Place-making and the Concrete Bollard Park

It is now commonly accepted that mainstream spending by public bodies should contribute to regeneration objectives ensuring that budgets go further and spending has a greater impact.  This is reflected in the Welsh Government’s Vibrant and Viable Places Regeneration Framework (March 2013) which states that ‘mainstream budgets will be used to deliver the majority of regeneration impact across Wales’ (p36).  This principle is applicable as a guide for how money is spent on the physical regeneration of the public realm through public bodies and others responsible for managing our neighbourhoods including housing associations. 

Vibrant and Viable Places also makes a commitment to ‘place’ and I suggest that in order for any physical regeneration impact to be felt through mainstream funding, there needs to be sign up to the principles of ‘place-making’ by all of those involved in the process.  This includes those allocating budgets and implementing large-scale projects but also those implementing small-scale changes to existing residential environments and neighbourhood maintenance, which is the focus of this blog. 

I came across a case that illustrates this point well; I’ve called it the Concrete Bollard Park.  It is a relatively small space within a residential area and it is populated by concrete bollards. 

It is easy to dismiss it as insignificant but it is spaces on people’s doorsteps such as this that have a significant impact on the wellbeing of local residents and help to determine how much pride they take in their neighbourhood. 

It is important that we understand how spaces like this come about so that we identify how to manage them them.  I would suggest that nobody involved in the creation of this space could be blamed for it’s poor appearance as they probably all did their job well.  

The space is located in a residential area and marked on the OS map as a playground.  I would imagine that at one time it had play equipment in it and children from the surrounding houses would come and play here.  But at some stage the innocent pleasure of children playing must have faded; perhaps the children grew up and stopped using it, maybe it attracted anti-social behavior or the equipment got damaged, possibly a play area in this location was too noisy, or the maintenance of the play area too great a burden.  Whatever the background, at some stage it became a problem and subsequently someone’s job to fix it.  So the play equipment was removed and that person did a good job of leaving the space empty and devoid of any problems with play.  

But then that another issue arose, most likely cars being parked in the space.  To combat this problem someone then did a good job of installing some concrete bollards to ensure that cars could not access the space.    

Today a space that has no defined purpose and that nobody uses, promotes a sense of the forgotten and uncared for.  It eliminates any sense of pride for surrounding residents and stands empty and useless in an area where parking is at a premium.  But each person involved in the process did their job well. 

What was lacking was a sense of the bigger picture and a commitment to place-making.  A place-making approach requires understanding of how a space fits into the wider neighbourhood, what local needs are, the character of the area and the cumulative impact of small decisions.  It requires more consideration in the initial instance but it enables small interventions to contribute positively to an environment rather than adding to a problem that later requires a regeneration project to fix it. 

A basic understanding of urban design and place-making principles and their application to existing environments can significantly influence the quality of choices that are made in implementing improvements.  Our experience of delivering urban design training to local residents has demonstrated how this understanding can empower residents to make wise decisions about future improvements in their neighbourhoods.  If this was to be applied consistently and in a joined up way across all those involved in influencing the physical environment it has the potential to make a big difference to the quality of existing places. 

By Jen Heal

The future of the High Street: a tale of two record shops

The demise of HMV last week was a stark reminder of how much has changed on the British High Street in such a small period of time.  How we purchase music is a useful lens through which we can understand what is happening to our town centres and potentially what the solutions might be.

Previously, before the days when we could buy music online, we feared for the survival of independent record shops who were being squeezed out of existence by the corporate behemoths of HMV, Virgin Megastore and Borders. Now, however, there is no longer a recognisable High Street multiple shop that specialises in music, and this says an awful lot about how we have transferred our music consumption and indeed our broader shopping habits from the High Street to the internet.

HMV represented the last major chain High Street music shop

The threat faced by small record shops in the early noughties was highlighted by the then-seminal Clone Town Britain report, published by the New Economics Foundation (NEF) in 2004 and updated in 2010. These publications lamented the loss of identity and the destruction of local distinctiveness by the gradual take-over of town centres by national chains. These concerns seem strangely anachronistic from the far more perilous situation that High Streets face in 2013. Many people in the UK would just be happy with a full town centre in 2013, never mind worrying about whether the shops were local or not.

The retreat of retail from High Streets is alarming when when one considers the recent figures from the Centre for Retail Research. Since 2007:

•   231 retailers have ceased to trade

•   23,284 stores have closed

•   209,127 jobs have been lost

These figures include well known names such as: Comet, JJB Sports, Game, Borders, Barratts, T J Hughes, Jane Norman, Habitat, Focus DIY, Floors-2-Go, the Officers Club, Oddbins, Ethel Austin, Faith Shoes, Jessops, Adams Childrenswear, Principles, Sofa Workshop, Allied Carpets, Viyella, Dewhursts, Woolworths, MFI, and Zavvi/Virgin Megastore, Peacocks and now HMV.

One of the many reasons for these casualties is that the business model for retail has been transformed by the maturity of internet shopping. After many years of trying, retailers have  finally learned how to sell things to people online just at the same time that the world seemed to switch from ugly beige desktop computers tucked away in spare bedrooms to laptops and then to smartphones and tablets which could be used from the comfort of the sofa. Clearly, this shift to web based purchasing (as well as theft!) of music has hit the multiple record shops hard.

This has meant that we have seen a substantial erosion of the commercial base of the average High Street. The loss is staggering and the Centre for Retail Research figures do not include the downsizing of big name retailers such as Mothercare and Thorntons who seem to have drawn the Siegfried Line at the provincial cities (such as Cardiff) and out of town locations to make sure they do not become the next casualty. This additional pressure is leaving the traditional High Street in many towns with a highly questionable commercial proposition.

Rather than take over our High Streets and diminish High Street distinctiveness as NEF feared, the retreat of multiples has actually created a kind of dispiriting void which, in many towns won't be filled by retail at any time for the foreseeable future.  Record shops were probably one of the first sectors of the High Street to be affected by changing consumer trends so perhaps other small retailers, Local Authorities, regeneration practitioners and policy makers can learn from record shop owners?

What is impressive is the way that, as a sub-sector, independent record shops have banded together. Between them they have gradually nurtured within their customers an intense loyalty. This is perfectly illustrated in the growing success of the annual National Record Store Day which has grown into a celebration of these stores, the service that they offer (which can’t be matched online or in a supermarket) and a way of promoting the virtues of the immersive ‘in-store experience’.

Independent record stores are taking innovative steps to attract new business and foster a sense of loyalty

Moreover, independent record stores have focused on a niche by concentrating on selling vinyl and not singles, games or DVDs. Critically, the indie record shops have met the specific needs of their (often knowledgeable) walk-in customers, whilst supplementing this with online sales to create an offer that is gaining, rather than losing, momentum and has outlasted its corporate rivals.

Whilst most successful High Streets require a good balance of independent businesses and national chains to be successful there is much that can be achieved from small businesses when they work collectively, collaboratively and imaginatively.

What is interesting is that these traders have targeted the quality of the experience, both in bricks and mortar experience, online experience and the social media campaigns that remind people they are still there.

Perhaps this progressive approach by one group of retailers could be broadened throughout whole towns to create a culture of regeneration that depends upon on collective, collaborative and imaginative initiatives? Certainly a ‘whole town’ approach that promotes the importance of the experience at every level is going to be something that flourishing town centres will all have in common. Those that can’t grasp this, I’m afraid will go the same way as HMV.

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. 

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?

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.