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Beyond masterplanning
Alistair and I are lecturing at Universities throughout the UK and Europe convincing students that masterplanning doesn’t work…
The talks are called ‘Beyond Masterplanning’.
- Beyond Masterplanning views masterplans, as currently conceived and implemented, to be in direct contravention of the incremental urban processes that created our most successful places
- Beyond Masterplanning asks why architects / urban designers / masterplanners have been ordained to lead the masterplanning process
- Beyond Masterplanning asserts that effective political management, community ‘ownership’ and communication throughout the placemaking process are as (or perhaps more?) important than technical disciplines to quality urban development
- Beyond Masterplanning posits that masterplanning as currently practiced is inevitably flawed because it is based on a thin or non-existent understanding human behaviour
- Beyond Masterplanning contends that small and medium sized firms are more important to creating quality urban places than large corporations, big name retailers and property developers
- Beyond Masterplanning shows how we can rebalance urban change so it fully considers the economic, social and environmental qualities of place and is therefore inclusive, deliverable and sustainable
What do all you architects and urban designers think out there??
Posted on 07/11/06 in Masterplanning
Comments
Thanks for running the staff seminar, it certainly stimulated discussion. We are keen to keep the debate going online. Looking forward to your visit in December to talk to the students.
Cool web site
22/11 at 05:12 from Chrissie
07/12 at 19:02 from Chrissie
Simon/Alistair,
You want to welcome debate about this, but it its pretty basic stuff, isn’t it? I’d be interested to see how a group of students and academics react to this kind of stuff. It just doesn’t seem to be based in any theory or objective view of things. Rather, your “beyond masterplanning” phrase seems ill thoughout and the kind of thing that sixth form sociology students might come up with. Is your dislike of technical disciplines because you don’t have any? What is this stuff about a “thin” or “non-existent” definition of human behaviour? What does that even mean?
Sorry if this seems a little harsh, I do ask those questions in good faith, but this kind of stuff sometimes makes me despair. It might convince some councillors that they are being innovative in some way but I can’t imagine what wider interest there would be. Please let me know.
30/03 at 05:57 from Simon P
30/03 at 08:19 from Chrissie
Chrissie,
What is this “evidence” though? Is that just your view? When I visit UK cities I see an incredible amount of diversity, hardly any sterility and little homogenisation. You are right when you say this is basic, but not for the straightforwardness of it. It is jumbled up, confused and ill-thoughtout.
Simon P
30/03 at 18:21 from Simon P
Blimey mate. Before I answer your first comment I must respond to the last one.
If you do not think that towns and cities in the UK (and for that matter much of the World) are not homogenised I think you need to visit a few.
Walk down the street and write down names of all the shops you see and compare them city by city, town by town.
Fortunately there are some outposts such as Ludlow, Clitheroe and Morpeth (I can give you an extensive list if you like) that have a more diverse offer.
That’s just retail! What about the public realm where we see the same dreadful benches and inaccessible signposts everywhere…
30/03 at 19:28 from Simon Campbell
30/03 at 20:04 from Simon Campbell
11/04 at 18:45 from Andy G
Andy, thanks for your input.
In our experience the ‘extensive’ research is not there. The ‘discovery phase’ is severely lacking especially socio-economic research based upon correct datasets.
The issue about public consultation is that it takes a long time for communities to ‘come up to speed’ with whats being proposed. I hate to use the words ‘lack of capacity’ but this is the issue.
I think the subtle and complex issues are the least of the problems. It seems to me that the basics need to be addressed first.
I agree. We need more masterplanning a fantastic tool when undertaken properly and we have no issue with the actual principal. Its the reality that worries us…
Are you currently working in the business or are you a student?
11/04 at 19:29 from Simon Campbell
11/04 at 19:39 from Andy G
Its more than public cooperation. Its basing the masterplanning process on the correct data.
What the public think and how they are engaged is critical but the socio-economic ‘vision’ for the place is also vital.
Masterplanners usually relate to the physical environment without taking into account what a place is from a spiritual and economic perspective…
We are critical of masterplanning as it currently stands and we are exploring ways to improve its effectiveness, thats all.
11/04 at 20:11 from Simon Campbell
Is it the actual masterplanning process and the places it creates or the architectural forms that subsequently develop, perhaps it is these that are outdated and dont relate to what people want?? Reading above you mention about the predictability of retail outlets with the same old shops in every town, i agree but i’m not sure how this can be controlled?
11/04 at 21:10 from Andy G
There needs to be a strong link between regeneration, licensing (ie alcohol), economic development and planning departments in councils. This is the only way ‘indentikit’ towns and cities can be avoided.
This is one of the obvious common sense approaches to which I am referring!!
12/04 at 00:12 from Simon Campbell
I wish you luck if you can manage to persuade council’s to be more joined up and relate their departments more. This does indeed need to be done but at the moment the leadership in most councils is by no means radical enough. Also the big retailers are the people who make these large schemes feasible in the first place and without them the whole process would grind to a halt. This is unfortunate but how else would you finance this? This whole debate is crossing several issues that are very complex and in reality the masterplanners and urban designers are the ones who are attempting to link all these issues together. In this they should in reality be applauded not criticised?
12/04 at 00:29 from Andy
Andy,
I think you are right about a lot of this stuff. I am not surprised that this has been presented at universities, although I doubt that the universities were sending out invitations for this stuff. I suspect that the offer came from Erskine, not the universities. I think this approach smacks of a bias among those peddling it. It is not based on any evidence, and this rubbish about “correct datasets” is a blind alley.
Simon P
12/04 at 00:47 from Simon P
It’s more than luck. This is one of the key areas where we can make masterplanning more effective. Anchor stores can add feasibility to a scheme but the key is really getting the property owners involved not just the tenants.
12/04 at 00:51 from Simon Campbell
Greetings mysterious Simon P.
Talk to me about the ABI (Annual Business Inquiry) dataset and its real world validity when looking at the socioeconomics of a town, city or district. We have found massive discrepancies which give everyone the wrong opinion on whats happening there economically.
Just for the record, we were asked to present at Manchester, Leeds and Stockholm following contact through the website and them seeing us in action.
What do you do?
12/04 at 00:57 from Simon Campbell
But they’re just in it for a fast buck that will give them the quickest return. Its a worthy but uphill battle i’m afraid. The main role masterplannign can play is specially designating art markets or independent retail quarters that alot of plans already try to contain.
12/04 at 01:14 from Andy
Simon,
I wholeheartedly agree that ABI datasets are not ideal when used for this type of work. However, my point was that there isn’t a “correct” dataset as you impled. No data will be sufficient. What is required is knowledge of the locality, not data.
For the record, I work in urban regeneration, but not masterplaning.
Cheers,
Simon P
12/04 at 01:19 from Simon P
Knowledge is data?
We use a TCR dataset from TBR Economics, a very reputable economic consultancy. They base their data upon real businesses in existence plus startups and failures. The original data comes from Dun & Bradstreet which is used by many (if not most) organisations for credit referencing. It includes partnerships, sole traders and non VAT registered businesses, not just limited companies. In addition is has been built up over years of sampling so you can see trends in sector decline & prosperity etc.
This provides a very clear economic picture of the area or district and what’s happening there. These economic drivers are vital in influencing planning & regeneration policy.
Its not rubbish or a blind alley…
12/04 at 02:13 from Simon Campbell
Simon,
I know of TBR and they are indeed a reputable company. However, the data they hold is always, by its nature, out of date. Therefore, it is much better to base judgements (particularly those related to planning) on real knowlegde of an area. This way bottom-up effective solutions are found. The data TBR has may be better than ABI (although that is debatable) but it is certainly nowhere near being perfect (as it still draws on secondary sources.
I appreciate your passion, it is commendable. I do appreciate your efforts and some of the other work you do.
Regards,
Simon P
12/04 at 04:19 from Simon P
