TAG - Local Government Technical Advisors Group

TAG News

Urban Design Update 14th November 2008

17th Nov 2008

Urban Design Update 14th November 2008 for everyone who cares about life in cities towns and villages Latest information from around the globe on new policy, law, research, jobs and events that affect designing, managing and maintaining life in cities, towns and villages – plus weekly monitor of government websites in England, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales – with html links to the sources. (click on the light grey text) In this edition of urban design update News and research · Indoor air pollution concern · World Urban Forum – details – reports · Google Earth recreates ancient Rome Government round up · Wales – green building charter launched · Healthy towns initiative launched · Pedestrian guardrails in London to go Core London Public Realm and Sustainable Transport Projects Scrapped Projects include tram schemes and extensions, public space proposals, costing more than £100million, including the pedestrianisation of Parliament Square. http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23583018-details/Boris+scraps+3billion+of+Ken+s+transport+projects+for+London/article.do Watch past UDG events on-line You can view past UDG events on the UrbanNous website http://www.urbannous.org.uk/udgevents.htm Sponsored by ROGER EVANS ASSOCIATES and urbaninitiatives UDG Liverpool Conference presentations now available to download http://www.urban-design-group.org.uk/udg2/conference-2008-urban-connectivity.htm Recognised Practitioner in Urban Design –Consultation – What are your thoughts Step 1 - download the draft proposal and guidance http://www.urban-design-group.org.uk/udg2/recognised-practitioner.htm Step 2 have your say through this link http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=DUbaTNUzNfXl6rmV9C4RCQ_3d_3d TV Watch - Artcheck -November In 2005 a small group of volunteers from within the Urban Design Alliance worked up Artcheck – based on the Placecheck method, to help Channel 4 develop a public art initiative –the results are due to be broadcast in November. But not next week as far as we can tell. http://www.channel4.com/culture/microsites/B/bigart/index.html Film watch A reader recommends La Zona – a film about a ‘gated community’ in Mexico. http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2008/oct/19/thriller-worldcinema “La Zona is an idyllic enclave for wealthy middle-class Mexicans, surrounded by a high-wall topped with razor wire.” Urban design alliance launches Capacitycheck Capacitycheck has been developed as a method of identifying the astonishingly wide range of skills that may need to be brought to bear in quality placemaking. It can act as an aid to personal development, or helping to identify the skills needed when procuring services. Copies of the Capacitycheck method can be downloaded on www.capacitycheck.co.uk Urban Design Alliance www.udal.org.uk Partners in quality placemaking Events Diary November 19 – 21 November 2008 On the Waterfront - Culture, Heritage and Regeneration of Port Cities BT Convention Centre, Kings Waterfront, Liverpool ww.english-heritage.org.uk/onthewaterfront Wednesday 19th November – London Urban Design Group Evening Event – London World Squares Thursday 20th November – London AJ Conference - Masterplanning and Urban Design: Current and future theory and practice: a route-map to successful masterplans www.ajmasterplanning.co.uk Attend the 4th masterplanning conference from Architects’ Journal for an in-depth look at the key issues affecting masterplanning in the current economic climate. For the full programme and further information visit www.ajmasterplanning.co.uk, call 0845 056 8069 or email constructconferences@emap.com. 25-27 November 2008 - Liverpool Towards a new Urbanism – Academy of Urbanism An international symposium on the 21st Century City http://www.academyofurbanism.org.uk/liverpool/liverpool.asp Towards a new Urbanism An International Symposium on the 21st Century City Liverpool, 25 – 27 November 2008 The Academy of Urbanism and RIBA Trust, in association with ‘Le Corbusier – The Art of Architecture’ Exhibition, are proud to host an International Symposium on the 21st Century City, in Liverpool - the European Capital of Culture 2008. One of the first events to be held in Rick Mather’s new Art and Design Academy, the symposium begins at lunchtime on Tuesday 25th November with a snapshot of Liverpool’s Past, Present and Future, followed by a Study Tour of Ropewalks, Liverpool 1 and the Waterfront. In the early evening, a private view of the ‘Le Corbusier – The Art of Architecture’ exhibition will take us to the Lutyen’s crypt of the Metropolitan Cathedral, and conclude with a reception and an opportunity to judge Corb’s legacy as both an architect and urbanist. Paul Finch (Editor, The Architectural Review) chairs Corb: Hero or Villain?, a formal debate with contributions from Christophe Egret (Studio Egret West), David Lock (Chairman, TCPA), Nick Johnston (Deputy Chief Executive, Urban Splash) and Wayne Hemingway. The second day explores themes of The Timeless City, The Corbusian Legacy, The Resurgence of Modernism, and The 21st Century City, with an international dimension contributed by delegates from Amsterdam, Berlin and Copenhagen. In the evening, Roger McGough and Ian McMillan, the Barnsley poet, host The Awards Ceremony for The Urbanism Awards 2009, in the magnificent St George’s Hall. The symposium concludes on Thursday morning with a guided tour encompassing Anthony Gormley’s Iron Men on Crosby Beach, New Heartland’s Housing Market Renewal and a preview of ‘Regeneration Anfield’ at Liverpool Football Club. Price: International Symposium (25-27 November 2008) Includes: Le Corbusier Exhibition, Reception, Debate and Study Tours £250 per person £100 student The Urbanism Awards 2009 Ceremony Includes: Reception and Dinner £90 per person (less table discounts). Book now! Telephone: 020 7251 8777 Email: liverpool@academyofurbanism.org.uk Website: www.academyofurbanism.org.uk December 3rd December 2008 – London – RUDI 2nd Conference on Placemaking Remaking Places – RUDI Unlocking potential: Finding the right solutions to today’s economic, social and environmental challenges This event will look at new techniques of planning, urban design and development that have begun to emerge to re-engineer and remodel the built environment and road/ transport infrastructure of the 20th century http://www.rudi.net/pages/20177 9.00 Registration and coffee 9.30 Welcome, introduction and report from Remaking Places 1 by morning chair Michael Hebbert, Professor of Town Planning, School of Environment and Development, University of Manchester, and Editor of Progress in Planning Session one: Making places successful: The challenge of remaking ineffective areas 9.45 Priorities for re-making places: Changing needs and environmental demands Hank Dittmar, Chief Executive, Prince’s Foundation for the Built Environment (invited) 10.10 Empowering communities: Public involvement and neighbourhood planning Nick Wates, Director, Nick Wates Associates & Editor, Communityplanning.net 10.30 Encouraging creative solutions to open up new possibilities John Letherland, Urban Design Director, Farrells 11.00 Questions and discussion 11.20 Morning coffee Session two: Finding solutions: Releasing the full potential of projects & sites 11.40 The current property development market: The outlook for funding and investment Yolande Barnes, Director of Research, Savills 12.00 Unlocking hidden potential in assets and sites Richard Coppell, Development Manager, Lend Lease 12.20 Funding opportunities: The Bankside story Peter Williams, Senior Partner, The means LLP & Chief Executive, Better Bankside BID 12.40 Questions and discussion 13.05 Lunch Session three: Re-making retail: Planning for the future retail 14.10 What’s happening in retail? Current trends and future predictions Steve Norris, Partner, Strategic Perspectives LLP, Guest Lecturer, Oxford Institute for Retail Management and Visiting Fellow, School of Management and Marketing, University of Surrey 14.30 The evolving retail environment: Planning & designing for future shopping Richard Rees, Director, Urbanism Group, Building Design Partnership (BDP) 14.50 Question and discussion 15.20 Afternoon tea Session four: Re-invigorating places: Techniques to achieve measurable impact for failing areas 15.45 The Aldgate Gyratory: Removing a failing road system to meet changing needs Dana Skelley, Interim Director of Road Network Management, Transport for London (invited) 16.05 Making connections: Creating new pedestrian paths and re-shaping the centre in Newport Eluned Jones, Principal Urban Designer & Stephen Fitzgibbon, Projects & Design Manager, Newport City Council (invited) 16.25 Neighbourhood revival: The Angell Town experience Ian Bentley, Emeritus Professor of Urban Design, Oxford Brookes University, and co-author of Identity by Design 16.45 Question and discussion 17.10 Close of conference Full brochure http://www.rudi.net/files/RM2-final-web.pdf 2009 events… 22- 24 April, 2009 - England Second International Conference on Whole Life Urban Sustainability and its Assessment - Call for Papers Abstracts are invited covering any of the following conference themes: § Urban planning and design for sustainability § Sustainable buildings: design, performance and assessment § Quality of life in the urban environment § Stakeholder participation § Urban sustainability and the move to low carbon developments § Measures, assessment theory, complexity and uncertainty http://sue-mot.org Urban Design London Training Season – Third season The season runs until March 09. There are over 40 different events, from foundation level seminars to master-classes and guided site visits. During the last season there were over 800 individual learning sessions with people coming from 84 organisations including 32 of London's 33 Boroughs. If you would like to get involved, please book at www.urbanevents.org.uk or go to www.urbandesignlondon.com Government Round-up GB Making personal transport planning work – practitioners guide – DfT http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/sustainable/travelplans/ptp/practictionersguide.pdf Within the UK, PTP has been reported to typically reduce car driver trips by 11% (among the targeted population) and reduce the distance travelled by car by 12% 2007 figures for UK waterborne freight published http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/statistics/datatablespublications/maritime/waterborne/waterbornefreight2007 A much overlooked, yet significant mode of transport England TfL introduces policy to remove pedestrian guardrails http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/driving/news/article5101323.ece http://motoring.sky.com/news/safety-barriers-are-unsafe-story.aspx http://www.thelondondailynews.com/mayor-scrap-safety-barriers-safety%E2%80%99s-sake-p-1730.html a response from the Guide Dogs for the Blind http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/letters/article5119149.ece http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloads/review-of-simplified-streetscape-schemes.pdf Nine 'healthy towns' get £30m pot Dudley, Halifax, Sheffield, Tower Hamlets in London, Thetford in Norfolk, Middlesbrough, Manchester, Tewkesbury and Portsmouth http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7719304.stm New DfT Child safety campaign to address what is greatest of all parental fears http://nds.coi.gov.uk/environment/fullDetail.asp?ReleaseID=383989&NewsAreaID=2&NavigatedFromDepartment=False Housing and Planning delivery grant for 2008/9 Over £100m to help councils unlock their housing market http://www.communities.gov.uk/news/corporate/1054370 Sustainable Development Commission publishes guidance on sustainability for Local Strategic Partnerships Sustainable Community Strategies - required to be genuinely sustainable(1), with Local Area Agreement’s (LAAs) as their delivery plans Plans for sustainable development to be ‘integral’ to the forthcoming Comprehensive Area Assessment(2) A set of existing responsibilities for sustainable development to be at the heart of the local planning framework Enabling powers such as the power of wellbeing and the Sustainable Communities Act http://www.localgov.co.uk/index.cfm?method=news.detail&id=73093 Ireland Carbon Budget Outlined http://www.environ.ie/en/Environment/News/MainBody,18676,en.htm Housing Budget at near record levels - €1.66billion in 2009 http://www.environ.ie/en/DevelopmentandHousing/Housing/News/MainBody,18668,en.htm Ministers announce €3.6 billion for Transport (Budget 2009) €1.27 billion on improved Public Transport €2.1 billion on National, Regional and Local Roads - a major motorway programme €40 million on Road Safety http://www.transport.ie/pressRelease.aspx?Id=17 Scotland Electricity supergrid proposed for North Sea to make Scotland renewable energy centre of Europe http://www.scotland.gov.uk/News/Releases/2008/11/12170248 Architecture and Design Scotland in NEW initiative to raise design standards http://www.ads.org.uk/news/541_building-design-capacity Wales Heads of Valleys regeneration initiative receives European award http://new.wales.gov.uk/news/latest/081113europeanaward/?lang=en UK’s first green building charter introduced. http://new.wales.gov.uk/news/latest/081112charter/?lang=en Enterprise week 17th November http://new.wales.gov.uk/news/latest/081107enterpriseweek/?lang=en News and Research General World Urban Forum: Theme: Harmonious Urbanization: The Challenge of Balanced Territorial Development http://www.unhabitat.org/categories.asp?catid=535 When the world converges on Nanjing, the global urban population will have passed the halfway mark and more people will be living in cities than in rural areas http://english.cri.cn/3100/2008/11/07/176s421861.htm One in three city residents in developing countries lives in slums World Urban Forum looks at how to manage rapid urbanization New World Bank strategy to incorporate both environmental and energy efficiency considerations into urban design ECO2 Cities Model http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/NEWS/0,,contentMDK:21958749~pagePK:64257043~piPK:437376~theSitePK:4607,00.html State of World’s Cities 2008/9 – Report published by UN http://www.unhabitat.org/content.asp?cid=5964&catid=7&typeid=46&subMenuId=0 UK House prices to rise and then fall Article in the Times stresses the differences between US housing market where as many as one home-owning household in 16 has defaulted on its mortgage or faces repossession, and compared with fewer than one in 200 in Britain. In previous downturns overseas investors have been first to return to the fray, encouraged by a weak pound. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/guest_contributors/article5150590.ece Google earth recreates Ancient Rome http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/7725560.stm Built Environment Building for Life Award Winners Announced http://www.cabe.org.uk/default.aspx?contentitemid=2869 full list http://www.buildingforlife.org/case-studies?list=award2008 Adelaide Wharf Hackney http://www.buildingforlife.org/case-studies/adelaide-wharf/introduction Gunwharf Quays, Plymouth http://www.buildingforlife.org/case-studies/gunwharf-quays/introduction Rostron Brow, Stockport http://www.buildingforlife.org/case-studies/rostron-brow/introduction Royal Arsenal, London http://www.buildingforlife.org/case-studies/royal-arsenal/introduction Sinclair Building, Sheffield http://www.buildingforlife.org/case-studies/sinclair-building/introduction City Point, Brighton http://www.buildingforlife.org/case-studies/city-point/introduction Street furniture decorated as part of public art Artist in Los Angeles has been using traffic signal control boxes as a canvas for creativity. http://www.metro.co.uk/news/article.html?Roads_made_cool_with_street_art&in_article_id=401626&in_page_id=34 Getty images gallery – exhibition of photos of London – till 22nd November http://www.gettyimagesgallery.com/ Humans, Health and Society Warfare may have shaped society – cooperation within and aggression without http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20026823.800-how-warfare-shaped-human-evolution.html Nanoparticles found in home in unsuspected quantities Nanoparticles, produced by gas stoves, toasters etc, are linked with increasing evidence that they can cause respiratory and cardiovascular illnesses. Personal exposure to these indoor UFP sources can often exceed exposure to the outdoor UFP. This will be a concern when tackling ventilation heat loss in low energy homes. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-11/nios-nit111308.php Traffic pollution linked to asthma in children http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-11/bc-tpw111208.php Senses combine to produce our view of the world http://www.psychologicalscience.org/media/releases/2008/faubert.cfm Important reminder to designers not to think just about visual sense, but other senses too. Brisk 15 minute walk can reduce chocolate craving http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-11/uoe-bwc111108.php An objective for urban design is then to ensure that sweet shops are 16 minutes walk from housing areas. Researchers confirm salesman’s wisdom – offer a choice to increase chance of a sale http://www.psychologicalscience.org/media/releases/2008/jingxu.cfm Bad experiences in childhood may cascade into teen violence http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-11/du-eo111108.php Certain Types of Thinking Are Best Suited To Certain Types of Problem-Solving Geometry problems are best solved by a combination of verbal and spatial strategies, but not shape-based imagery strategies. http://blackwellpublishing.com/press/pressitem.asp?ref=1958 Energy and Climate Change Human’s may have saved earth from entering semi-permanent ice-age http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn16026-humans-may-have-prevented-super-ice-age.html Movement Study finds that many motorists don’t perceive a need to observe speed limits http://news.uns.purdue.edu/x/2008b/081107ManneringSpeeding.html Screening for sight problems in octogenarian motorists reduces fatal crash rates http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-11/jaaj-vsl110608.php Urban Design Group 70 Cowcross Street London EC1M 6EJ admin@udg.org.uk

« back