Years Eating Aces & Aping Ties the Uk
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30 YEARS Winter 2012 Urban Design Group Journal CREATING 121 URBAN IssN 1750 712x — £5.00 PLACES & THE DEVELOPER AND URBAN DESIGN SHAPING DESIGN CITIES IN THE UK LONDON MANCHESTER BIRMINGHAM URBAN DESIGN www.argentgroup.plc.uk GROUP URBAN DESIGN GROUP NewsUDG Update think we know the answer to this, but there be achieved by adhering to the principles VIEW FROM THE are bound to be disagreements, and no basis expressed in the top five design guidance is established for assessing ‘good’ or ‘poor’. documents. By ignoring this valuable infor- CHAIR Over the last decade, design review panels mation, the NPPF is sending the baby down and design guidance documents have created the plughole – to over-extend the metaphor. benchmarks for design quality in the public My top five are very simple: most of realm and built form. Many local authorities them have been in use since the beginning Babies and bathwater spring to mind with have design review panels and the Design of this century but express principles which respect to the government’s approach to Council/CABE intend to continue in the lat- would have been understood by the Romans changes to the planning legislation – yes, ter- ter’s reviewing role for major projects. How- building liveable cities 2000 years ago. These rific to reduce over a thousand pages to 53 as ever, not all projects go to these panels and principles will not change simply because the per the Draft National Planning Policy Frame- not all local authorities have them, so a lack UK planning process changes; this needs to work, but only if you can also distil all the of consistency and continuity is a major risk. be clearly recognised and reference to these essential elements – existing and new - into What of the widely used and accepted documents embedded into new legislation. those 53. From the urbanist’s point of view, design guidance which the NPPF fails to My top five for the ‘new world order’ are: By there are some crucial elements missing from refer to – let alone embed into the planning Design, Better Places to Live, the Urban De- the NPPF’s distillation, primarily around the process? sign Compendium, Safer Places and Manual thorny issue of design quality, which although In recent years, literally hundreds of for Streets. You will have all of these on your mentioned as an important component, is design guidance documents have been shelves – even though several are out of not embedded into the planning process; the produced, many under the auspices of CABE, print – or on your computer, or filed in your suggestion that the non-complying projects government departments or local authorities, brain and all of us should be supporting their would only be those of ‘obviously poor de- each putting their own stamp on the same continued use. sign’ begs more questions than it answers. story. Arguably there are too many of these, Amanda Reynolds The NPPF is silent on methods of achiev- all saying similar things in slightly different • ing good design and silent on what consti- ways; however, the message has not changed tutes ‘obviously poor design’. We may all and the basics of good urban design can on-line debate, and following a lot of hard that communities are the poorer both finan- DIRECTOR’S and thoughtful work put in by Tim Hagyard cially and in terms of the quality of their lives, in developing a first draft, the UDG Execu- for want of good urban design. REPORT tive submitted a response to government. The veteran politician Aneurin Bevan, A submission was also made to the inquiry once lamented a ‘poverty of expectation’ in being conducted by the House of Commons the public. People should demand fine places Communities and Local Government Commit- in which to live out their lives, and not settle This has been a really busy autumn for the tee. I know there have also been individual for the polluted, grey environments in which Urban Design Group. There have been two members who submitted their own responses many do. Can we change this? The email con- major events, namely the national conference direct, and some, very helpfully, participated tact list for the urban design community has in Greenwich, and the Kevin Lynch Memorial in debates on the NPPF on national newspa- reached 1,600 and there are over 250 people Lecture given by Professor Christopher Alex- per websites: it is vital that we talk to people who are members of the email forum; the ander, ably supported by UDG Patron John outside the urban design circle. STREET network is growing by the day, and an Worthington and kindly hosted by Alan Bax- One of my worries in this present eco- expanding core of members are Recognised ter. We have doubled the number of events nomic climate is about what is happening to Practitioners. We are potentially a powerful that are run from Cowcross Street, many of young urban designers. To help them stay and influential group. Although the state of which are filmed and made available to any- in touch with professional practice, we ran the economy hurts us sore, and some of us one free of charge on Urbannous thanks to a workshop on Reinventing Greenwich as much more than others, we are witnessing in the unstinting efforts of Fergus Carnegie. a prelude to the conference, at the invita- practitioners not depression and defeat, but The autumn witnessed a continued tion of Geoff Belcher, the coordinator of the a growth in determination and energy. Let us analysis of the so-called London Riots and World Heritage Site. I was delighted when look to 2012 as a year when we all strive to the knee-jerk solution of removing the bar- 30 enthusiastic individuals turned up; more convince public and politicians of the value of riers to the erection of roller shutters. What details can be found on page 4. At the recep- good urban design. better ways are there than this to advertise tion hosted by the University of Greenwich Robert Huxford that a place is dangerous and to deter normal that evening, Joe Holyoak commented that • people from using it? But this was a side- the work could be worth around £20,000. issue compared with the consultation on He may have been generous but it was a the National Planning Policy Framework for reminder that the work urban design profes- England. There was extensive face to face and sionals do is of huge value to society, and Current subscriptions Annual membership rates UD practice index and on the UDG website) Urban Design is free to Urban Design Group UK individuals £40 UK students £20 Local authorities £100 (including two members who also receive newsletters and International individuals £50 copies of Urban Design) the directory at the time of printing Recognised practitioner in urban UK libraries £40 design £80 International libraries £50 UDG Office Practices £250 (including a listing in the UD Individual issues of Urban Design cost £5 Tel 020 7250 0872/0892 practice index and on the UDG website) Email [email protected] Education £100 (including a listing in the Contents CONTENTS This issue has been generously sponsored by Update UDG Awards 2012 35 Argent Group plc The High Street 3 Transport Interchanges 3 FRANCIS TIBBALDS Award PUBLIC Cover Cities 2030 – UDG National Conference Sector Shortlisted Projects Paintworks, Bristol: the renewed courtyard, on Urban Design 4 Improvements to a congested artery, Verve Properties Ecotown, Dream or Nightmare 6 Carlisle City Council 36 International Urban Design Groups 6 Design guidelines for residential FUTURE ISSUES Bordeaux and other Baroque cities 6 development, Exeter City Council 38 Issue 122 – Temporary Urbanism The Urban Design Interview – Rob The partnership for Urban South Hampshire, Issue 123 – Localism Thompson 7 Local Authorities, South Hampshire 40 The Urban Design Library #3 8 Freight depot visioning document, Gateshead Design Council Cabe – A new future 9 Council 42 30 YEARS Winter 2012 Tactile city model, Planning Aid for London Urban Design Group Journal CREATING 121 Urban IssN 1750 712x — £5.00 VIEWPOINT and Knott Architects 44 PLACES & Catching up with climatology, Michael Urban Design Academy, North East the DeveLoper anD Urban DesiGn SHAPING DesiGn Hebbert 10 Derbyshire District Council 46 CITIES Mobility, access and choice in urban IN THE UK environments, David Metz 12 BOOK Reviews LONDON The Cheonggyecheon restoration scheme, Rethinking the meaning of place, Lineu MANCHESTER BIRMINGHAM Seoul, South Korea, Clare Healy 14 Castello 48 Public parks: the key to livable communities, TOPIC: THE Developer AND Alexander Garvin 48 URBAN DESIGN The Urban Towers handbook, Eric Firley and Introduction, Sebastian Loew 16 Julie Gimbal 49 We have a problem, Chris Brown 17 Urban Microclimate – Designing the spaces Urban Design and Argent, David between buildings, Evyatar Erell, David Partridge 20 Pearlmutter and Terry Williamson 49 From Barking to Beijing, Ken Dytor 23 Place-making, Ashley Nicholson 26 Practice INDEX 50 A provincial town perspective, Charles Education INDEX 56 URBAN Brocklehurst 29 DESIGN www.argentgroup.plc.uk GROUP A client’s view of the public realm, Peter ENDPIECE URBAN DESIGN Bourne 33 Above all, landscape, Joe Holyoak 57 GROUP WEDNESDAY 18 JANUARY 2012 WEDNESDAY 7 MARCH 2012 DIARY OF Urban Design & Public Health The Developer & Urban Design Soaring rates of obesity, depression and vita- To accompany issue 121 of Urban Design the EVENTS min D deficiency are all evidence of a public UDG will be hosting an event to explore is- health crisis...but can good urban design sues around the role and perception of urban help? This event will look the interplay be- design by the property industry.