From the Autumn 2002 edition of About Wales
Linked to this essay is a starter checklist to help civic societies carry out their own "Placecheck"
First steps in urban
design
Matthew Griffiths
The theme of this edition of About Wales is that urban design is
not just for professionals. It involves some simple concepts that can
structure the way we think about the fabric and the texture of our communities,
and help us to analyse where they fall short, and where they can be improved.
For civic societies, understanding, and applying urban design principles
should be very helpful when it comes to working with councils keen to
validate their plans and briefs through community participation exercises.
If we have a shared language, working together will be easier and friendlier.
More, there is no reason at all why we should
not be proactive, and use urban design as a tool to think for ourselves
about the places we value. Let's have some ideas of our own to bring to
the table, rather than simply prepare to react to the thinking of the
planners, or the schemes of developers. Urban design should prioritise
the social and the civic in the development of our towns and cities; perhaps
civic societies can find ways, through local partnerships and networks,
to engage the wider community in thinking about how we can create better
places in which to live and work.
Paul
Vanner has referred to Francis Tibbalds' "ten principles."
These are reflected in much recent thinking, and not least in a lot of
the work has been done by government in England, acting in partnership
with the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment, and the
Urban Design Alliance. To find out more, a good place to start is By
design, the good practice guide published by the former DETR in association
with CABE. It is designed for an audience, not just of planners, councillors,
and housebuilders, but of "anyone who wants to see more care taken
in the design of their neighbourhoods." By design, and several sister
publications, are readily available online.[1]
Associated publications include Better places
to live [2], which seeks to apply urban design principles to new housing
developments and offers a fascinating range of case studies of both old
and new residential environments; and The value of urban design
[3], which presents research showing how investment in good design creates
economic and social value. Also extremely useful are Building in context
[4], from CABE and English Heritage, which analyses examples of development
in sensitive historic contexts, and the Urban Design Group's Urban
design guidance [5]. This is a more specialist handbook aimed at helping
local authorities develop their own urban design guidance through urban
design frameworks, development briefs and master plans.
You will also find that the new Welsh Technical Advice
Note on Design closely reflects the thinking of this English documentation
in the way it discusses the process and objectives of design [6].
All of the above discuss straightforwardly how urban
design ideas can be applied to real contexts. If, however, you want a
practical guide to how to do some real work in your own community there
could be no better way to start than to get hold of the Placecheck
users' guide, published by the Urban Design Alliance [7].
Placecheck
Placecheck is a project developed by the Urban Design Alliance "as
a method of assessing the qualities of a place, showing what improvements
are needed, and focusing people on working together to achieve them".
It was developed by Robert Cowan, who authored the Scottish Executive's
design policy. The approach can be modified to suit many different contexts
and groups. Placecheck can be used, for instance, by a local authority
interested as a participatory planning exercise; but equally the method
would be suited to a civic society keen to develop ideas to improve a
street or a neighbourhood. It could even be adapted for use with a class
in a primary or secondary school.
A Placecheck may be started in pursuit of a known
goal, or may be used a diagnostic tool to inform local design statements,
development briefs, design guides, neighbourhood plans, or a civic society
environmental campaign.
The method encourages working together —
in fact, the first part of a Placecheck invites participants to think
about local capacities and organisations, as well as the resources that
may be needed. It is based on three-stage checklist of questions, which
can be answered with whatever resources are available. Not all questions
will be relevant to every situation. Cowan says, "Even the most basic
answers can provide a valuable snapshot of what issues are important."
The second part of the checklist asks "how
can the physical form of the buildings and spaces help to make the place
work better?"
The questions focus on natural features, landmark buildings, local style,
scale, and skylines, and on factors that contribute to or undermine the
liveliness of street life, and influence traffic, parking and safety.
They are intended to identify the potential to
improve environmental quality through design treatments, planting, changes
of use, and the regeneration of buildings or areas.
The third stage looks at the local street network,
the routes people, cars and public transport take, and asks how a place
can be brought to life. This section might lead to suggestions about traffic
calming or the design and signage of junctions, with the intention of
making it easier and more enjoyable for people to find their way around.
How might a civic society or a similar voluntary
group go about a Placecheck?
At a minimum, this could be as simple as getting
a small group together, defining a target area, and sitting down to go
through the checklist. But it could be more productive to think of ways
of involving people or organisations outside the society itself, and,
above all, to make the investigation a bit more sophisticated by using
photographs, maps, plans and sketches to analyse the area and to record
your conclusions. A small group might carry out the recording and fieldwork,
for instance, and bring its suggestions to an open meeting or a series
of focus groups or workshops for discussion and debate before a report
is refined and made public.
A Placecheck project would be an excellent way
of building connections between a civic society and other voluntary groups,
as well as of getting publicity for your ideas. And you could end up with
a document that could be the basis for serious discussions with your local
authority, and a basis for community input into the future of your neighbourhood.
If this sounds like a lot to chew on, there may
be a simpler way still of developing your understanding of urban design
and applying its ideas in a practical way. This could be a preparatory
exercise in advance of a more developed project.
Rather than face yourselves with the comprehensive
Placecheck checklist, narrow your focus down. Pick a target area - a neighbourhood,
a street, a square, even a playground. Carry out a basic photographic
survey, and get or sketch, a large-scale plan, preferably one you feel
happy to write all over.
Then, in a small group, try to analyse your target
in terms of some of the issues that influence urban design. Focus on context
and character, amenity and movement, and the uses of buildings and spaces.
By all means brainstorm your ideas around a table, or in the pub, but
above all, get out and discuss things together on the ground.
Don't just sit on your observations and your ideas.
Talk to people who live in or work in or just walk through the area you
are studying. What do they think? And take your ideas back to your committee
or colleagues, and be prepared for some supportive criticism.
If you enjoyed the exercise and want to move on
to bigger things, go back to some of the reading we have suggested. Build
up your own series of questions to underpin a larger or more intensive
project using the suggestions you will find in publications such a By
design. Try and make sure that the criteria you choose can be related
to TAN 12, since it is against this that future design issues will need
to be read and tested if you happen to live in Wales. At this stage, a
Placecheck project may be right for you, or you may find yourselves developing
something that is an even better fit to your circumstances.
References
1 DETR/CABE, By design (2000)
2 DTLR/CABE, Better places to live (2001)
3 Bartlett School of Planning, The value of design (CABE online,
2002)
4 English Heritage/CABE, Building in context (2001)
5 Robert Cowan (ed.), Urban design guidance (Urban Design Group,
2002)
6 Welsh Assembly Government, TAN 12: Design (October 2002)
7 Robert Cowan, Placecheck - a user's guide (Urban Design Alliance,
2000)
Web sites
Council on Architecture and the Built Environment: www.cabe.org.uk
Placecheck: www.placecheck.com
Office of the Deputy Prime Minister: www.odpm.gov.uk