The Contribution of Shopfronts

The Urbanists’ involvement in several shopfront enhancement schemes over recent years has led us to consider the issues surrounding, and benefits of, this type of regeneration work.

Is there an approach to supplement the process of reinventing our high streets via the frequently cited methods of establishing free parking, easy access to the shops, reducing business rates and limiting the number of national chains?

An ever-increasing offer from out of town shopping complexes and supermarkets as well as the repetition of national brands in the town centres, quoining the phrase ‘clone town’, has undoubtedly accentuated the decline of the identity of the High Street.

The term 'clone town' often refers to the uses and retailers that occupy them, but could the term also be adopted to refer to their visual appearance?  With town centres containing many of the same shops there can be a danger of visual homogenisation and, in some cases, shopfront enhancements can compound rather than address the problem.  

Many of our traditional high streets were principally developed during the Georgian and Victorian periods and conservation led regeneration projects often aim to return shops to their ‘original’ state.  Whilst there is a vital place for the gentle restoration approach to high street regeneration, there is a danger that blindly following this approach may further magnify the problem of the clone town, with pastiche shopfronts being as unidentifiably 'local' to a particular place as the national retailer sitting behind them.

Whilst there are issues with national retailers occupying large portions of the high street, there are also benefits for independent retailers in having ‘well known’ neighbours through increased footfall and the attraction of a wider audience.  Therefore the loss of any retailer can leave the high street vulnerable to a lack of local identity.    

Shopfront regeneration in town centres can be overlooked for its part in reinventing how high streets function as community assets.  Developing a character of the place rather than of a time, alongside a holistic street or town wide strategy focused on a set of community specific functions, may help to cement a genuine local identity.

Take Camden High Street as an example. Terraces of traditional Georgian townhouses take on a unique, vibrant and youthful character, instantly recognisable as Camden without damaging the quality and rhythm of the original block. This simple, and largely cosmetic, approach could be echoed in other high streets by taking cues from local assets such as heritage, culture and function.

Camden High Street (Image from  www.flickr.com/photos/stephaniesadler/)

Perhaps this may be achieved by promoting an architectural language, which not only compliments the historic and local context of the place but also meets the requirements of a modern society. 

Tales from a Mega City

I’ve been fortunate to have visited some of the World’s mega-cities, like: London, Delhi, Lima, Rio de Janerio, but last week I was working in Chongqing in Western China. It’s not the obvious place that springs to mind when you think of the new cities that have sprouted as the BRIC countries transformed from agricultural to urban societies.

In fact Chongqing, although almost anonymous in the West, is predicted to be in the top ten of Most Dynamic Cities of 2025 (McKinsey Global Institute, 2010) based on the fact that it achieved a 418% growth in GDP in 2010. With its population of 15.7million (based on 2010 figures) it is one of the fastest growing and most dynamic cities on the planet. What is really staggering is that thirteen of McKinsey’s predicted top twenty cities are Chinese.

It is because of this startling growth that Chongqing feels different to the other global mega-cities that I have been to. All of the others have developed, to some degree, incrementally. Apart from very special historic buildings, there was no evidence in Chongqing of any districts or urban blocks that were older than 1990, whereas Rio and Delhi bear evidence of colonial post-war urbanism. 

Chongqing is growing so quickly it almost seems that there is a skyscraper and LED arms race currently enveloping the city (see video). 

Development on this scale is presenting China with some unique challenges. The contrast between town and country is stark and urban designers working in China will need to understand how to manage places, as well as build them.

By
James

A Chinese Balance of Progress and Protection

We are currently supporting a prominent Chinese consultancy to help them prepare several disaster recovery master plans that will rehouse people in the Yunnan region of the County following devastating earthquakes earlier this year. Let's just say its been a bit of an eye opener.

The day started with an update on progress with local officials in the Council Chamber. The officials, including the chief planner and local mayor are under a lot of pressure to re-house 2,500 people of this mountainous rural region. The Chinese PM visited the disaster zone in the aftermath of the quake and it seems probable that promises were have been made to get those people still living in tents into homes by the end of the year. As you'd imagine, it's all being done at a relentless pace. This isn't a temporary fix either. It'll be permanent and makes me wonder if it is really possible to create enduring places under such time pressured duress?

My pre-conceptions of the sites were, lets be honest here, way off. That said, my presentation to the officials, delivered through an interpreter, found favour by the notion of using the water present on one site as the key structuring element. I didn't realise until I got there that it was a paddy field! 

The journey to the site visit was unforgettable. White knuckles and crossed fingers weren't going to be much help if another landslide hit the boulder strewn mountain path that we were bouncing along in a robust looking Chinese 4X4 vehicle.

But the nervous journey was worth it. The climb out of the long steep gorge revealed a hidden upland plateaux framed by a monumentous V-shaped valley at a scale that would not be out of place in the Lord of the Rings. Into this scene farmers were gathering the last of the harvest. Despite the natural calamity, it looked like it had been a good year for them as they carried their rice, chillies, chard, pumpkins, potato and pak choi into their winter stores. Into this rural idyll crashed the notion that five hundred homes, a health club, a conference centre and a hotel were being planned for this wide natural floodplain high up in the Yunnan mountains. 

Perhaps most worryingly was the notion of a shift in lifestyle. The homeless farmers of the valley as well as those from neighbouring areas who were being rehoused into the new village would be encouraged to scale back their farming and take up jobs in the nearby leisure facilities. After all, this kind of peasant lifestyle is backward. Right?

I understand that people need to be housed, but I tried to convey to my Chinese colleagues a notion that we raised in the previous post (below). Authenticity. I wanted them to think about solutions to the problem that weren't just another part of the national trend of urbanisation. Could we create something soft, something respectful and enduring that worked with the peace of the place? Perhaps something that didn't feel quite so urban but a settlement that was rooted in the landscape, culture and language of these minority communities?

Urbanisation seems to be progress personified in China. Whilst we can only marvel at some inspiring global mega cities that are being created I fear that there are also some very delicate and special places that are being lost forever.

By James

The Significance of 'Place'

Sense of place, authenticity, branding and creativity.  

These are some of the themes that emerged from two conferences sponsored and attended by The Urbanists last week.

The International Maritime Heritage Conference in Cardiff explored the value of maritime heritage for the tourism industry in different locations around the world.  For the tourism industry, where a large part of the product is 'place', it seems logical that ‘place making’ is at the heart of strategies for growth.  But what was striking about the conference was the consistent message that the essence of a sense of place must be combined with creativity and expressed consistently to be effective.

Alan Clarke, CEO of Northern Ireland Tourist Board, suggested that cities need to be defined more and more by their stories, and went on to explain how this had been developed in 'Titanic Town' Belfast which has attracted over 500,000 visitors in its opening six months.  Similarly Steve White, President of Mystic Seaport, The Museum of America and the Sea, referred to their shift from 'preserving' their maritime heritage to 'projecting' it to their visitors.  Visitor experience is key and at the heart of this must be an authentic and consistent message.  In this case branding is relates to the overall message and 'mindset' rather than the material that is put out to visitors.

These themes are not confined to capitalising on maritime heritage.  Indeed on the same day the annual Urban Design Group Conference in Oxford was debating the value of good design in face of the current challenging economic climate.  Here it was suggested that place making is an investment and should be treated as such in the allocation of time, funding and expertise. And it's the same message for our town centres; place making that responds to the unique characteristics of the location, its history and its people.

Neal's Yard, Covent Garden: form, creativity, activity and meaning produce a strong sense of place

There is a consistent message that the value of place making is as great as ever but also that the challenge of defining and capitalising on it should not be underestimated.   As urban designers we must continue to strive to create places of distinction and not blandness, safe in the knowledge that it does make a difference.  But we must not do it alone.  People are an important component of place and we must collaborate with local champions to foster greater authenticity and creative influences to interpret ideas.  

By Jen

Newport Superdragons

By Lauren Brown

A Public art initiative in Newport City Centre known as ‘Newport Superdragons’ first came to light in 2010 during a summer of activities based around the Ryder Cup. Artists were selected to each design their own Superdragon which would in turn be applied to a readymade fibreglass dragon sculpture. The project was a great success attracting visitors and local to follow the Superdragon Trail. At the end of the summer festival the Superdragons were auctioned off with the money going to charity and the successful bidder free to do with their dragon as they pleased!

Public art is something i have a general interest in and more importantly, something that the Urbanists feel is an important part of the townscape. We often suggest public art, be it temporary or permanent as a good way of engaging local people whilst injecting colour, interest and culture into streets and spaces.  I wanted to experience, first hand, the process behind a public art project – so i got involved and designed my very own Superdragon - my submitted design was successful and a 5ft fibreglass dragon was mine!

My dragon and many others were kept in an empty shop in the centre of Newport which acted as a public exhibition and workshop space. This was a successful approach which meant that artists could work together, establishing a creative community and members of the public could engage with the design process.

The most important part of the process which enables it to be successful is mostly centred around appropriate marketing of the project and retaining high levels of public engagement throughout. Allowing local businesses the opportunity to sponsor a dragon means that there are multiple levels of interest in the project. It appears that the Newport Superdragons are now becoming a tourist attraction in their own right and have generated increased visitors into Newport City Centre.

It’s astonishing how every single dragon is completely unique, with very few displaying any similar characteristics what so ever.  The 60 personalities are now dotted around Newport City Centre and have added vitality, colour, character and interest to our streets and spaces.

Evolution of the superdragon

Mine was sponsored by the South Wales Argus (argus news story) due its very strong connections with Newport. The dragon features an abstract street map of Newport highlighting key buildings, landmarks and features within the city centre. The plan cross references to photographs and sketches of a selection of the city’s most impressive historical and contemporary architecture. It was very time consuming but i thoroughly enjoyed the process and the amount of appreciation i received for the finished piece. I’m looking forward to trying my hand at Superdragons 3 and potentially other similar projects in the near future! 

By Lauren

'The Triangle' visit

Urbanists Jen  Heal and Chris Gentle recently joined the Centre for Regeneration Excellence Wales (CREW) on a trip to Swindon for a site visit and a series of presentations on ‘The Triangle’ development, designed by Kevin McCloud’s HAB

Kevin McCloud established HAB (Happiness Architecture Beauty) 5/6 years ago and wanted to challenge current suburban housing.  HAB teamed up with GreenSquare Housing Association and The Triangle is their first development project.

Green Square purchased the site with consent for 32 houses in a standard housing layout.  By redesigning the space, reducing the amount of road and parking, using terraced houses and slightly smaller back gardens the current layout provides 42 units, a large central communal space and two smaller spaces for community growing.

There is a sustainability focus in the development based on physical and social aspects.  HAB’s emphasis is on developments that are:

• Enjoyable
• Sustainable
• Architectural
• Profitable
• Contextual

The aim was to create a more sustainable development that didn’t require people to dramatically change the way they live and that cost close to normal industry budgets.

Features include:

• Hempcrete cladding to improve insulation
• A natural ventilation system that draws air through the house
• A built in ‘shimmy’ that is a smart metre, bus info, community info, car club booking point
• Car club and only one parking space per dwelling
• Growing areas with water pumps
• Edible landscape (although this wasn’t very evident)
• Gabion walls to hide bins and cars also attract biodiversity
• Residents signed up to only owning 1 car: Policy policed by GreeenSquare as landlords

Review:

• Principles of space design work well and could be replicated
• Efficient use of space – no left over spaces
• Good enclosure and natural surveillance of central space
• Like the concept of making ‘normal’ more sustainable
• Demonstrates what can be achieved on a regular budget and how higher density can create better places through more considered design
• Would it work without the management role that comes with HA?

Last thought

The Triangle is an attractive alternative to a more traditional suburbia. It is based on a masterplan that has created an intimate and communal development. This, according to residents we spoke to, engenders a strong sense of belonging and community spirit. 

Many of the principles adopted at the triangle could, potentially, be carried over to private sector housing, however, one the key principles that makes the place successful is the car ownership strategy. Setting a one car per household rule on a development under the control of a Housing Association is achievable but introducing a similar strategy to the private sector could prove to be impractical.

By Jen

Tactical Urbanists

By Lauren Brown

‘Tactical Urbanism’ has recently popped up on The Urbanists’ radar. It appears to be something that has been weaving its way across America in numerous forms for a number of years. In its simplest form Tactical Urbanism refers to alternative tactics for change in the built environment that ordinary people can initiate.

A group of urban planners and designers ‘The Street Plans Collaborative’ have summarised the extent of such initiatives in two publications - “Tactical Urbanism” Volumes 1 & 2. The publications examine case studies of implemented projects across America.

The majority of the case studies are focused around groups of friends, neighbours or local activists partaking in ‘guerrilla’ activities. Examples of these include improving unused green verges (‘guerrilla gardening’), turning recycled goods into street furniture and turning parking bays into urban parks. 

Left: Guerrilla gardening. Right: Temporary outdoor seating accommodating on-street parking

A large majority of the initiatives draw attention to the increased need to focus engagement and ‘doing’ at a local level as opposed to how engagement may be typically understood – merely as a chance to comment  on high-end large scale transformations. All of the projects included are quick and effective interventions that ordinary people can initiate and implement with or without organisational or political support. The highlighted projects are fun, swift and easy and have been implemented without any prior design, implementation or regulatory advice. 

Left: 'Weed-bombing' - painted weeds to look like flowers. Right: A Park(ing) day temporary park

A lot of the projects can provide useful precedents for community engagement and as a way of cheaply and effectively piloting planned long term improvements. ‘Intersection repair’ is a particularly good example of this. It is a community project born from a local desire to create a more unique place within the gridded sea of Portland’s grey intersections. A local action group facilitated local residents to get together with some tins of paint and create a simple, bright sunflower mural in the street, instantly creating a distinctive place with local meaning.

Intersection repair creates a distinctive neighbourhood environment
All images: Tactical Urbanism, The Street Plans Collaborative

Initiatives like this can prove low risk and high reward by evaluating the levels of need and use in order to establish if money is going to be well spent and a worthwhile investment where long term improvements may be planned. They provide local solutions to what could be a regional or national problem – in this case a lack of identity, poor neighbourhood image and problems with traffic.


This is relevant to the Urbanists' work at the moment, particularly in relation to some environmental improvement projects with some local RSL's. An important underpinning of this type of work is engagement with the local community and establishing ways to get local people involved with environmental changes in their area. This approach could minimise initial costs and risk for the RSL whilst establishing local ownership and highlighting the benefits to the local community. 

Tactical Urbanism is an interesting read and highlights some easy and effective short term projects that local authorities, associations and user groups can facilitate in order to improve towns, cities and neighbourhoods – even for just one day. Local communities taking control of their public realm results in both improved spaces and enhanced social cohesion. The impact of these initiatives could be even greater if the community have the support of designers, planners and other built environment professionals.

“I ride my bike through the sunflower intersection when I come home from work. It makes me happy” – If some paint on a road can make one person smile everyday then it has to be worth it? 

Considering Sustainable Communities

By Jen Heal

On Monday I attended the ‘Working Together: Urban Communities as Sustainable Places Conference’ organised by the Sustainable Places Research Institute at Cardiff University. 

The emphasis of the conference was on collaboration to deliver social, environmental and economic sustainability within communities in Wales.   Exploring the relevance of ‘place’ and its contribution to identity within communities formed part of these considerations.  Sharing of best practice and case studies on how to develop communities that are truly sustainable was helpful.  In particular a case study on ‘Sustaining Dunbar’ explored how to really engage people in considering the future of their community and create a local resilience action plan with a vision for 2025 ‘beyond oil’. 

It was also great to hear an update from Dawn Davies on the Creation Development Trust in the Garw Valley.  The level of community engagement, capacity building and governance achieved here is remarkable. 

The focus of the day was, quite rightly, on the role of the public sector, the community and the third sector in developing sustainable communities.  However, there seems to be very little discussion on the role of the private sector.  Dawn pointed out in her presentation that many of the communities in South Wales were built around the coal mines.  Whilst the monopoly that the mining companies held in many areas brought with it its problems, there was no doubt that local industry and community were fundamentally intertwined.  Since this time large local employers have come and gone and the economic landscape of South Wales is now very different, but I do believe that private businesses still have a role to play in creating truly sustainable communities. 

Social enterprises are important but we are yet to see if these organisations can really stand up in the long term, become self sufficient and cut the umbilical cord to grant funding.  It seems to me that the private sector must be considered in any approach to integrated sustainability.  So then the question is how can local, national and international businesses be encouraged and supported to become more imbedded in and accountable to the local communities in which they are based?

Urbanists attend EcoBuild

We were inspired by the many new ideas and contacts that we made at EcoBuild last week, which was a great opportunity to meet up with old friends and see the latest ideas on sustainable placemaking.

On the second day of Ecobuild, our Urban Designer - Serena Yao, attended a meeting with other members of the Urban Design Group and urban design practicioners from China. This was an excellent opportunity to share cultural ideas about sustainability and placemaking and we hope to continue developing these kinds of international links.

EcoBuild is an enormous event and it can be difficult to fit everything in. From the tiny amount of the Expo that we were able to cram in the highlights were:

• The potential future changes to the Code for Sustainable Homes which could move towards a fabric first approach before on site renewables are considered. This is something that we are supportive of, following our experience of developing a Code Level  5 scheme at Mariner's Quay with Powell Dobson Architects (http://www.powelldobson.com/index.php?file=gallery&sID=10)

• Learning more about how to deliver a successful shared space public realm scheme. Exhibition Road, a scheme that we visited in 2011, was highlighted in the way that it has had to accommodate vulnerable street users whilst maintaining an environment without the usual visual and textural clues and references.

• We we also inspired by the SAGE project in Glasgow(http://www.sowandgroweverywhere.org/) which has been working with communities and the NHS to deliver high quality allotments.

Positive Transformation

As urban designers, landscape architects and regeneration practitioners, seeing our designs, ideas and recommendations implemented is really important to us. Sometimes imagining the moment of the ribbon being cut is what keeps us going! It was a pleasure to be present at yesterday’s opening of the revamped Village Square in Caerau.

What is particularly satisfying, is that the project was a prominent part the regeneration strategy that we completed for area in 2007. 

A prominent site in need of improvement

Once the site was acquired by the Council  we prepared a ‘concept design’ for improvements to the public realm and the buildings around it.  

Our design concept for the site

The scheme was implemented by Bridgend County Borough Council and formally launched yesterday morning.

It was great to see so many of the officers, Councillors and community members sharing in the success as it’s been a long and difficult battle for them, firstly to acquire the site that was previously such an eyesore and a real blight on the local community and then to improve it using such a small budget. We’re proud of the small part that we played in getting the scheme on the ground.

See the BBC report on the launch here.