersion in local Learning from other places street life is, we think, essential when Making streets better places is what we spend most of our time designing for change. trying to do. We are constantly seeking to learn, and therefore We found that, despite a public realm almost constantly challenging one another. While we do learn that was not inviting, certain pockets were from participation in conferences, seminars and other conven- drawing people in; and so we worked to tional forms of continuing professional development (CPD), the prioritise these spaces as ‘early wins’. This core of our approach to CPD is our programme of StreetTours – was both to prove the scale of ambition of study visits to different towns and cities to see what others have the project and to showcase the benefits done, to speak to those others, and to argue the pros and cons that can be delivered by designing places amongst ourselves. around people. To be able to take these trips is one of the many benefits and A scheme for Venn Street was the first privileges of working for a small practice: there’s no hierarchy to be built and it opened in September to convince about spending the company’s time and money to 1 The opening party 2011. Typical of many side streets off go places. Over the past few years, we’ve increasingly sought for the new Clapham busier streets, Venn Street was dominated international inspiration, with StreetTours to Copenhagen, Old Town piazza. by kerbside parking on both sides, with Amsterdam, Utrecht, Paris, Barcelona, Stockholm, Dublin and Image by Lambeth narrow footways and outdoor seating Council and Labour Seville. Other international cities that we have recently visited as Party meaning people often had to walk in part of our project work include Berlin, Munich and Nantes. 2 The piazza as it used single-file. The constrained potential for to be before redesign. the street’s many cafes and restaurants Clapham Old Town 3 A place for people: to spill out was restricting the street’s streets of Clapham Old These visits are enjoyable but that doesn’t stop them also being Town now prioritise commercial and social success, while a work. Indeed, our experience has been that getting out and people monthly food market (enabled by the about to learn is fundamental to the success of our design work. 4 The Old Town piazza temporary closure of the street) was only invites people to stay Nowhere has this connection been clearer than in the commis- and enjoy the space. just surviving. sion we undertook for Lambeth Council in Clapham’s Old Town. Last three images by Our aim for this street was simply The first element of this scheme opened in 2011, and the rest Urban Movement to let life thrive, to let people use the

Urban Design ― summer 2018 ― Issue 147 48 Topic

The introduction of a single surface in York stone created a space dominated by people walking and sitting, and full of invitations to stay and enjoy: licensed tables and chairs, new street trees, public seating, cycle stands

5 to spend time in. We also began to pursue a range of public realm improvements aimed at reconnecting the Old Town with the adjacent neighbourhoods, improving access to public transport, and making walking and cycling the easiest and most enjoyable ways to move about the area. Working closely with a steering group made up of local residents and officers from Lambeth Council and TfL, we developed and refined various options through numerous public co-design events, reaching a final design that began construction in 2013. The scheme removed a fast and dangerous one-way gyratory system that had prioritised through motor traffic, replacing it with two-way streets that enabled passing traffic to avoid the heart of the Old Town while making local access more convenient. The rationalisation of the bus standing area created space for a new piazza, while new trees, formal and 6 informal outdoor seating, and contra- street in the way it had become clear they wanted to; and this flow cycling facilities all helped people to meant we needed to find space. Working closely with Transport come to the space and stay, there, in turn for London (TfL), we were able to demonstrate that we could enabling businesses to thrive. Parking remove the double red lines at the southern end of the street that and loading bays at footway level, and in were wrapping around from the adjacent main road (the A3). footway materials, changed the language They were a matter of convention, rather than need. Using this and priority of the space. Four years of space, we were able to relocate the resident and business parking experience of the Copenhagen Crossings bays to both ends of the street, freeing up the space in-between have shown that they have successfully for comfortable walking and more productive use by frontagers. and safely reasserted the priority given to With traffic flows both low and slow, the introduction of a single people on foot. surface in York stone created a space dominated by people walk- The changes in Clapham Old Town ing and sitting, and full of invitations to stay and enjoy: licensed demonstrate the beneficial outcomes that tables and chairs, new street trees, public seating, cycle stands follow from focusing on the life of streets and a public cycle pump. and from learning about what works and The new arrangements proved very popular with local people why. What you can achieve when people and businesses, and the struggling monthly market soon became are truly the primary driver in public a thriving weekly event. Building on this success, we wanted realm design is amazing. to apply people-centric principles to a quite different context: • the main part of the Old Town. The existing layout did little to John Dales, director of Urban Movement Christopher Martin, urban designer and invite people to spend time in the area, or enable the diverse 5 A warm evening on planner, Urban Movement array of pubs, cafes, restaurants, and shops that front the space Venn Street today. to engage with it. Our approach to this challenge was to explore Image by Macaulay Walk ways in which we could balance the technical requirements of 6 Venn Street as it bus operations with the pressing need to restore the physical used to be. Image by heart of the community and create an enjoyable place for people Urban Movement

Urban Design ― summer 2018 ― Issue 147 Book reviews 49

Beyond Mobility – Planning makes a convincing link between creat- growth from purely quantitative producing more sustainable cities and improved tion to concern for the urban environment. Cities for People and Places economic performance, while the last two He deliberately chooses not to define eco- chapters on emerging technologies and cities, while observing the diverse forms of Robert Cervero, Erik Guerra and moving towards a sustainable future are the urbanisation in different parts of the country. Stevan Al, Island Press, 2017, £34.00, most interesting for urban designers. Other He sympathises with techno-fixes and dis- ISBN 978-1-61091-834-3 factors affecting planning for transport are misses utopian dreams of eco-warriors, but increasingly ageing societies in the West he also maintains that the Chinese eco-city This book’s three authors are professors of and the trend among Millennials not to buy model emerges from its own social dynamic, city planning and urban design at the Uni- cars. These groups are avid users of Uber- regulated by an authoritarian political sys- versities of California and Pennsylvania, and type on-demand services, and the authors tem. This stance is reflected in the content have produced a very useful snapshot of how devote a chapter to emerging technologies of his chapters which start with a discussion to recalibrate the way we plan, design and and the expanding options that may be avail- about eco-cities, the premise that man must build cities, in order to shift the focus from able through self-driving vehicles, from cars overcome nature, and a critique of Western cars to people and places. They concede to trains. These new transport modes have ‘small is beautiful’, embracing the growth that the ideas advanced in the book are not many potential implications for city plan- model instead. He takes a historic view of new, but hope that their reflections on con- ning that are still to be explored, but the China's dichotomy between industrial growth temporary challenges, such as information rapid pace of technological change can only and rural backwardness, and the civilising technology and developing cities, will help be usefully captured in journals and online components of the Chinese socialist model to move beyond mobility. By this they mean articles making this book possibly the last on with its emphasis on education, rule of law, that the approaches, metrics and standards the subject. state security, cultural facilities and, more used to design cities are in need of recalibra- • recently, environmental concerns. He ends on tion by downsizing the role of mobility and Malcolm Moor, architect and independent an optimistic note, discussing China’s urban upgrading other factors. Vancouver, the only consultant in urban design; co-editor of Urban experiments and sees lessons for other parts major North American city without a grade- Design Futures of the world regarding R&D investment, tech- separated freeway, is ranked by TomTom (the nology development, resource management producer of navigation aids) as the conti- and urban land (mainly state owned). He nent’s most congested city, while also being China’s Urban Revolution briefly looks at the role of planning and notes ranked as the most liveable city in the world that China is also trying to deal with the need by the Economist Intelligence Unit. – Understanding Chinese for social housing, albeit producing gated As with cholesterol, apparently, there Eco-Cities communities. The state uses the notion of is good and bad congestion; the good type ‘sponge cities’ regarding water drainage, ex- creates a vibrant, pedestrian-friendly city Austin Williams, Bloomsbury, 2017, pecting low-tech, win-win targets to rapidly that has not wasted money on excessive £17.99, ISBN 978-1350003255 filter down the political hierarchy, instead road construction. Walking, cycling and of dams with concomitant massive commu- mixed use activities are quoted as means of nity displacement. Such diverse eco-policies recalibrating cities, with chapters devoted Williams’s book is written in a racy, fluid style. show that innovation may be more amenable to transforming suburbs through retrofit- Easy to read, full of facts, albeit few illustra- without a rigid definition of eco-cities. ting office parks and reinventing shopping tions, it is based on his extensive travels to While acknowledging failed Chinese eco- malls as mixed use destinations, as well as Chinese ‘eco-cities’, where he experienced cities, Williams concludes that the many more light rail and metro lines combined urban change first hand. It aims to lay the techno-fixes to which China has resorted, are with transit oriented development. Increas- foundations to an assessment of China’s own opportunities for future economic expansion ing parkland can be achieved by reducing take on eco-cities, a change of direction in its based on more R&D and innovative, higher roadspace through ‘road dieting’, a new term breath-taking urbanisation process, full of value added products. This includes renew- that I hope does not catch on. The authors contradictions but also of innovative experi- able energy generation which adds to China’s argue for constraining the growth of car us- mentation. He challenges the two opposing export capacity and confirms its regard to age in the Global South, with an 8 per cent held positions about China’s unique urbanisa- sustainable development. A final aim of the annual increase seen in Asia and Latin Amer- tion process evolving from 17 per cent in 1976 book is to instil a more critical stance toward ica, where air quality and traffic collisions to almost 60 per cent at present. Western environmental instrumentalism. create disproportionately greater harm. A In Williams’s view, an emerging mid- • chapter on encouraging better economies dle-class has influenced the shift of city Judith Ryser

Urban Design ― summer 2018 ― Issue 147 50 Index

Allies & Morrison: Barton Willmore Partnership BOYLE + SUMMERS Urban Practitioners READING Canute Chambers Practice 85 Southwark Street, London SE1 0HX The Blade, Abbey Square Canute Road T 020 7921 0100 Reading RG1 3BE Southampton S014 3AB C Anthony Rifkin T 0118 943 0000 T 02380 63 1432/ 07824 698033 Index E [email protected] C james de Havilland, Nick Sweet and C Richard Summers W www.urbanpractitioners.co.uk Dominic Scott E [email protected] Specialist competition winning urban MANCHEStER W www.boyleandsummers.co.uk The following practices and urban regeneration practice combining Tower 12, 18/22 Bridge Street Space-shapers, place-makers, design courses are members economic and urban design skills. Spinningfields street designers and development of the Urban Design Group. Projects include West Ealing and Manchester M3 3BZ promoters. Value generators, team Please see the UDG’s website Plymouth East End. T 0161 817 4900 workers and site finders. Strategists, www.urbandesigndirectory.com for C Dan Mitchell pragmatists, specialists and generalists. more details. Andrew Martin Planning E masterplanning@bartonwillmore. Visioneers, urbanists, architects and Town Mill, Mill Lane, Stebbing, co.uk masterplanners. Those wishing to be included in Dunmow, Essex CM6 35N W www.bartonwillmore.co.uk future issues should contact the T 01971 855855 Concept through to implementation on Building Design Partnership UDG C Andrew Martin complex sites, comprehensive design 16 Brewhouse Yard, Clerkenwell, 70 Cowcross Street E [email protected] guides, urban regeneration, brownfield London EC1V 4LJ London EC1M 6EJ W www.am-plan.com sites, and major urban expansions. T 020 7812 8000 T 020 7250 0892 Independent planning, urban design C Andrew Tindsley C Robert Huxford and development consultancy. Advises be1 Architects E [email protected] E [email protected] public and private sector clients on 5 Abbey Court, Fraser Road W www.bdp.co.uk w www.udg.org.uk strategic site promotion, development Priory Business Park BDP offers town planning, planning and management, planning Bedford MK44 3WH Masterplanning, urban design, appeals, masterplanning and community T 01234 261266 landscape, regeneration and ADAM Urbanism engagement. C Ny Moughal sustainability studies, and has teams Old Hyde House E [email protected] based in London, Manchester and 75 Hyde Street arc w www.be1architects.co.uk Belfast. Winchester SO23 7DW Engravers House, 35 Wick Road, be1 is a practice of creative and T 01962 843843 Teddington, Middx TW11 9DN experienced architects, designers, Broadway Malyan C hugh Petter, Robert Adam T 020 3538 8980 masterplanners, visualisers and 3 Weybridge Business Park E [email protected] C katy Neaves / Vanessa Ross technicians. We are skilled in the Addlestone Road, Weybridge, [email protected] E k.neaves@ arcldp.co.uk design and delivery of masterplanning, Surrey KT15 2BW w www.adamurbanism.com W www.arcldp.co.uk architectural and urban design projects T 01932 845599 World-renowned for progressive, Arc Landscape Design and Planning and are committed to designing the C jeff Nottage classical design covering town and Ltd is a consultancy specialising in appropriate solution for all of our E [email protected] country houses, housing development, landscape and public realm design; projects. W www.broadwaymalyan.com urban masterplans, commercial urban design and landscape led master We are an international interdisciplinary development and public buildings. planning; and, landscape/townscape The Bell Cornwell practice which believes in the value of assessment Partnership placemaking-led masterplans that are AECOM Oakview House, Station Road, Hook, rooted in local context. Aldgate Tower, 2 Leman Street AREA Hampshire RG27 9TP London E1 8FA Grange, Linlithgow T 01256 766673 Brock Carmichael Architects T 020 7798 5137 West Lothian EH49 7RH C Simon Avery 19 Old Hall Street, Liverpool L3 9JQ C Ben Castell T 01506 843247 E [email protected] T 0151 242 6222 E [email protected] C karen Cadell/ Julia Neil w www.bell-cornwell.co.uk C Michael Cosser W www.aecom.com E [email protected] Specialists in Masterplanning and the E [email protected] One of the largest built environment w www.area.uk.com coordination of major development Masterplans and development briefs. practices in the UK offering an Making places imaginatively to deliver proposals. Advisors on development Mixed use and brownfield regeneration integrated life-cycle approach to the successful, sustainable and humane plan representations, planning projects. Design in historic and sensitive projects from architects, engineers, environments of the future. applications and appeals. settings. Integrated landscape design. designers, scientists, management, and construction consultants. Urban design Arnold Linden Bidwells Burns + Nice is a core component in both the private Chartered Architect Bidwell House, Trumpington Road 70 Cowcross Street and public sectors in the UK and across 31 Waterlow Court, Heath Close Cambridge CB2 9LD London EC1M 6EJ the world. Hampstead Way T 01223 559800 T 020 7253 0808 London NW11 7DT M 07500 782001 C Marie Burns/ Stephen Nice Alan Baxter T 020 8455 9286 C johnny Clayton E [email protected] 75 Cowcross Street C Arnold Linden E [email protected] w www.burnsnice.com London EC1M 6EL Integrated regeneration through the W www.bidwells.co.uk Urban design, landscape architecture, T 020 7250 1555 participation in the creative process of Planning, Landscape and Urban environmental and transport planning. C Alan Baxter the community and the public at large, of Design consultancy, specialising Masterplanning, design and public E [email protected] streets, buildings and places. in Masterplanning, Townscape consultation for community-led work. w www.alanbaxter.co.uk Assessment, Landscape and Visual An engineering and urban design Assael Architecture Impact Assessment. Carter Jonas practice. Particularly concerned with Studio 13, 50 Carnwath Road Berger House the thoughtful integration of buildings, London SW6 3FG Boyer 36-38 Berkeley Square infrastructure and movement, and the T 020 7736 7744 24 Southwark Bridge Road London W1J 5AE creation of places. C Russell Pedley London SE1 9HF T 020 7016 0720 E [email protected] T 020 3268 2018 C Rebecca Sanders Allen Pyke Associates w www.assael.co.uk C Ananya Banerjee E [email protected] The Factory 2 Acre Road Architects and urban designers covering [email protected] W www.carterjonas.co.uk/our- Kingston-upon-Thames KT2 6EF mixed use, hotel, leisure and residential, w www.boyerplanning.co.uk services/planning-development.aspx T 020 8549 3434 including urban frameworks and Offices in Bristol, Cardiff, Colchester, Multidisciplinary practice working C David Allen masterplanning projects. London and Wokingham. throughout the UK with dedicated E [email protected] Planning and urban design consultants masterplanning studio: specializes w www.allenpyke.co.uk Baca Architects offering a wide range of services in urban design and masterplanning, Innovative, responsive, committed, Unit 1, 199 Long Lane to support sites throughout the placemaking, new settlements and competitive, process. Priorities: people, London SE1 4PN development process. We believe in urban extensions, urban regeneration, spaces, movement, culture. Places: T 020 7397 5620 shaping places through responsive sustainability and community regenerate, infill, extend create. C Richard Coutts design. consultation. E [email protected] w www.baca.uk.com Award-winning architects with 100 per cent planning success. Baca Architects have established a core specialism in waterfront and water architecture.

Urban Design ― summer 2018 ― Issue 147 Index 51

Chapman Taylor LLP Define FaulknerBrowns Garsdale Design Limited 10 Eastbourne Terrace, Unit 6, 133-137 Newhall Street Dobson House, Northumbrian Way, High Branthwaites, Frostrow, London W2 6LG Birmingham B3 1SF Newcastle upon Tyne NE12 6QW Sedbergh, Cumbria, LA10 5JR T 020 7371 3000 T 0121 237 1901 T 0191 268 1060 T 015396 20875 E [email protected] C Andy Williams C Ben Sykes C Derrick Hartley w www.chapmantaylor.com E [email protected] E [email protected] E [email protected] MANCHEStER w www.wearedefine.com w www.faulknerbrowns.co.uk w www.garsdaledesign.co.uk Bass Warehouse, 4 Castle Street Define specialises in the promotion, FaulknerBrowns is a regionally-based GDL provides Masterplanning and Castlefield, Manchester M3 4LZ shaping and assessment of architectural design practice with a urban design, architecture and heritage T 0161 828 6500 development. Our work focuses on national and international reputation. services developed through 25 years E [email protected] strategic planning, masterplanning, From a workload based initially on wide ranging experience in the UK and Chapman Taylor is an international urban design codes, EIA, TVIA, estate education, library, sports and leisure Middle East. firm of architects and urban designers strategies, public realm design, buildings, the practice’s current specialising in mixed use city centre consultation strategies, urban design workload includes masterplanning, Gillespies regeneration and transport projects audits and expert witness. offices, healthcare, commercial mixed London throughout the world. Offices in use, industrial and residential, for both 1 St John’s Square Bangkok, Brussels, Bucharest, Design by Pod private and public sector clients. London EC1M 4DH Düsseldorf, Kiev, Madrid, Milan, 99 Galgate, Barnard Castle T 0207 251 2929 Moscow, New Delhi, Paris, Prague, Sao Co Durham DL12 8ES Feria Urbanism C Steve Wardell Paulo, Shanghai and Warsaw. T 01833 696600 Second Floor Studio, 11 Fernside Road E [email protected] C Andy Dolby Bournemouth, Dorset BH9 2LA W www.gillespies.co.uk CITY ID E [email protected] T 01202 548676 Manchester 23 Trenchard Street Masterplanning, site appraisal, layout C Richard Eastham Westgate House Bristol BS1 5AN and architectural design. Development E [email protected] 44 Hale Road, Hale T 0117 917 7000 frameworks, urban regeneration, design w www.feria-urbanism.eu Cheshire WA14 2EX C Mike Rawlinson codes, briefs and design and access Expertise in urban planning, T 0161 928 7715 E [email protected] statements. masterplanning and public participation. C jim Fox w cityid.co.uk Specialisms include design for the E [email protected] Place branding and marketing vision DHA Planning & Urban Design night time economy, urban design Offices also based in Oxford, Leeds and Masterplanning, urban design, public Eclipse House, Eclipse Park, skills training and local community Moscow. realm strategies, way finding and Sittingbourne Road, Maidstone, engagement. Gillespies is a leading international legibility strategies, information design Kent ME14 3EN multidisciplinary design practice and graphics. T 01622 776226 Fletcher Priest Architects specialising in urban design, C Matthew Woodhead Middlesex House masterplanning, strategic planning, CSA Environmental E [email protected] 34/42 Cleveland Street design guidelines, public realm design, Dixies Barns, High Street w dhaplanning.co.uk London W1T 4JE landscape design and environmental Ashwell SG7 5NT Planning and Urban Design Consultancy T 020 7034 2200 assessments. T 01462 743647 offering a full range of Urban Design F 020 7637 5347 C Clive Self services including Masterplanning, C j onathan Kendall Globe Consultants Ltd E [email protected] development briefs and design E [email protected] 26 Westgate, Lincoln LN1 3BD W www.csaenvironmental.co.uk statements. w www.fletcherpreist.com T 01522 546483 Delivering masterplanning, design Work ranges from city-scale masterplans C l ynette Swinburne coding and implementations. Environmental Dimension (Stratford City, Riga) to architectural E lynette.swinburne@globelimited. Specialist knowledge across landscape, Partnership commissions for high-profile co.uk ecology, archaeology and urbanism Tithe Barn, Barnsley Park Estate professional clients. w www.globelimited.co.uk leading to well-presented, high quality, Barnsley, Cirencester GL7 5EG Provides urban design, planning, commercially aware schemes. T 01285 740427 Fowler Architecture economic and cultural development C Tom Joyce & Planning Ltd services across the UK and David Huskisson Associates E [email protected] 19 High Street, Pewsey, Marlborough internationally, specialising in 17 Upper Grosvenor Road, w www.edp-uk.co.uk/ Wiltshire SWN9 5AF sustainable development solutions, Tunbridge Wells, Kent TN1 2DU The Environmental Dimension T 01672 569 444 masterplanning and regeneration. T 01892 527828 Partnership Ltd provides independent E [email protected] C Nicola Brown environmental planning and design W www.faap.co.uk GM Design Associates Ltd E [email protected] advice to landowners, and property We are a family-run practice of 22 Lodge Road, Coleraine W www.dha-landscape.co.uk and energy sector clients throughout architects, town planners and urban Co. Londonderry BT52 1NB Landscape consultancy offering the UK from offices in the Cotswolds, designers with over 30 years of Northern Ireland Masterplanning, streetscape and Shrewsbury and Cardiff. experience. We create homes rooted in T 028 703 56138 urban park design, estate restoration, tradition and designed for contemporary C Bill Gamble environmental impact assessments. Fabrik Ltd living. E [email protected] 1st Floor Studio w www.g-m-design.com DAR 4-8 Emerson Street FPCR Environment Architecture, town and country planning, 74 Wigmore Street, London SE1 9DU & Design Ltd urban design, landscape architecture, London, W1U 2SQ T 0207 620 1453 Lockington Hall, Lockington development frameworks and briefs, T 020 7962 1333 C johnny Rath Derby DE74 2RH feasibility studies, sustainability C Simon Gray E [email protected] T 01509 672772 appraisals, public participation and E [email protected] W www.fabrikuk.com C Tim Jackson community engagement. W www.dar.com We are a firm of Landscape Architects, E [email protected] Dar is a leading international Landscape Planners, Urban Designers w www.fpcr.co.uk Hankinson Duckett multidisciplinary consultant in and Arboriculturists based in Alton and Integrated design and environmental Associates urban design, planning, landscape, London. practice. Specialists in Masterplanning, The Stables, Howberry Park, Benson engineering, architecture, project urban and mixed use regeneration, Lane, Wallingford OX10 8BA management, transportation and FarrellS development frameworks, EIAs and T 01491 838 175 economics. The founding member of 7 Hatton Street, London NW8 8PL public inquiries. C Brian Duckett Dar Group, we are 10,000 strong in 40 T 020 7258 3433 E [email protected] offices worldwide. C Max Farrell Framework Architecture and W www.hda-enviro.co.uk E [email protected] Urban Design An approach which adds value through David Lock Associates Ltd w www.terryfarrell.com 3 Marine Studios, Burton Lane, innovative solutions. Development 50 North Thirteenth Street, Architectural, urban design, planning Burton Waters, Lincoln LN1 2WN planning, new settlements, Central Milton Keynes, and Masterplanning services. New T 01522 535383 environmental assessment, re-use of Milton Keynes MK9 3BP buildings, refurbishment, conference/ C Gregg Wilson redundant buildings. T 01908 666276 exhibition centres and visitor attractions. E [email protected] C w ill Cousins W www.frameworklincoln.co.uk E [email protected] Architecture and urban design. A w www.davidlock.com commitment to the broader built Strategic planning studies, environment and the particular dynamic area development frameworks, of a place and the design opportunities development briefs, design guidelines, presented. Masterplanning, implementation strategies, environmental statements.

Urban Design ― summer 2018 ― Issue 147 52 Index

HOK international Ltd Jacobs Lavigne Lonsdale Ltd Liz Lake Associates Qube, 90 Whitfield Street 226 Tower Bridge Road, 38 Belgrave Crescent, Camden Western House, Chapel Hill London W1T 4EZ London SE1 2UP Bath BA1 5JU Stansted Mountfitchet T 020 7636 2006 T 020 7939 1382 T 01225 421539 Essex CM24 8AG C Tim Gale C Nivedita Vijayan TRURO T 01279 647044 E [email protected] E [email protected] 55 Lemon Street, Truro C Matt Lee W www.hok.com W www.jacobs.com Cornwall TR1 2PE E [email protected] HOK delivers design of the highest A multi-disciplinary design and technical T 01872 273118 w www.lizlake.com quality. It is one of Europe’s leading services practice specialising in urban C Martyn Lonsdale Urban fringe/brownfield sites where architectural practices, offering design and place-making projects from E [email protected] an holistic approach to urban design, experienced people in a diverse range of concept design, masterplanning up to w www.lavigne.co.uk landscape, and ecological issues can building types, skills and markets. detailed design and implementation We are an integrated practice of provide robust design solutions. stages. masterplanners, Urban Designers, Hosta Consulting Landscape Architects and Product LUC 2b Cobden Chambers JB Planning Designers. Experienced in large 43 Chalton Street, London NW1 1JD Nottingham NG1 2ED Chells Manor, Chells Lane scale, mixed use and residential T 020 7383 5784 T 07791043779 Stevenage, Herts SG2 7AA Masterplanning, health, education, C Adrian Wikeley C helen Taylor T 01438 312130 regeneration, housing, parks, public E [email protected] E [email protected] C kim Boyd realm and streetscape design. GLASGOW W www.hostaconsulting.co.uk E [email protected] 37 Otago Street, Glasgow G12 8JJ An urban landscape design studio that W www.jbplanning.com LDA Design T 0141 334 9595 use an innovative approach to create JB Planning Associates is an New Fetter Place, 8-10 New Fetter C Martin Tabor green spaces for people, biodiversity independent firm of chartered town Lane, London EC4A 1AZ E [email protected] and the environment. planning consultants, providing expert T 020 7467 1470 W www.landuse.co.uk advice to individuals and businesses C Vaughan Anderson Urban regeneration, landscape HTA Design LLP on matters connected with planning, [email protected] design, masterplanning, sustainable 78 Chambers Street, London E1 8BL property, land and development. W www.lda-design.co.uk development, environmental planning, T 020 7485 8555 GLASGOW environmental assessment, landscape C Simon Bayliss JTP Sovereign House, planning and management. Offices also E [email protected] 23-25 Great Sutton Street 158 West Regent Street in Bristol and Edinburgh. W www.hta.co.uk London ECIV 0DN Glasgow G2 4RL HTA Design LLP is a multi-disciplinary T 020 7017 1780 T 0141 2229780 Malcolm Moor Urban Design practice of architecture, landscape C Marcus Adams C kirstin Taylor 27 Ock Mill Close, Abingdon design, planning, urban design, E [email protected] E [email protected] Oxon OX14 1SP sustainability, graphic design and Edinburgh Offices also in Oxford, Peterborough T 01235 550122 communications based in London and 2nd Floor Venue studios, 15-21 & Exeter C Malcolm Moor Edinburgh, specialising in regeneration. Calton Road, Edinburgh EH8 8DL Multidisciplinary firm covering all E [email protected] Offices in London & Edinburgh. T 0131 272 2762 aspects of Masterplanning, urban w www.moorud.com C Alan Stewart regeneration, public realm design, Master planning of new communities, Hyland Edgar Driver E [email protected] environmental impact and community urban design, residential, urban One Wessex Way, Colden Common, w www.jtp.co.uk involvement. capacity and ecofitting studies, design Winchester, Hants SO21 1WG JTP is an international placemaking involvement with major international T 01962 711 600 practice of architects and Levitt Bernstein projects. C j ohn Hyland masterplanners, specialising in Associates Ltd E [email protected] harnessing human energy to create new 1 Kingsland Passage, London E8 2BB MCGREGOR COXALL w www.heduk.com places and breathe life into existing T 020 7275 7676 77 Stokes Croft, Bristol BS1 3RD Innovative problem solving, driven ones. C Glyn Tully T 07496 282281 by cost efficiency and sustainability, E [email protected] C Michael Cowdy combined with imagination and coherent Kay Elliott w www.levittbernstein.co.uk [email protected] aesthetic of the highest quality. 5-7 Meadfoot Road, Torquay Urban design, Masterplanning, full W www.mcgregorcoxall.com Devon TQ1 2JP architectural service, lottery grant bid We are a global multi-disciplinary design IBI Group T 01803 213553 advice, interior design, urban renewal firm dedicated to assisting cities achieve Chadsworth House C Mark Jones consultancy and landscape design. sustainable prosperity. Our international Wilmslow Road, Handforth E [email protected] team provides services through Cheshire, SK9 3HP w www.kayelliott.co.uk LHC Urban Design Urbanism, Landscape Architecture and T 01625 542200 International studio with 30 year history Design Studio, Emperor Way, Exeter Environment disciplines. C Neil Lewin of imaginative architects and urban Business Park, Exeter, Devon EX1 3QS E [email protected] designers, creating buildings and places T 01392 444334 Metropolis Planning and W www.ibigroup.com that enhance their surroundings and add C j ohn Baulch Design We are a globally integrated urban financial value. E [email protected] 4 Underwood Row, London N1 7LQ design, planning, architecture, town W www.lhc.net T 020 7324 2662 planning, master planning, landscape Landscape Projects Urban designers, architects and C Greg Cooper architecture, engineering and 31 Blackfriars Road, Salford landscape architects, providing an E [email protected] technology practice. Manchester M3 7AQ integrated approach to strategic W ww.metropolispd.com T 0161 839 8336 visioning, regeneration, urban renewal, Metropolitan urban design solutions Iceni Projects C Neil Swanson Masterplanning and public realm drawn from a multi-disciplinary studio Flitcroft House E [email protected] projects. Creative, knowledgeable, of urban designers, architects, planners 114-116 Charing Cross Road W www.landscapeprojects.co.uk practical, passionate. and heritage architects. London WC2H 0JR We work at the boundary between T 020 3640 8508 architecture, urban and landscape Lichfields Metropolitan Workshop C Nivedita D’Lima design, seeking innovative, sensitive 14 Regent’s Wharf, All Saints Street, 14-16 Cowcross Street E [email protected] design and creative thinking. Offices in London N1 9RL London EC1M 6DG W www.iceniprojects.com Manchester & London. T 020 7837 4477 T 020 7566 0450 Iceni Projects is a planning and devel- C Nick Thompson C David Prichard/Neil Deeley opment consultancy with an innovative E [email protected] E [email protected] and commercially-minded approach w www.nlpplanning.com W www.metwork.co.uk/ aimed at delivering success. Also at Newcastle upon Tyne and Metropolitan Workshop has experience Cardiff in urban design, land use planning, IDP Group Urban design, Masterplanning, regeneration and architecture in the 27 Spon Street heritage/conservation, visual appraisal, UK, Eire and Norway. Recent projects: Coventry CV1 3BA regeneration, daylight/sunlight Ballymun Dublin, Durham Millennium T 024 7652 7600 assessments, public realm strategies. Quarter, Adamstown District Centre C luke Hillson Dublin, Bjorvika Waterfront. E [email protected] W www.weareidp.com We are IDP. We enhance daily life through architecture. We use design creativity, logic, collaboration and pragmatism to realise places and space. Ideas, delivered.

Urban Design ― summer 2018 ― Issue 147 Index 53

Mosaic Ltd Optimised Environments Phil Jones Associates Pollard Thomas Edwards The Workary, Pembridge Square OPEN Seven House, High Street Architects London W2 4EW Quartermile Two Longbridge, Birmingham B31 2UQ Diespeker Wharf, 38 Graham Street, M 07734 867 866 2nd Floor, 2 Lister Square T 0121 475 0234 London N1 8JX C Steve Robins Edinburgh EH3 9GL C Nigel Millington T 020 7336 7777 E [email protected] T 0131 221 5920 E [email protected] C Robin Saha-Choudhury W www.mosaicltd.co.uk C Pol MacDonald W www.philjonesassociates.co.uk/ Andrew Beharrell A Masterplanning practice focussing on E [email protected] One of the UK’s leading independent E [email protected] strategic greenfield land in the UK, we W www.optimisedenvironments.com transport specialists offering the w www.ptea.co.uk work on a range of projects from smaller A multidisciplinary design company expertise to deliver high quality, viable Masterplanners, urban designers, schemes of 50 homes for bespoke encompassing master planning, urban developments which are design-led developers, architects, listed building house builders through to 6,000-home design, landscape architecture, and and compliant with urban design best and conservation area designers; mixed-use settlements. architecture, with depth of experience practice. specialising in inner city mixed use high at all scales, from tight urban situations density regeneration. Mott MacDonald to regional landscapes. We work in the Place By Design 10 Fleet Place UK and overseas. Unit C, Baptist Mills Court Project Centre Ltd London EC4M 7RB Bristol BS5 0FJ Level 4, Westgate House T 020 87743927 Origin3 T 01179 517 053 Westgate, London W5 1YY C Stuart Croucher Tyndall House C Charley Burrough T 020 7421 8222 E [email protected] 17 Whiteladies Road E [email protected] C David Moores W www.mottmac.com Clifton, Bristol BS8 1PB W placebydesign.co.uk E [email protected] London, Cambridge, Birmingham and T 0117 927 3281 Urban Design and Architectural w www.projectcentre.co.uk Manchester C Emily Esfahani practice working with some of the Landscape architecture, public realm Mott MacDonald’s Urbanism team E [email protected] biggest developers in the country, design, urban regeneration, street specialises in placemaking, streetscape W www.origin3.co.uk we are involved in projects from lighting design, planning supervision, design, landscape architecture, security Planning and urban design consultancy conception to technical drawing and traffic and transportation, parking and design, policy and research. construction, producing masterplans highway design. Ove Arup & Partners and visualisations to support successful Nash Partnership Consulting West Team planning applications. Pro Vision Planning & Design 23a Sydney Buildings 63 St Thomas Street Grosvenor Ct, Winchester Rd Bath, Somerset BA2 6BZ Bristol BS1 6JZ PLACE Design + Planning Ampfield, Winchester SO51 9BD T 01225 442424 T 0117 9765432 Incorporating Bell Fischer T 01794 368698 C Donna Fooks-Bale C j Shore Landscape Architects C james Cleary E [email protected] E [email protected] 16 West Barnes Lane E [email protected] W www.nashpartnership.com W arup.com Raynes Park W pvprojects.com Nash Partnership is an architecture, With 14,000 specialists, working across London SW20 0BU A practice of integrated development planning, urban design, conservation 90+ disciplines, in more than 34 T 020 8944 1940 consultants covering Town Planning, and economic regeneration consultancy countries, we offer total design to help E [email protected] Architecture, Urban Design and based in Bath and Bristol. clients tackle the big issues and W www.placedp.com Heritage, we provide carefully designed, shape a better world. Our approach to The first independent UK landscape context driven and client focused plans New Masterplanning Limited integrated urbanism acknowledges the practice to be structured as an employee and buildings. 2nd Floor, 107 Bournemouth Road, interdependence of urban systems and owned trust, brings together a diversity Poole, Dorset BH14 9HR communities. of skills and experience to apply to PRP Architects T 01202 742228 residential and education projects. 10 Lindsey Street, C Andy Ward Parc Design Solutions Ltd London EC1A 9HP E [email protected] 68 Derngate PLACE-MAKE T 020 7653 1200 w www.newMasterplanning.com Northampton NN1 1UH Alexander House, 40a Wilbury Way C Vicky Naysmith Our skills combine strategic planning T 01604 434353 Hitchin, Hertfordshire SG4 0AP E [email protected] with detailed implementation, design C Simon Charter T 01462 510099 W www.prp-co.uk flair with economic rigour, independent E [email protected] C David Edwards Architects, planners, urban designers thinking with a partnership approach. W www.parcdesign.co.uk E [email protected] and landscape architects, specialising Parc specialises in residential W www.place-make.com in housing, urban regeneration, health, Nicholas Pearson Associates development and housing layout design, Chartered architects, urban planners education and leisure projects. The Farm House, Church Farm Business as well as undertaking projects in the and designers with a particular focus Park, Corston, Bath BA2 9AP commercial, leisure and healthcare on ‘place-making’. An independent Randall Thorp T 01225 876990 sectors. team, we support public and private Canada House, 3 Chepstow Street, C Simon Kale sector clients across the UK and Manchester M1 5FW E [email protected] Pegasus Group overseas. Underpinning every project is T 0161 228 7721 W www.npaconsult.co.uk Pegasus House, a commitment to viable and sustainable C Pauline Randall Masterplanning, public realm design, Querns Business Centre design and a passion for places. E [email protected] streetscape analysis, concept and detail Whitworth Road, Cirencester GL7 1RT W www.randallthorp.co.uk designs. Also full landscape architecture T 01285 641717 Planit-IE LLP Masterplanning for new developments service, EIA, green infrastructure, C Michael Carr 2 Back Grafton Street and settlements, infrastructure design ecology and biodiversity, environmental E [email protected] Altrincham, Cheshire WA14 1DY and urban renewal, design guides and planning and management. W www.pegasuspg.co.uk T 0161 928 9281 design briefing, public participation. Masterplanning, detailed layout and C Peter Swift Node Urban Design architectural design, design and E [email protected] Random Greenway Architects 33 Holmfield Road access statements, design codes, w www.planit-ie.com Soper Hall, Harestone Valley Road Leicester LE2 1SE sustainable design, development briefs, Design practice specialising in the Caterham Surrey CR3 6HY T 0116 2708742 development frameworks, expert creation of places and shaping of T 01883 346 441 C Nigel Wakefield witness, community involvement and communities. Our Urban Designers work C R Greenway E [email protected] sustainability appraisal. Part of the at all scales from regeneration strategies E rg@randomgreenwayarchitects. W www.nodeurbandesign.com multidisciplinary Pegasus Group. and conceptual masterplans through to co.uk An innovative team of urban design, Design Codes – making environments, Architecture, planning and urban design. landscape and heritage consultants who Philip Cave Associates neighbourhoods and spaces for people New build, regeneration, refurbishment believe that good design adds value. 70 Cowcross Street, London EC1M 6EJ to enjoy. and restoration. Providing sustainable urban design T 020 7250 0077 and masterplan solutions at all scales C Philip Cave Planning Design Practice Re-form Landscape of development with a focus on the E [email protected] 4 Woburn House, Vernon Gate Architecture creation of a sense of place. w www.philipcave.com Derby DE1 1UL Tower Works, Globe Road Design-led practice with innovative yet T 01332 347 371 Leeds LS11 5QG Novell Tullett practical solutions to environmental C Scott O’Dell T 0113 245 4695 The Old Mess Room, Home Farm opportunities in urban regeneration. E [email protected] C Guy Denton Barrow Gurney BS48 3RW Specialist expertise in landscape W www.planningdesign.co.uk E [email protected] T 01275 462476 architecture. We are a multi-disciplinary practice W www.re-formlandscape.com C Simon Lindsley offering services in planning, re-form specialises in creating enduring, E [email protected] architecture and urban design who seek sustainable designs which create a w www.novelltullett.co.uk to create better places. sense of identity, supports the local Urban design, landscape architecture economy and inspire communities. and environmental planning.

Urban Design ― summer 2018 ― Issue 147 54 Index

RG+P Scott Brownrigg Ltd Signet Urban Design Studio Partington 130 New Walk St Catherines Court, 46-48 Portsmouth Rowe House, 10 East Parade Unit G, Reliance Wharf Leicester LE1 7JA Road, Guildford GU2 4DU Harrogate HG1 5LT Hertford Road, London N1 5EW T 0116 204 5800 T 01483 568 686 T 01423 857510 T 020 7241 7770 C Shweta Desai C Alex Baker C Andrew Clarke C Richard Partington E [email protected] E [email protected] [email protected] E [email protected] W www.rg-p.co.uk w www.scottbrownrigg.com W www.signetplanning.com W www.studiopartington.co.uk Multidisciplinary Architectural Design, Integrated service of architecture, urban A team of talented urban design Urban design, housing, retail, education, Project Management and Quantity design, planning, Masterplanning, professionals providing masterplanning, sustainability and commercial projects Surveying practice offering offer involved in several mixed use schemes detailed layout and architectural design, that take a responsible approach to the an unrivalled range of supporting regenerating inner city and brownfield design and access statements, design environment and resources. professional services including Planning sites. codes and development frameworks Consultation, Landscape Architecture, throughout the UK. studio | REAL and more. Scott Tallon Walker Oxford Centre for Innovation Architects SLR Consulting New Road, Oxford OX1 1BY Richard Coleman Citydesigner 19 Merrion Square, Dublin 2 7 Wornal Park, Menmarsh Rd T 01865 261461 14 Lower Grosvenor Place T 00 353 1 669 3000 Worminghall HP18 9PH C Roger Evans London SW1W 0EX C Philip Jackson T 0117 906 4280 E [email protected] T 020 7630 4880 E [email protected] C jonathan Reynolds w www.studioreal.co.uk C lakshmi Varma w www.stwarchitects.com E [email protected] Urban regeneration, quarter E [email protected] Award winning international practice W www.slrconsulting.com frameworks and design briefs, town Advice on architectural quality, urban covering all aspects of architecture, SLR is a global environmental centre strategies, movement in towns, design, and conservation, historic urban design and planning. consultancy, providing robust advice Masterplanning and development buildings and townscape. Environmental to investors, developers, regulators, economics. statements, listed buildings/area Scott Worsfold Associates policy makers, landowners and other consent applications. The Studio, 22 Ringwood Road stakeholders. Terence O'Rourke Longham, Dorset BH22 9AN Linen Hall, 162-168 Regent Street Richard Reid & Associates T 01202 580902 Smeeden Foreman ltd London W1B 5TE Whitely Farm, Ide Hill C Gary Worsfold / Alister Scott Somerset House, Low Moor Lane T 020 3664 6755 Sevenoaks TN14 6BS E [email protected] / alister@ Scotton, Knaresborough HG5 9JB C k im Hamilton T 01732 741417 sw-arch.com T 01423 863369 E [email protected] C Richard Reid w www.garyworsfoldarchitecture. C Mark Smeeden w www.torltd.co.uk/ E [email protected] co.uk E [email protected] Award-winning planning, design and W www.richardreid.co.uk An award winning practice of chartered w www.smeedenforeman.co.uk environmental practice. Award winning practice specialising architects, urban designers and experts Ecology, landscape architecture in Urban Design, mixed use high in conservation, all with exceptional and urban design. Environmental Terra Firma Consultancy density projects, Townscape Design graphic skills and an enviable record in assessment, detailed design, contract Cedar Court, 5 College Street and Regeneration, Sustainable planning consents. packages and site supervision. Petersfield GU31 4AE Masterplanning and Environmental T 01730 262040 Education. Sheils Flynn Ltd Soltys: Brewster Consulting C l ionel Fanshawe Bank House High Street, Docking 4 Stangate House, Stanwell Road [email protected] Ryder Architecture Kings Lynn PE31 8NH Penarth, Vale of Glamorgan CF64 2AA W www.terrafirmaconsultancy.com Cooper’s Studios T 01485 518304 T 029 2040 8476 Independent landscape architectural 14-18 Westgate Road C Eoghan Sheils C Simon Brewster practice with considerable urban design Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 3NN E [email protected] E [email protected] experience at all scales from EIA to T 0191 269 5454 W www.sheilsflynn.com w www.soltysbrewster.co.uk project delivery throughout UK and C Cathy Russell Award winning town centre regeneration Urban design, masterplans, design overseas. E [email protected] schemes, urban strategies and design strategies, visual impact, environmental W www.ryderarchitecture.com guidance. Specialists in community assessment, regeneration of urban The Paul Hogarth Company Newcastle London Glasgow Liverpool consultation and team facilitation. space, landscape design and project Bankhead Steading Hong Kong Vancouver management. Bankhead Road Melbourne Sydney Perth Barcelona Shepheard Epstein Hunter South Queensferry EH30 9TF Budapest Phoenix Yard, 65 King’s Cross Road Spawforths T 0131 331 4811 Our core specialisms include London WC1X 9LW Junction 41 Business Court, East C Claire Japp architecture, urban design, placemaking, T 020 7841 7500 Ardsley, Leeds WF3 2AB E [email protected] stakeholder and community C Steven Pidwill T 01924 873873 W www.paulhogarth.com engagement, planning, interiors E [email protected] C Adrian Spawforth The Paul Hogarth Company is a long and heritage. We follow a holistic W www.seh.co.uk E [email protected] established and passionate team of approach to placemaking focused on SEH is a user-friendly, award-winning w www.spawforths.co.uk Landscape Architects, Urban Designers understanding the nature of places, architects firm, known for its work in Urbanism with planners and architects and Planners that puts people at the seeking out opportunities which exist regeneration, education, housing, specialising in Masterplanning, heart of placemaking. beyond the limits of a red line site Masterplanning, mixed use and community engagement, visioning and boundary. healthcare projects. development frameworks. THrive Building 300, The Grange SAVILLS (L&P) LIMITED Sheppard Robson Stride Treglown Romsey Road, Michelmersh 33 Margaret Street 77 Parkway, Camden Town Promenade House, The Promenade Romsey SO51 0AE London W1G 0JD London NW1 7PU Clifton Down, Bristol BS8 3NE T 01794 367703 T 020 3320 8242 T 020 7504 1700 T 0117 974 3271 C Gary Rider w www.savills.com C Charles Scott C Graham Stephens E [email protected] SOUTHAMPTON E [email protected] [email protected] w www.thrivearchitects.co.uk 2 Charlotte Place, w www.sheppardrobson.com W www.stridetreglown.com Award winning multi-disciplinary practice Southampton SO14 0TB Manchester Established in 1953, now with nine encompassing architecture, urban T 02380 713900 27th Floor, City Tower, Piccadilly Plaza regional offices offering town planning, design, masterplanning, design coding, C Peter Frankum Manchester M1 4BD masterplanning, urban design, regeneration, development frameworks, E [email protected] T 0161 233 8900 landscape architecture, historic building sustainable design/planning and Offices throughout the World Planners, urban designers and conservation, interior & graphic design, construction. Residential and retirement Savills Urban Design creates value architects. Strategic planning, urban & project management, across a wide care specialists. from places and places of value. regeneration, development planning, range of sectors. Masterplanning, urban design, design town centre renewal, new settlement coding, urban design advice, planning, planning. Stuart Turner Associates commercial guidance. 12 Ledbury, Great Linford Milton Keynes MK14 5DS T 01908 678672 C Stuart Turner E [email protected] w www.studiost.co.uk Architecture, urban design and environmental planning, the design of new settlements, urban regeneration and site development studies.

Urban Design ― summer 2018 ― Issue 147 Index 55

Tibbalds Planning & Urban UBU Design Ltd URBED (Urbanism Wood Design 7a Wintex House Environment & Design) Wood Environment and Infrastructure 19 Maltings Place, 169 Tower Bridge Easton Lane Business Park Manchester Solutions, Floor 12, 25 Canada Square, Road, London SE1 3JB Easton Lane 10 Little Lever Street London, E14 5LQ T 020 7089 2121 Winchester SO23 7RQ Manchester M1 1HR T 020 3 215 1700 C katja Stille T 01962 856008 T 0161 200 5500 C jeremy Wills E [email protected] C Rachel Williams C j ohn Sampson E [email protected] w www.tibbalds.co.uk E [email protected] E [email protected] W woodplc.com Multi-disciplinary practice of urban www.ubu-design.co.uk w www.urbed.coop Midlands Office: designers, architects and planners. Ubu Design is an innovative urban LONDON Gables House, Kenilworth Road, Provides expertise from concept design and landscape architecture The Building Centre Leamington Spa, CV32 6JX to implementation in regeneration, practice. We combine creativity with 26 Store Street, London WC1E 7BT T 01926 439000 masterplanning, urban design and understanding to shape development C Nicholas Falk C David Thompson design management to public and and produce designs that are T 07811 266538 E [email protected] private sector clients. considered, viable and inspiring, from Sustainable Urbanism, Masterplanning, W woodplc.com strategies and frameworks, through Urban Design, Retrofitting, Consultation, Wood, (formerly Amec Foster Top Hat Technologies Ltd masterplanning to detailed design. Capacity Building, Research, Town Wheeler) is an award winning multi- 14 Great James Street Centres and Regeneration. disciplinary environment, engineering London WC1N 3DP Urban Design Box and development consultancy with C katarzyna Ciechanowska 20 Bayham Rd URBEN offices around the globe. Our core E [email protected] Bristol BS4 2DY Studio D, 90 Main Yard UK urban design teams in London W www.tophat.co.uk T 01179395524 Wallis Road, London E9 5LN and Leamington consist of a diverse TopHat Technology is part of the C johnathan Vernon-Smith T 020 3882 1495 group of professionals with exceptional TopHat Group that designs, builds, E [email protected] C Paul Reynolds knowledge and skills in place-making. delivers and sells housing within the W www.urbandesignbox.co.uk E [email protected] UK. It is responsible for the overall We are an integrated Masterplanning, W www.urbenstudio.com White Consultants masterplanning design of the TopHat Architecture and Urban Design Service. Urban Planning and Design consultancy Enterprise House housing neighbourhoods, where the Working nationally, we have designed, with a focus on using placemaking and 127-129 Bute Street technology component forms a critical delivered and completed residential, infrastructure to make our towns and Cardiff CF10 5LE part. mixed use and commercial projects, cities more efficient and better places to T 029 2043 7841 from sensitive urban infills to strategic live + work. C Simon White Townscape Solutions sites. E [email protected] 208 Lightwoods Hill, Smethwick Vincent and Gorbing Ltd W www.whiteconsultants.co.uk West Midlands B67 5EH Urban Graphics Sterling Court, Norton Road A holistic approach to urban T 0121 429 6111 31 Castle Lane Stevenage, Hertfordshire SG1 2JY regeneration, design guidance, public C k enny Brown Bedford MK40 3NT T 01438 316331 realm and open space strategies and [email protected] T 01234 353870 C Richard Lewis town centre studies for the public, w www.townscapesolutions.co.uk C Bally Meeda E urban.designers@vincent-gorbing. private and community sectors. Specialist urban design practice offering E [email protected] co.uk a wide range of services including W www.urban-graphics.co.uk w www.vincent-gorbing.co.uk WYG Planning & Environment masterplans, site layouts, design briefs, With over 25 years experience, Urban Masterplanning, design statements, 100 St. John Street design and access statements, expert Graphics deliver the tools to secure character assessments, development London EC1M 4EH witness and 3D illustrations. investment, attain planning permissions, briefs, residential layouts and urban T 020 7250 7500 turn visions into reality and influence the capacity exercises. C Colin James Turley regeneration of major projects. E [email protected] 10th Floor, 1 New York Street Wei Yang & Partners W www.wyg.com Manchester M1 4HD urban Imprint 4 Devonshire Street Offices throughout the UK C Stephen Taylor (North) 16-18 Park Green, Macclesfield London W1W 5DT Creative urban design and T 0161 233 7676 Cheshire Sk11 7N T 020 3102 8565 masterplanning with a contextual E [email protected] T 01625 265232 C Dr Wei Yang approach to placemaking and a concern C Craig Becconsall (South) C Bob Phillips E [email protected] for environmental, social and economic T 0118 902 2830 E [email protected] W www.weiyangandpartners.co.uk sustainability. W www.turley.co.uk W www.www.urbanimprint.co.uk Independent multi-disciplinary Offices also in Belfast, Birmingham, A multi-disciplinary town planning and company driven by a commitment to Bristol, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Glasgow, urban design consultancy dedicated to shape more sustainable and liveable Leeds, London and Southampton. the delivery of high quality development cities. Specialising in low-carbon city Integrated urban design, solutions working with public, private development strategies, sustainable masterplanning, sustainability and and community organisations. large-scale new settlement master heritage services provided at all project plans, urban regeneration, urban and stages and scales of development. Urban Initiatives Studio public realm design, mixed use urban Services include visioning, townscape Exmouth House, 3-11 Pine Street complex design and community building analysis, design guides and public realm London EC1R 0JH strategies. resolution. T 0203 567 0716 C hugo Nowell West Waddy ADP LLP Tyrens E [email protected] The Malthouse White Collar Factory W www.uistudio.co.uk 60 East St. Helen Street 1 Old street Yard Urban design, transportation, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 5EB London EC1Y 8AF regeneration, development planning. T 01235 523139 T 020 7250 7666 C Philip Waddy C Anna Reiter Urban Innovations E [email protected] E [email protected] 1st Floor, Wellington Buildings w westwaddy-adp.co.uk W www.tyrens-uk.com 2 Wellington Street, Belfast BT16HT Experienced and multi-disciplinary team Tyrens is one of Europe’s leading T 028 9043 5060 of urban designers, architects and town integrated urban planning, environment, C Tony Stevens/ Agnes Brown planners offering a full range of urban mobility and infrastructure design E [email protected] design services. consultancies. W www.urbaninnovations.co.uk The partnership provides not only WEStON WILLIAMSON + Tweed Nuttall Warburton feasibility studies and assists in site PARTNERS Chapel House, City Road assembly for complex projects but 12 Valentine Place Chester CH1 3AE also full architectural services for major London SE1 8QH T 01244 310388 projects. T 020 7401 8877 C j ohn Tweed C Chris Williamson E [email protected] E [email protected] w www.tnw-architecture.co.uk W www.westonwilliamson.com Architecture and urban design, Weston Williamson is an award Masterplanning. Urban waterside winning architectural, urban design environments. Community teamwork and masterplanning practice with a enablers. Visual impact assessments. wide variety of projects in the UK and abroad.

Urban Design ― summer 2018 ― Issue 147 56 Index

London South Bank University University College London University of Manchester Faculty of Law and Social Science Bartlett School of Planning School of Environment, Education and Education 103 Borough Road, London SE1 0AA 22 Gordon Street, London WC1H 0QB Development T 0207 815 5877 T 020 7679 4797 Humanities Bridgeford Street, C Manuela Madeddu C Filipa Wunderlich Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL Index E [email protected] E [email protected] T 0161 275 2815 w www.lsbu.ac.uk/courses/course- w www.bartlett.ucl.ac.uk/planning/ C Dr. Philip Black finder/urban-design-planning-ma programmes E [email protected] The MA Urban Design and Planning The MSc/Dipl Urban Design & City w www.seed.manchester.ac.uk/study/ Universities with courses in Urban (FT or PT) provides an inter-disciplinary Planning has a unique focus on the taught-masters/courses/list/urban- Design are welcome to join the Urban approach to urban design and equips interface between urban design & city design-and-international-planning- Design Group and be listed in this index. students with a comprehensive planning. Students learn to think in msc/ The Journal has a circulation of understanding of urban design, planning critical, creative and analytical ways MSc Urban Design and International circa 2000 to individuals, practices, the and development issues. Through across the different scales of the city Planning (F/T or P/T) bookshops of the AA, RIBA and working at different scales of the city – from strategic to local -and across The fully accredited RTPI MSc Urban Building Centre in London, and UK & and engaging with theoretical debates, urban design, planning, real estate and Design and International Planning international libraries. students will learn to think about the sustainability. explores the relationship between urban See www.udg.org.uk/join characteristics of good places and design and planning by focusing on will be equipped to make a critical University College London internationally significant issues. With a contribution to shaping those places in Bartlett School of Planning strong project-based applied approach Cardiff University the decades ahead. The programme is 14 Upper Woburn Place students are equipped with the core Welsh School of Architecture and fully accredited by RTPI and includes a London WC1H 0NN knowledge and technical competencies School of City & Regional Planning field trip to a European country. T 020 7679 4797 to design across various scales in the Glamorgan Building C Matthew Carmona city. King Edward VII Avenue Newcastle University E [email protected] Cardiff CF10 3WA Department of Architecture, Planning w www.bartlett.ucl.ac.uk/planning/ University of Nottingham T 029 2087 5972/029 2087 5961 and Landscape, Claremont Tower programmes/postgraduate/ Department of Architecture and Built C Allison Dutoit, Marga Munar Bauza University of Newcastle, Newcastle mresInter-disciplinary-urban- Environment, University Park E [email protected] upon Tyne NE1 7RU design Nottingham NG7 2RD [email protected] T 0191 222 6006 The MRes Inter-disciplinary Urban T 0115 9513110 w www.cardiff.ac.uk/cplan/study/ C Georgia Giannopoulou Design cuts across urban design C Dr Amy Tang postgraduate/urban-design-ma E [email protected] programmes at The Bartlett, allowing E [email protected] One year full-time and two year part- w www.ncl.ac.uk/apl/study/ students to construct their study in w www.nottingham.ac.uk/pgstudy/ time MA in Urban Design. postgraduate/taught/urbandesign/ a flexible manner and explore urban courses/architecture-and-built- index.htm design as a critical arena for advanced environment/sustainable-urban- Edinburgh School of The MA in Urban Design brings together research and practice. The course design-march.aspx Architecture and cross-disciplinary expertise striking a operates as a stand-alone high level Master of Architecture (MArch) in Landscape Architecture balance between methods and masters or as preparation for a PhD. Sustainable Urban Design is a research ECA University of Edinburgh approaches in environmental design and and project-based programme which Lauriston Place, Edinburgh EH3 9DF the social sciences in University of Dundee aims to assist the enhancement of T 0131 651 5786 the creation of the built environment. Town and Regional Planning the quality of our cities by bringing C Dr Ola Uduku To view the course blog: Tower Building, Perth Road innovative design with research in E [email protected] www.nclurbandesign.org Dundee DD1 4HN sustainability. w www.ed.ac.uk/studying/ T 01382 385246 / 01382 385048 postgraduate/degrees Oxford Brookes University C Dr Mohammad Radfar / Dr Deepak University of Sheffield Jointly run with Heriot Watt University, Faculty of Technology, Design and Gopinath School of Architecture, The Arts Tower, this M.Sc in Urban Strategies and Environment, E [email protected] / Western Bank, Sheffield S10 2TN Design focuses on urban design practice Headington, Oxford OX3 0BP [email protected] T 0114 222 0341 and theory from a cultural, and socio- T 01865 483 438 w www.dundee.ac.uk/postgraduate/ C Florian Kossak economic, case-study perspective. C Georgia Butina-Watson courses/advanced_sustainable_ E [email protected] Engaging students in ’live’ urban E [email protected] urban_design_msc.htm w www.shef.ac.uk/architecture/ projects, as part of the programme’s W www.brookes.ac.uk The MSc Advanced Sustainable Urban study/pgschool/taught_masters/ ’action research’ pedagogy, it also offers Diploma in Urban Design, six months Design (RTPI accredited) is a unique maud research expertise in African and Latin full time or 18 months part time. MA one multidisciplinary practice-led programme One year full time MA in Urban Design American urban design and planning year full-time or two years part-time. set in an international context (EU study for postgraduate architects, landscape processes. visit) and engaging with such themes architects and town planners. The University College London as landscape urbanism, placemaking programme has a strong design focus, Leeds Beckett University Development Planning Unit across cultures and sustainability integrates participation and related School of Art, Architecture and Design, 34 Tavistock Square evaluation as integrated knowledge design processes, and includes Broadcasting Place, Woodhouse Lane, London WC1H 9EZ spheres in the creation of sustainable international and regional applications. Leeds LS2 9EN T 020 7679 1111 places. T 0113 812 3216 C Camillo Boano and Catalina Ortiz University of Strathclyde C Chris Royffe E [email protected] University of Huddersfield Department of Architecture E [email protected] [email protected] School of Art, Design & Architecture Urban Design Studies Unit w https://courses.leedsbeckett.ac.uk/ w https://www.ucl.ac.uk/bartlett/ Queen Street Studios Level 3, James Weir Building urbandesign_ma/ development/programmes/ Huddersfield HD1 3DH 75 Montrose Street, Glasgow G1 1XJ Master of Arts in Urban Design consists postgraduate/msc-building-urban- T 01484 472208 T 0141 548 4219 of 1 year full time or 2 years part time or design-development C Dr Ioanni Delsante C Ombretta Romice individual programme of study. Shorter The DPU programme has a unique focus E [email protected] E [email protected] programmes lead to Post Graduate on Urban Design as a transdisciplinary w www.hud.ac.uk/courses/full-time/ w www.udsu-strath.com Diploma/Certificate. Project based and critical practice. Students are postgraduate/urban-design-ma/ The Postgraduate Course in Urban course focusing on the creation of encouraged to rethink the role of urban MA; PgDip; PgCert in Urban Design (Full Design is offered in CPD,Diploma sustainable environments through design through processes of collective Time or Part Time). and MSc modes. The course is design interdisciplinary design. and radical endeavours to design and The MA in Urban Design aims to provide centred and includes input from a variety build resilient strategic responses to students with the essential knowledge of related disciplines. conflicting urban agendas, emphasising and skills required to effectively outcomes of environmental and social- intervene in the urban design process; University of Westminster spatial justice. develop academic research skills, 35 Marylebone Road, London NW1 5LS including critical problem-solving and T 020 7911 5000 ext 66553 reflective practice; facilitate design C Bill Erickson responses to the range of cultural, E [email protected] political, socio-economic, historical, MA or Diploma Course in Urban Design environmental and spatial factors. It for postgraduate architects, town also aims to promote responsibility planners, landscape architects and within urban design to consider the related disciplines. One year full time or wider impact of urban development and two years part time. regeneration.

Urban Design ― summer 2018 ― Issue 147 EndpiecNewse

hours, can be tremendously exciting. Noha once this becomes the town square, and Obtaining Nasser’s social enterprise MELA persuaded the no. 50 goes around it instead of through closure all the urban authorities to close a 400 it, this kind of thing could happen every metres stretch of the A435 in Balsall Heath weekend. Elsewhere on Moseley Road, girls on Sunday 22nd April, to create the Moseley in tight leggings laid their yoga mats on the Road Street Festival. When I heard of the tarmac, and did the kind of exercises usually planned closure, I thought there must be a done indoors, but here in the middle of an A Urban designers like to bang on about the mistake. The A435 is a very busy radial road, road. I don’t know how comfortable it was, sanctity and the inviolability of public space and the route of one of the city’s busiest but it was an eloquent demonstration of the (well, I do). But there is a sliding scale of and most frequent bus services, the no. liberation of space from the domination of value which we put upon different kinds of 50. Surely its closure would not be agreed. vehicles. street. We put a lower value on one which I should have known better than to doubt All in all, it dramatically revealed the is full of motor vehicles passing through, Noha’s persuasiveness. latent possibilities of urban space. It took and a higher value on one where people on The street was lined with stalls and some brilliant organisation, and many foot can move freely and use the street as events, and hundreds of people strolled hours of work, to persuade authorities that a social space. Achieving a reduction in the casually and stood chatting in the middle of it was possible and desirable, and then to domination of the street by vehicles has the highway, as comfortably as if they did coordinate the hundreds of varied parts been a hard struggle over the past half-cen- this every day. Live music played, including that all had to be made to fit together. I am tury or so, as the conventional view of the an opera workshop, street food was cooked sure that it was a revelation to many people, inviolability of public space has included the and eaten, historic buildings including Mo- to see that it is possible for a highway to right to drive one’s car through it. So there is seley Road Baths and the ex-Moseley School become a social space, even for one day. a rather thrilling subversiveness in the idea of Art were open for guided tours. Eight Now that it has been shown to be possible, of closing a major urban street to traffic. local artists were commissioned by MELA to it must happen again, and regularly. In the In 1989, the citizens’ group Birming- perform and display their work at various neighbourhood plan, I called this part of ham for People published its counter-plan points along the street. For one day, the Moseley Road ‘the missing town centre’. It to the developer’s proposal to replace the street became a party, open to all. For me is where the settlement of Balsall Heath be- 1964 Bull Ring shopping centre. Part of our the only thing missing was a pint of IPA in gan, on the turnpike road from Birmingham counter-plan was to close that part of the the sunshine. But Balsall Heath is predomi- to the village of Moseley, and it contains a 1960s Inner Ring Road which cut off the Bull nantly Muslim, and the only pub within the number of historic institutional buildings. Ring from the rest of the city centre, recon- 400m is now a restaurant. But the daily experience is that of a rather necting the two once more. The chairman I made a small display of the Balsall hostile corridor for traffic, not an urban of the planning committee declared this Heath Neighbourhood Plan, the first to be centre. For one day in April we saw that it proposed closure ‘a fantasy’. The developer achieved in the city, and exhibited it in the can become something better. scoffed ‘No one in his wildest dreams could location which the Plan proposes should • imagine the ring road being stopped up’. become the Balsall Heath Town Square, if Joe Holyoak, architect and urban designer A little over a year later it was part of city we can engineer a small diversion of traf- council policy, then it was incorporated into fic. A few metres away, in the short bit of the developer’s latest revised scheme, and highway which we hope to close, groups of since 2003 it has been the reality. boys and girls danced – what I would call Even a temporary exclusion of vehicles Birmingham: Various activities break dancing but the programme called take place in the public realm from a major street, enabling the repopula- ‘socaerobics’ – to loud music, and to fre- during Moseley Road Street tion of the space by social activity for a few quent applause from the crowd. I thought: Festival

Urban Design ― summer 2018 ― Issue 147 and

MAKING STREETS PEOPLE ENJOY

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