KEY ISSUES AND FINDINGS

We noted in our proposal for this work that there was a striking contrast between the centre of the town and its peripheral areas – almost as if the centre mattered but the rest didn’t. We had a strong feeling in Stromness that there was a need to re-learn how to build places – not so much in terms of architecture but in relation to the basic components of the external environment, the siting of development and the overall form of settlement. Our anticipated headline issues were:

• the presence of the past
• a distinctive sense of place
• learning how to build anew
• localising urban design
• traffic by design
• sustainability – a fundamental theme

These are the basic foundations of the urban design framework. If anything the contrast between the old town and the surrounding areas was more marked than we thought. There is a strong sense that the old town is regarded, like the library, as unfit for purpose in the 21st century. The decanting of uses to Hamnavoe and Garson is evidence of this while the Pier Arts Centre seems to represent the very opposite view – a well received triumph of careful design and function in constrained circumstances. At the same time, the quality of the old town deteriorates in a myriad of small ways – vinyl street signs replacing old painted versions, unnecessary parking restrictions, inappropriate ‘heritage’ street lighting, vacant property and insensitive repairs to buildings and the public realm.

In parallel with this is the sense that Garson is used as a convenient place to site things that can no longer be accommodated in the old centre. So the town has no real structure or cohesion. This was recognised in the brief for this work which stated that the purpose of the study ‘is to establish a strategic framework and vision which would direct future proposals towards a coordinated and legible urban form’. While preserving and enhancing the historic core has been an objective of the Council for some time, changes in land use patterns, changes in the type and location of housing, the relocation of important community institutions and the growing rate of vacancies in the historic core suggest a need to ask some very basic questions about the future of the town. Some of these are:

• What is the purpose and role of the town?
• What is the future of the historic core and what function might it perform?
• What are the roles of the various other parts of the town and can these areas work in an integrated and holistic manner?
• Are there too many proposals competing for scarce resources and might fewer stronger proposals help to fulfil more integrated spatial objectives?
• Should the unrelenting drift to the north be channelled into a new spatial structure for North Hamnavoe?
• Is there a positive future for Garson other than as a home for things that can’t be accommodated elsewhere?
• What can be done about the low quality of design of new buildings on the edges of the town and in the surrounding countryside?
• What size should Stromness be? Is building 140 houses by 2010 (as per the Local Plan) sensible or just very un-ambitious?
• How do we build urban form in such a low demand environment – is low density a realistic option?
• Each of the character areas described needs attention of some kind – the 4th and 5th tier areas have the most potential for change but how should these be improved?
• Can the town put its energy and sustainability research credentials to work for the Stromness environment?

These questions are answered to a greater or lesser degree in the report below. The culture of Orkney and Stromness is very project orientated and there was significantly more interest in implementing these rather than addressing strategy and policy which would in turn produce more appropriate projects than the current batch. There is also enormous resistance to change on the part of the local community and widely differing opinions about what should actually happen in the town.

The inevitable result of this is compromise and our report reflects that. However it has opened up wide ranging discussions about the form and function of the town and set out some new thinking, especially in relation to the form of peripheral development in the stunning Orkney landscape. The final report is shown below: The study team comprised WMUD (lead), Yellow Book (economic strategy), Drew Mackie Associates (consultation), Hamilton-Baillie Associates (traffic and movement), Jacobs (Strategic Environmental Assessment and Strategic Flood Risk Assessment) and Leslie Burgher(architecture).

Our starting point is that the Castle has the potential to be:

• an area which can be enjoyed by as broad a spectrum of people as possible – young and old, local residents and visitors
• a space which enhances the social and economic life of the town – including its place competitiveness in the modern global economy, contributing to Castlederg’s economic health and its ability to attract and retain residents, businesses and visitors
• an important public space in Castlederg – and is, or has the potential to be, the focus of the local community’s aspirations for the future of their town
• an important part of the much bigger reconciliation process which lies at the heart of Peace III funding for Castlederg

Developing a shared vision for the Castle has a significance which goes beyond creating a new shared space – it should be pivotal for the town as a whole by contributing to economic competitiveness, attracting and retaining skilled people, bringing about a blossoming of civic pride, presenting an enhanced image of the town to visitors, and reinforcing the town’s distinctive sense of place for decades to come. Of course, a shared space at the Castle cannot achieve all these things alone – but it can make an important contribution to each of them.

These outcomes all come on the back of tangible, physical improvements to the Castle. There are also equally important intangible reconciliation benefits which could accrue if the right approach is used for this study. To put it another way, we believe that the way in which this commission is carried out is absolutely fundamental to enable progress towards the brief’s ultimate objectives of developing a more peaceful society.

Sensitivity to the history and sense of a place is an integral part of all our projects. Castlederg’s origins as an early Plantation town, the symbolism of the Castle as a visual reminder of that history, the trauma of the Troubles, and changes in recent years have all shaped both the place and the people of the town.
Planning and designing the future of any part of the town, including the Castle, must also reflect Castlederg’s position in the geography and economy of modern Northern Ireland. The town is an important rural service centre, although many of its residents are likely to feel relatively isolated from larger urban centres and the opportunities and facilities that they provide. That reality will shape how the local economy operates and how people live their lives in the town. Whilst the design outputs from this commission may focus on the Castle, they must be prepared in the context of the town as a whole, its contemporary role, and how it is changing.

Our team for this study comprise WMUD, Nick Wright Planning and Derry based RPD. We will update this post as the work progresses.

As Iain Sinclair and others have pointed out, the breathtaking intellectual thinness of the proposed Starbucks landscape of the Olympics compares badly with the richness of the existing complex environment. This is not a plea for doing nothing – it’s more a wish that in the rush to create, to ‘deliver’ and to ‘drive forward a vision’ towards this dubious prize, designers, planners, procurement officers or whoever should work with what is there rather than scrape it away and produce just another piece of second rate UK property development. Post-Olympics the communities can have most of this back – except that there will be nothing worth having in comparison to the richness of what is already there.

Many of the issues raised here resonate with the work we did in Sheffield on the Council’s Rivers and Waterways Strategy, especially in relation to the disregard that development agencies have for existing character and their blindness to the ways in which this can be used to create contemporary environments that are rich, exciting and beneficial to local communities. The Sheffield – City of Rivers report is available below: (should be browsed fullscreen).

Public Policy

The Scottish Government wants to create a more successful Scotland by increasing sustainable economic growth. The Government acknowledges that a high quality environment is an important part of achieving this. Highland Council’s ambitions for its population are expressed in the Single Outcome Agreement, and link back to the Government’s aim of creating a wealthier, fairer, healthier, smarter, greener and safer Scotland. The Single Outcome Agreement aims to promote sustainable Highland communities, safeguard the environment and create a competitive, sustainable and adaptable Highland economy. It also aspires to a healthier and fairer Highlands with better opportunities for all.

These aims have implications for the type and form of place that Inverness should become. For example, how successful is Inverness in catering for a broad range of expectations? How well are the Single Outcome Agreement’s ambitions being met? How well does the city cater for everyone’s needs? Is any section of the community disadvantaged? Retention of the local population, in particular the 16-35 age range, is important for Inverness and the surrounding Highland communities. However, it is this age group that tends to be attracted elsewhere – so it is important to provide what is needed in order to attract and retain them.

A new city vision One way of shaping a city future is by agreeing a vision which describes the necessary ingredients of a settlement in terms of quality of streets, buildings, spaces and sets out an image of the kind of city that Inverness could be. Over the next few months, Highland Council will be facilitating a visioning exercise for the City of Inverness. This is part of the process of preparing the new generation of planning documents for the area. It is is a different way of planning. It involves working with everyone with a stake in the future of Inverness and develop a shared vision. We will be doing this at a series of special Future City Events from Wednesday 20th January to Friday 22nd January 2010 for people from local communities, businesses and the public sector. The City Vision team We have been appointed by Architecture and Design Scotland to work with Highland Council staff in preparing the spatial content of the Vision. Nick Wright Planning has been commissioned to work with the residential and business communities in Inverness in the lead up to the Future City Events as well as consult widely with a range of public sector agencies. Highland Council have set up a blog which records the process and provides a wealth of background information. The British Council has run the Future City Events have a webpage here which describes the process.

• inform the forthcoming Local Plan process, in particular the Proposed Plan stage
• identify and set out the key components required within the SLA and provide an overall structure within which individual masterplans can be prepared

This report proposed a strategic framework showing how the land-use elements of the Dunfermline SLA – housing, employment, community facilities and infrastructure – could be accommodated on the city’s western flank between 2011 and 2026, in a manner which results in high quality, sustainable and distinctive place-making.

Key elements The starting point for the form of the strategic framework was the development of walkable neighbourhoods based around mixed use local centres. Walkable means preferably within five minutes walk of the local centre and or public transport facilities but this could extend to a ten minute walk. Four new neighbourhoods are proposed in the period to 2026 – a large area to the south west of the city and three neighbourhoods to the west, north west and north. Integrated with this set of walkable neighbourhoods is a new public transport system based on an integrated street system linking the new areas (rather than a remote segregated system). The eventual form of this transport system has not been determined at present but it is likely to be either a Bus Rapid the strategic framework Transport (BRT) or Light Rapid Transport (LRT). There is also a requirement for a new western distributor road for the city which would be integrated with the BRT or LRT in part.

The protection of the historic landscape of the city and the protection of the integrity of a green belt between Dunfermline and Crossford has been an important factor in the development of the framework. At the outset, it was considered that a series of neighbourhoods had a potentially better fit in sensitive landscape than a larger settlement form. Care has been taken with the siting of these neighbourhoods and their associated landscaping although it should be stressed that by designating an SLA in the sensitive landscape of west and south west Dunfermline, it was inevitable that some conflict would occur between different interests. These new neighbourhoods have to perform a number of functions in relation to the existing urban fabric of Dunfermline. For example linkage to the existing fabric is important as is the provision of facilities in the new development which enhances the quality of life in existing areas. It was also seen as important to provide only local retail facilities and not compete with the centre of Dunfermline. The provision of employment space in local centres or in associated mixed use areas is also seen as desirable.

Finally it was necessary to accommodate the quantum of development specified in the SLA namely for:

• 4,200 new homes up to 2026
• 80 hectares of employment land
• capacity for further housing and emploment growth post 2026
• a high school
• 3 primary schools

Other facilities that the development industry might be expected to provide are:

• education, sport and healthcare facilities
• local shops and services
• employment opportunities
• public transport facilities and services
• strategic and local transport improvements
• walking and cycling improvements
• affordable housing
• public art and landscape enhancement

Integrated in these new neighbourhoods are high quality design, low or zero carbon developments and neighbourhood-wide Combined Heat and Power (CHP).

Team

The study was carried out through extensive client-side workshops and collaboration. The team was WMUD, Kevin Murray Associates, Nick Wright Planning and MRC McLean Hazel.

• to enrich the quality of life of people who live and work in Rotherham, and to improve the experience of visitors
• to promote nature conservation and biodiversity
• to stimulate investment and regeneration

The policy context

Rotherham’s rivers and waterways figure prominently in regional and local planning policy, and across a wide range of other policy areas. However, while the waterways are generally deemed to be valuable assets, there is little evidence that the poor quality and condition of many of the borough’s rivers, canals and waterspaces has been acknowledged. This confirms the clients’ perception that a strategy is required to focus attention on the waterways and to devise a cohesive strategy and plan for action.

Although the potential of Rotherham’s waterways remains unfulfilled, it is clear that they can make an important contribution to the quality of life in the borough, to biodiversity and to regeneration.

Waterways in the landscape

Rotherham’s waterways have played a pivotal role in the Borough’s rich and fascinating, determining the location of settlements and sites of industry. The canalisation of the river Don in the mid 18th century made Rotherham an important inland port, and encouraged the growth of industry, even though the waterway was soon superseded by the railways. Though the borough only covers a small area, it is surprisingly diverse: while the Don and the Rother became archetypal industrial rivers, the attractive streams in the limestone country to the east feed into the Trent catchment. Ancient ponds are a feature of Rotherham, as are planned landscapes with water features, as at Wentworth.

This diversity is still reflected in the condition of Rotherham’s waterways today, which present a challenging mix of assets and liabilities. The consultant team has analysed the waterways and waterspaces by type, function and context, and we have also identified a series of distinct character areas.

Rotherham’s waterways appraised

We tested and developed our analysis in a series of consultations and at a stakeholder workshop. These events confirmed the mixed “report card” on our site visits and research. There was unanimous recognition of the potential of Rotherham’s waterways, and a broad consensus that recent successes (Rother Valley Country Park, Blackburn Meadows, Chesterfield Canal improved water quality etc) had raised public awareness of the value of water and its potential to contribute to a better quality of life. The Cuckoo Way and Roche Abbey are examples of little known delights in the borough. At the same time, the urban Don and the lower Rother still appear to be neglected and under-used places, and recent events have highlighted the threat of flooding and the presumed effects of climate change. The potential is unmistakable, but the problems are big and structural and the barriers to progress sometime appear formidable.

Developing the strategy The report draws on this analysis to map out a vision and strategy for Rotherham’s waterways. Achieving the vision will require action to nurture, restore, celebrate and care for Rotherham’s unique network of rivers, canals and water spaces.

The report frames a series of strategic objectives and identifies six broad priorities for action: river restoration, major regeneration projects, the Chesterfield Canal, nature reserves, the access network and community projects.

Given the sheer scale and diversity of the challenges, it is not possible or desirable to draw up a detailed blueprint at this stage, but the consultant team has drawn up a set of 11 guiding principles, to be applied as appropriate as new projects are brought forward.

This section concludes by highlighting some of the places and ideas that have helped to shape the Rotherham Waterways Strategy, and which should act as sources of inspiration in the future. In particular, we acknowledge our debt to Emscher Landscape Park in Germany’s Ruhr region, which is the best example in Europe of the transformation of a polluted and semi-derelict post-industrial landscape.

The action plan The themes of the strategy are drawn together in Section 6 which begins by recommending that the key themes of the action plan should be: New Life for the Urban River valleys, the Chesterfield Canal, the urban waterfront, riverside communities, Rotherham’s Hidden Gems, caring for the waterways, and celebrating them.

We also recommend the formation of a Rotherham Waterways Partnership (with a maximum 5 years’ life) to drive forward the initiative, and the appointment of a project manager.

We have drawn up an illustrative 3-5 year action plan, which distinguishes between project development activities (where the partnership should take a lead role) and influencing the work of others to ensure that benefits for the rivers and waterways are achieved. We have estimated that the partnership would require a budget of around £850,000 over 3 years to take forward this work programme.

The success of the partnership will be determined largely by its ability to engage effectively with other partners, locally and at the sub-regional, catchment and regional levels. We have identified some key connections, including with Sheffield which is also developing proposals for reviving its urban rivers.

Finally, we have stressed the importance of knowing what success looks like. A simple performance management framework is required for the partnership, which should be the subject of an independent review after three years.

Key decisions and choices

The issues and choices will be a key theme for the next stage of the study and we have set out some of the strategic choices that need to be addressed:

• should Glasgow City Centre North continue to be a location for industry in the city, or should the strategy encourage a shift to higher value uses such as offices and housing?
• is it desirable or practicable to try to provide “local jobs for local people” in the study area, or should we be encouraging a step change in the local economy?
• could all or part of the study area be reinvented as a new community, with a mix of housing by type and tenure, parks, transport and social infrastructure that will attract people to live in north Glasgow?
• are we trying to create a destination in the city or should we be aiming for an attractive, popular and sustainable city neighbourhood?
• to what degree should the strategy be shaped by economic goals, or should we also be pursuing social, environmental and cultural objectives?
• should the strategy be predicated on incremental change, albeit with a clear direction of travel, or should the partners aim for more rapid and radical change, for example, the transformational projects described above or the creation of a new university campus/innovation park?

Must-do actions

These and other choices will be identified and discussed during the strategy formulation phase, but the process has already revealed a number of areas where urgent action is deemed to be essential. Progress on these themes can be seen as an essential pre-condition for sustainable regeneration and they include:

• Mobilising community and stakeholder support: Every effort should be made to align the public sector stakeholders and resources, and the success of the project will also turn on its ability to command the support of local communities. Change projects also mean thinking about the needs and expectations of people who are not in the study area at present, but who you are seeking to attract – to live, work or visit.
• Animating the canal corridor: The canal is the study area’s unique asset, and a key source of distinctiveness and competitive advantage, but an under-used waterway can become a liability and place that people avoid rather than an attraction. For this reason, any positive future scenario will be predicated on the presence of a lively and attractive waterfront, and activity on the water; there is a need for early action to animate the waterspace and encourage people to visit Glasgow’s little-known canal.
• Improving public transport: For a variety of historic reasons, the study area is poorly served by public transport. Radial routes pass through the area, north and south, but bus services do not penetrate into the heart of the area. This only serves to compound a sense of isolation, and local business recognise it as a weakness. Sustainable regeneration can only be achieved if Glasgow City Centre North is reconnected to the city centre and adjoining neighbourhoods, and all the best European models treat connectivity as a non-negotiable requirement.
• Improving pedestrian access to and through the study area: Most pedestrian routes in and out of the study area are obscure and unattractive, and sometimes hostile. Port Dundas, for example, is easily walkable from the city centre but it is not a good experience. The study area often feels deserted: even at the busiest times of time there are few people on the streets. Over time, radical solutions may be required to remove barriers; in the short term, a plan to make pedestrian routes safer and more attractive is imperative.
• Enhancing the public realm: Although parts of the study area have a rich character and heritage, the quality of the public realm is almost uniformly poor: The canalside around Speirs Wharf is the only exception. The strategy must include a long-term plan for strengthening and enhancing the public realm and creating high quality urban spaces, but a short-term early action plan should also be devised – focusing on areas with the potential for rapid improvement, for example, by cleaning up derelict land, improving recent development sites and influencing new developments.
• Raising design standards: Recent investment in the study area is a source of some encouragement, but the design quality of projects post-Speirs Wharf has, almost without exception, been very disappointing. The City Council has a responsibility to ensure that future developments set a higher standard for architecture and urban design. One of the most disappointing features of recent projects has been the way in which anodyne buildings have eroded the distinctiveness of the study area without injecting style or quality into the townscape.

Implementation

We have advocated a twin-track approach to the next phase of the study. In parallel with work on the strategy, a second workstream should focus on implementation: producing a plan which will focus on the “how” and “when” of the regeneration process. Some of the work has already been undertaken in this study: Section 6 contains sets out a detailed and authoritative account of market conditions in different parts of the study area, although a more fine grained market appraisal will still be required to shape and inform proposals for specific sites. We have also gathered information on property and site ownerships, which are likely to be a key factor in determining the feasibility of particular proposals as well as the timing of developments.

It is already clear that only limited amounts of land are owned by the Council or key partners such as British Waterways, and that the pattern of ownership in the study area is fragmented. Experience suggests that this is likely to be a significant constraint on the partners’ aspirations, and much will therefore depend on the Council’s willingness and/or ability to create the conditions for change.

Positive strategic role

There is definite potential to undertake significant development on the study area – and to influence regeneration in the surrounding areas in the northern part of the Borough and in adjoining boroughs, and possibly even at a London level and beyond. The full scope and scale of transformation is dependent on a number of factors, including the ability to capitalise upon opportunities and address some very real constraints.

Constraints

There are a number of key constraints affecting development of the site particularly:

• The rail and canal corridors form barriers to north-south movement within and beyond the site. Whilst development could possibly be built over the railway, this is unlikely to be viable for the canal.
• Safety concerns around the gasholders are likely to prevent residential development on portions of the site as long as the gasholders are in place (until at least 2016).
• The single vehicular connection to the site makes it isolated, both in terms of public and private transport. It also places significant physical constraints on the quantum of development.
• The existing Sainsbury’s store may or may not wish to move from its current site – it could possibly be redeveloped as part of a larger, denser development.
• Crossrail are seeking to use part of the southern portion of the site as a temporary bus garage during construction works, to 2017.

Recommendation

The recommendation is to pursue as ambitious an option as possible in partnership with the key landowners, and to continue to build up the parallel case for a station. We see this option being represented as a composite of C and D at this stage, beginning in the eastern part of the site, and extending westwards over time as the gas holders are decommissioned. This composite is more ambitious than options A and B, but is more feasible than option E. It could also provide a basis for including part of option F if the opportunity presents itself. Scenario development Given that this stage in the process was upstream of generating any real development proposals, it was necessary to explore a wide range of possibilities in an open, value free way. Therefore, rather than ‘design’ a selection of alternative indicative schemes, the method at this stage was to explore and develop a range of scenarios (future circumstances) with associated development typologies (physical place outcomes). At this stage of feasibility testing we considered it important not to prejudge any outcome, nor to have premature preferences that may preclude creative options be explored. Also, we found it particularly important to be open-minded about both cost-value parameters (these changed even in the short time of the study) and about a potential Crossrail station – even though this has been a desired outcome of the Council – because it is not in itself a ‘given’ component. The scenario approach used enabled different kinds of future circumstances and outcomes to be constructed, explored and developed, then further reviewed and tested for feasibility and desirability. This method was wide-ranging including scenarios various people acknowledged were more or less desirable. It was not simply a wish list of a few idealised end-states. These scenarios were explored in a future situation (2025) well beyond the limits of current policy, and also without community involvement at this ‘upstream’ stage.

Our view is that this open, relatively creative approach demonstrates a wide range of possibilities. Importantly, it generated a wide range of relevant issues for further testing, review and, where appropriate, policy action and dialogue with landowners and statutory bodies.

The study team comprised Kevin Murray Associates (lead), Willie Miller Urban Design (WMUD), Alan Baxter Associates, Battle McCarthy, Colliers CRE and Gardiner & Theobald.

The decision to put the building on the market and move all services to other parts of the borough was made by the PCT board, despite last-minute pleas from John Allan of Avanti Architects and John Cooper of Architects for Health. This decision has sparked concern for a broad range of reasons including:

• the cultural and historic importance of the architecture
• the historical symbolism of the building in terms of health care
• the view that the building is entirely saveable and is not a maintenance basket-case
• the likely future of the building and the site – for example private clinic or luxury flats

Consideration of any single issue on this list might lead to the conclusion that the building should be kept and used for its original purpose never mind taking a holistic view of all the points. But there is another issue that lies in the territory of spatial planning and social infrastructure.

There are many examples throughout the UK of health authorities and others selling off city centre land and facilities at attractive prices in order to fund the development of new facilities on land that is cheaper but less well located for the very people who wish to use these facilities. More often than not, these new facilities are accessed by poor public transport facilities or demand the use of the private car. See TCPA Journal (November 2007) by Graham Haughton and Phil Allmendiger. (link here to pdf)

Over the past twenty years, planning in the UK has become increasingly regulatory rather than visionary. There is evidence that this might be changing since the introduction of a new planning system that has a strong emphasis on spatial strategy. However significant property moves by health, port or water authorities tend to become the spatial plans, rather than being determined by spatial plans – in other words planning often has had to adopt the plans of others as fait accompli even though there is little spatial or placemaking evidence that they are desirable.

Integrated strategic spatial planning needs to play a much stronger and influential role in coordinating the work of organisations like health trusts and port authorities. The fate of Finsbury Health Centre seems sadly predictable – another casualty of the obsession with money and moral bankruptcy that Monin was referring to – part of a wider culture of philistinism and short-termism which is peculiarly endemic in UK organisations that once were public goods.

Meanwhile express your views and sign the petition – all may not be lost.

It has become fashionable to talk of networks of organisations, people, computers, transport and so on. In organisations there is talk of being more “networky” and getting away from the older more hierarchical ways of doing things. Conferences are organised around “networking” both formal and informal.

Yet, the more that you listen to this network talk the more you realise that people mean very different things by the term “network”. The purpose of this paper is to explore what network thinking means and how networks can be mapped and analysed.

Why is this important and useful? The structure of a network will affect how influence and information is distributed. Certain members will be potentially more influential because of their position in the network. Mapping the network can give guidance on the easiest ways to distribute information, the links that should be there to improve the network and how to avoid bottlenecking. It is used by commercial and government organisations to plot situations as diverse as:

• structures of trust, advice and communication within an organisation or group of organisation
• planning the development of network
• improving the functioning of project teams
• mapping communities of interest or expertise
• identify centres of expertise
• indicate key organisations and links to encourage community cohesion

What is a network?

The first thing to be said is that a network is not just a list. The term implies a set of connections between its members. These connections may consist of the flows of information , power, money or whatever but the implication is that an influence of some sort is passing from one to the other.

Networks can be dense or sparse – meaning that the number of connections is great or small. The total number of connections possible in any group of members where n is the number of members in the group is given by the formula:

Thus, a network of 10 members has a total of 45 possible connections. The density of a network is measured by comparing the number of actual links with the number of possible links and expressing this as a percentage. For all members of a network to be connected to it the number of links must be at least n-1. A well connected organisation will have a density of around 15% to 20%. Research shows that the best connected organisations allow its members to connect within two steps – ie that influence drops off sharply if it has to exert itself through more than two connectors. The exception to this is a strongly hierarchical organisation with well defined chains of command.

The following examples show the “kite” diagram developed by David Krackhardt of Carnegie Mellon University and used to illustrate the properties of a network. Ten people make up the network and they are related in different ways shown by the linking lines. The shading indicates how various members perform according to a number of different measures.

Fig 1 – Numbers of Connections (Degree centrality)

This shows an assessment of how many connections members have. This is known as “Degree centrality”. Diane has more connections to other members. Garth and Fernando are also well connected. Jane is the worst connected person in the network with only 1 connection.

But:

Influence over a network is not just a matter of how many connections you have. You may be connected to many people who have few connections to anybody else. Although degree centrality is easy to calculate it doesn’t tell the whole story.

Fig 2 – Shortest Pathways (Closeness centrality)

This shows how close various members are to all the others. This is measure of how central a person is to the workings of the network. Both Fernando and Garth are within 3 connections of all other people in the net. Diane is still central but is 4 connectors away from Jane.

This measure is important because research in organisations shows that influence fades if you need more than 2 links to get to another member.

It also indicates which members will have general influence over the network because of their position. If you want information spread fast, feed it to the most central members.

Fig 3 – Gatekeepers (betweenness centrality)

This shows a different sort of centrality. There are people who are the sole or main connectors to parts of the network. Links from the rest of the network to Ike or Jane all have to pass through Heather. She is a gatekeeper to a subsection of the network. This is known as “betweenness” centrality. People or organisations in this position can have great influence on the flow of information.

This is good in that they ensure that the network is fully connected – but potentially harmful in that they can filter that information according to their own agenda or make the network vulnerable to their departure.

Practical uses

So how can we use network mapping and analysis to help our regeneration activities? We have been involved in a number of projects that have used such mapping.

• a study of community cohesion in Pendle, Lancashire
• organising a conference on links between organisations involved in environmental projects in North Lanarkshire
• working with Government Departments in England to encourage mutual learning in methods of Public Involvement
• comparing the organisational structure of the Crown Street project in Glasgow’s Gorbals at various stages of its development

The same procedure was used in each:

• interview or survey organisations with a common interest and get them to specify their working links to each other. This is either done by getting them to list these links or to draw them on a constantly developing map
• draw the simplest possible map of these relationships
• analyse the various forms of centrality and identify potential links that could improve patterns of Advice, Trust or Communication within the network and advise on key organisations that are central to the operation of the network

More examples Fig 4 – Government Departments and Public Involvement

As part of a learning programme for Departments involved in Public Engagement, we asked participants to list the three organisations that they worked with most. These had to be operational links – sitting on the same committee didn’t count. This map is now being extended to show a wider range of organisations and to provide a “road map” for those concerned with public involvement. Shading shows organisations with the greatest betweenness centrality.

Fig 5 – Map of Organisations involved in Environmental Projects in North Lanarkshire

The map below was developed for a conference on development of a network based on environmental projects. This version was developed before the conference through a short questionnaire. A session in the conference further developed the map and this was used as a the basis for analysis that showed the existing and potential centrality of the local authority in developing the network – but also the shortcomings of links within the authority itself (yellow nodes).

Fig 6 – Map of Organisations involved in Community Cohesion in Pendle

This map was prepared using a series of interviews and leaving a basic map for completion by the interviewees. The subsequent analysis revealed a series of local “broker” organisations that acted as intermediaries between regional organisations and local projects. These are shown against a blue background and are totally connected – ie all brokers link with all other brokers. The network is particularly well connected compared to some other community cohesion networks in Lancashire.

Conclusions

1. As can be seen from the above examples, mapping can be a practical tool in defining a network and making some assessment of its likely performance. It is a well recognised technique that can uncover some unexpected issues and opportunities.
2. Simple networks can be analysed visually. Networks of any size will need computer support in drawing the simplest diagram and in analysing the various forms of centrality.
3. Maps can be used as “clickable” way finders on the internet. Each node can contain a web address that leads to an organisation’s website.

This post was contributed by Drew Mackie of Drew Mackie Associates

Keswick is one of the gems of the Lake District – a town that has managed to remain desirable despite considerable change since its heyday in the 1950s.

There has been a settlement at Keswick since at least the 13th century, but the earliest recorded map that shows the town as a recognisable urban entity is dated 1787. Since then the town has been mapped at frequent intervals enabling an analysis of the important ages of the town from an urban design perspective. There is photoset of Keswick here.

Late 18th century

The 1787 map shows a layout which is recognisably Keswick with Market Square and Market Place clearly established as the focus of the town, and the centrally placed Moot Hall

Long thin buildings ran at right angles north and south from Market Square into what are now the Bell Close and Heads Road car parks. The outlines of what would become Station Street, St John’s Street and Lake Road are clearly visible, as is Main Street striking out to the west. The town did not extend north or west to the River Greta at this time.

Mid 19th century

By 1867, Keswick had grown westwards to the Greta Bridge along Main Street and along the Penrith Road to the east. This period also saw the sporadic growth of large estate houses and a number of pencil factories in the west of the town. However the most significant developments during this period were:

• the opening of the railway between Penrith and Cockermouth in 1865 with Keswick Station situated on the north side of the Greta
• the development of mills by the River Greta adjacent to the town centre

Late 19th century

By 1898 the expansion of the town centre north towards the Greta was complete. To the east, the residential area based on Blencathra, Helvellyn, Southey and Greta Streets was also largely developed. Stanger Street was developed to the west of the town centre and the villas at the east end of what is now the Heads were also built, marking a significant departure from Keswick’s original compact form. The town had its own gas works, located at Otley Road.

Significantly, the Victorian town was catering for the needs of visitors with developments including:

• laying out Fitz Park between the station and the town centre (1882)
• the new Keswick Museum on Station Road
• Keswick House Hotel was built on a site adjacent to the station
• improved boating facilities at the north end of Derwent Water

Early – Mid 20th century

There was very little change in Keswick during this period except for the development of residential areas around Greta Hamlet and at the Headlands, both shown on the 1924 Ordnance Survey plan. Although these developments are small they are significant as they marked a move away from the scale and materials of what was then typically the Keswick-Cumbrian traditional building and Victorian and Edwardian architecture towards developments which were suburban in layout, bungaloid in architectural style and un-rooted in the local area. During this period, Hope Park was gifted to the town as public gardens including a pitch and putt golf course.

Mid – Late 20th century

The 1957 Ordnance Survey plan shows Keswick as a place of contrasts. On the one hand the town centre was at its most densely packed and urbanised. On the other hand, lower density residential developments at Great Crosthwaite, the Heads and Headlands, Windebrowe Avenue and along Ambleside Road allowed the town to spread the town into the surrounding landscape. The Pencil Factory in its current form makes its first appearance on the plan, occupying the site of an earlier factory near Greta Bridge.

21st century

The 2005 Ordnance Survey map shows a dramatic change in Keswick from 1957. This change is marked by three factors:

• the closure of the railway
• the erosion of traditional urban structure in the town centre
• the increasing suburbanisation of the surrounding landscape

The closure of the railway created a number of opportunities for development around the former station with the extension of the Keswick Country House Hotel and on the former track to the west, a Leisure Pool and residential developments.

The clearance of sites in the town centre – including the former abattoir and the gas works as well as business premises to the north of Market Place – has enabled the construction of Bell Close car park and the linking of Victoria Street and Bank Street (both former cul-de-sacs) to provide a town centre “bypass”.

The construction of the car park on Heads Road did not require the same degree of demolition and clearance. The Co-op development on Main Street has also reduced the perceived density of the town centre by setting back new development from the original building line.

Low density residential development has continued in fields to the east and north of the town, as well as in the Crosthwaite area. Business and industrial uses have consolidated around the Pencil Factory and along Penrith Road.

The future

Our recent masterplan work for the Keswick Area Partnership has highlighted the need for the town to change, to grow and to be refreshed by:

• regenerating and diversifying the local economy to create new jobs in sectors other than tourism, and
• attracting and retaining working age adults and their families

This is not a choice between tourism and diversification. Tourism is Keswick’s staple industry and the competitiveness and profitability of the industry are a precondition for future prosperity. But a modern tourism product needs to be complemented by a more diverse, knowledge-based economy, encouraging enterprise and creating opportunities for talented individuals.

Refreshing the economic and community life of Keswick means that the town will need to accommodate change and development. This will be a big challenge: for obvious reasons, Keswick has a very restrictive planning regime, in which any form of development has to be justified and the conservation of the town and its natural environment are paramount. When flood risks are added into the equation, Keswick is a town whose default position is to refuse development.

We understand the concerns that underlie these policies, and we would not want to see Keswick’s special qualities compromised. However, there are real dangers for the community if the planning regime is so restrictive that it becomes a barrier to change.

The implication is that Keswick has already achieved some sort of ideal state, but this is clearly not the case: beyond the historic core and some other attractive enclaves, much of Keswick’s urban environment is banal and undistinguished. Much of the town’s late 20th century expansion took the form of bland suburban sprawl – as shown in the animation – which should not be repeated, but the corollary of this is that quality development and good architecture and urban design have the potential to improve Keswick, strengthen the town’s identity and reconnect it to its landscape and cultural heritage.

There is also an image gallery of Keswick.

Previous posts on the historical development of UK towns from an urban design perspective include Bolton and St Helier.

Technorati Tags: Lake District, tourism and diversification, restrictive planning regime, Keswick, landscape and cultural heritage

This is a slideshow of two pieces of strategy work. The first two images are part of our work for North Lanarkshire Council on the Kelvin Valley Action Plan showing a landscape restructuring of the River Kelvin valley and Forth and Clyde Canal corridor.

The next six images are from our strategy work with yellow book for Motherwell, Ravenscraig and Wishaw showing how new development on the former steelworks site could start to integrate with the surrounding urban areas and benefit the existing centres.

Three key themes were identified for the area:

Diversification: To ensure that (i) wherever possible, economic, civic, community, leisure and cultural activities are focused on the three centres, and (ii) each achieves a diverse and sustainable mix of activities and land use.

Infrastructure: To establish a high quality integrated road, rail and bus network, connecting all the communities in the MRW area to each other, and to the national networks.

Design and quality: To set the benchmark in Scotland for (i) quality architecture and urban design, and for the creation of successful public places and open spaces, and (ii) cleansing, lighting, safety and customer care, and marketing and promotion in partnership with the public sector.

A Flash slideshow featuring public realm strategy work in Renfrew, Byres Road in Glasgow, Ashington in Northumberland and West Port, Dundee.

At Renfrew, we were asked to develop proposals for Hairst Street and High Street which would bring about significant change in the town centre environment. We worked up a shared surface proposal with Martin Stockley Associates which is shown on the slideshow.

The work on Byres Road was part of the Byres Road and Partick Centres study with Halcrow. We proposed a series of new urban spaces at the intersections of side streets with Byres Road.

In Ashington, we produced a range of proposals for sites and buildings in and around the town centre and some of these have been implemented.

The study of West Port, Dundee proposed structuring development framing new public spaces along a stretch of dual carraigeway constructed in the 1960s.

Our current work on a masterplan for Gretna has brought us into contact with the work of Raymond Unwin. Unwin set out a plan for the development of Gretna early in World War I as a new settlement to house the considerable number of workers in the munitions factory that had been developed nearby on the Solway Firth.

In Gretna today, only a few streets and buildings are attributed to Unwin and his partner C M Crickmer but these have a special character and quality that mark them out from the rest of the town. Some of the characteristics of these areas include broad tree-lined streets with narrow roadways and grass verges, generous gardens and brick housing – either terraced or four-in-a-block – with shallow plans and long frontages.

The area is laid out in a winding picturesque pattern of streets focusing on set-pieces including a church and a formal park. It is so obvious that these areas are the work of a skilled hand with a particular attitude to building towns – it is more than just architecture.

In his book Town Planning in Practice: An Introduction to the Art of Designing Cities and Suburbs (published in 1911 but reprinted by the Princeton Press in 1981), Unwin wrote:

“My experience has been that when the town planner himself becomes the site planner, and concentrated the whole of his thought on one portion of the site, arranging buildings and open spaces upon it, he can generally improve considerably in detail on the preliminary scheme sketched out in connection with his town plan.”

“In site planning a thorough study of the site and a survey of its levels, its trees, the prospects which it affords, and any features of interest it contains are as essential to success as in the case of town planning. It has been too common for site planners to work out there plans on paper only, and to save themselves trouble by clearing away trees and hedgerows, wherever these happen to come in the way of the plan. No system can be more foolish, for a new building estate, at best, looks raw and poor, the gardens empty or filled only with small struggling shrubs and plants; and nothing so helps the early appearance of a building site as the preservation of existing trees, and even sometimes of existing hedgerows. Where for example, a road can be made to run alongside a well-grown old hedgerow a beautiful decoration and a special characteristic is at once secured for that road, and a sense of privacy for the gardens, which it would take perhaps many years to secure by new growth.”

“In planning out a site, whether large or small, one of the first considerations should be to determine the centre point of the design. In any but very small sites there are likely to be required some buildings of a larger or more public character than the dwelling-houses – such, for example, as churches, chapels, public halls, institutes, libraries, baths, wash-houses, shops, inns or hotels, elementary and other schools; and it would probably be well, having decided which, if any, of these are likely to be required, to group them in some convenient situation, and of them to form a centre for the scheme.”

Some of the pages from this book are available on Google Books.

The few streets of Unwin’s work in Gretna amply demonstrate how he was able to turn principle into practice – as he was able to do conspicuously in Hampstead Garden Suburb above. They also sit very comfortable in the 21st century – they are safe and walkable, they keep traffic in check, they have generous private and public open spaces together with well placed centres and focal points.

Raymond Unwin has provided us with excellent examples of how to create new neighbourhoods and has given Gretna a worthy pattern for extension and new building.

Link to more information about Unwin on the Letchworth Garden City website.

Link to previous post about the Gretna Masterplan commission.

Link to Gretna photoset.

Technorati Tags: masterplan, Gretna, Raymond Unwin, C M Crickmer, new neighbourhoods

Gretna, Gretna Green and Springfield are affected by the decommissioning of Chapelcross nuclear power plant. The area is also affected by economic challenges common across the South of Scotland related to continuing population reduction and low levels of growth or decline in key industries. At the same time, Gretna contains a number of opportunities which can help address the impacts of nuclear decommissioning and economic change while also providing a platform for the sustainable development of the area.

We have been commissioned as part of team led by Roger Tym and Partners, including Drew Mackie Associates and Buchanan Laird to produce a masterplan for the area. The masterplan will be a critical tool for the client group – the aims of key stakeholders including the community, Dumfries & Galloway Council and Scottish Enterprise Dumfries & Galloway and the private sector will only be fully realised if the area develops a clear, cohesive sense of place. The masterplan will act as a framework to develop this.

Gretna Green and Springfield are older traditional Scottish settlements but it is particularly interesting that Gretna itself was one of the earliest UK planned settlements in the 20th century, being built to a plan devised by Raymond Unwin in 1915. It is also notable that Gordon Cullen produced a strategy for the town in the 1980s.

The masterplan needs to provide a structure for the future development of the area, highlighting the relationship of key projects to the objectives of the Steering Group and the community, accompanied by a clear and logical means of implementing the proposals. Our work will also include the development of a place strategy for the town, a landscape framework that recognises the setting of the town in its atmospheric estuarine landscape and development frameworks for critical sites that will ensure the retention of the positive character of much of the area.

There is a later post about Raymond Unwin and Gretna.

We have been commissioned by Antrim Borough Council to produce masterplans for the towns of Crumlin and Randalstown. The aim of the study is to identify an appropriate framework for an integrated approach to ensure the future sustainable development of both settlements. The strategies should provide separate robust and flexible blueprints for the two towns and address their relationship to Antrim town itself.

The Terms of Reference for the Crumlin and Randalstown Masterplans identifies a number of specific objectives. The plans have to bring forward realistic proposals that will help achieve a vision for the physical, structural and economic regeneration of both settlements in the context of local strengths, weakness, opportunities and threats. The plans should identify derelict, vacant and underused and inefficiently used land and buildings, assess their development potential and make recommendations for their future use or relocation.

In addition to this, the masterplans should assess the potential for riverside development (Randalstown: River Maine & Crumlin River) including Council owned amenity land and physical linkages between parts of the urban area. They should illustrate how the towns can be developed and set out the key actions required by the private and public sectors to achieve this. It is necessary to demonstrate how linkages between the core retail areas and adjacent residential areas can be improved including proposals for improved pedestrian and vehicular access with particular attention to appropriate provision for persons with disabilities.

We are working with Douglas Wheeler Associates and Doran Consulting on this study.

The objective of this study commissioned by Scottish Borders Council is to produce Supplementary Planning Guidance for 15 housing sites with the aims of improving the quality of decision making and enhancing the quality of development, providing confidence and certainty to developers and the community and ensuring a strong negotiating position when considering planning applications and assisting in their processing. The skills and experience required for this work included urban design, conservation and cultural heritage, landscape, ecology and environment, consultation and involvement together with a solid foundation in statutory planning and best practice. In response to this, we have assembled a team which includes Nick Wright Planning (consultation) and Hg Planning (statutory experience).

Our starting point for this study is that the quality of towns and villages in the Borders is an essential component of place competitiveness, vital to the area’s health and central to its ability to attract and retain businesses, residents and visitors.

Our work throughout the UK has given us a broad perspective on recent initiatives in new residential design and implementation through design briefing, design guidance and design coding. Each is different and each has seen varying degrees of success. Currently much of this work happens in England and is promoted by CABE and by the Prince’s Trust for the Built Environment. Architecture and Design Scotland may aspire to encourage similar work in Scotland.

We aspired to produce Supplementary Planning Guidance that would result in an enhanced image of the settlements containing the proposed housing sites as well as finding ways of adding new development to the beautiful landscapes of the Borders without damage or diminution of their essential qualities. The finalised document is shown below.

We have been appointed by Chelmsford Borough Council as part of a team led by Kevin Murray Associates to produce an upstream spatial composition as a framework for the development of a masterplan for the North Chelmsford Area Action Plan. The study will involve key stakeholder consultation to explore, test and build consensus around this framework.

The preferred development option for the area identified in the Council’s Core Strategy – from a range of options – comprises two new neighbourhoods to the north of Chelmsford, north-east of Springfield and west/north west of Broomfield. The intention is to provide 4,000-4,250 dwellings. The intention with this option is to concentrate development in association with the delivery of key transport infrastructure. This concept requires a high quality spatial design approach including open space, recreational, health and education provision, together with a range of house types and tenure.

Advice is sought in the preparation of a strategic spatial framework which would subsequently guide this growth through a detailed masterplan which articulates a vision for the plan area, sets clear objectives on delivery, proposes an engagement programme and prepares information for subsequent statutory consultation.

There is a need to appreciate the issues around the options selected. These will include landscape, drainage, transport, infrastructure, as well as political and emotional arguments around developmental change. There is also the matter of who to consult and how, during this upstream exercise. We anticipate embracing a selection of community representatives and stakeholders and the Council’s development partners in different strands.

We also have to be mindful of creating positive, robust and sustainable places. There is clearly a risk of either a residential dormitory suburb with limited services, or building one or more alternative centres, which may not support the town centre. The challenge will be to strike the right balance.

There is also the issue of the identity and image of any urban extensions, particularly with respect to the existing town. It is important to secure the best possible overall character and feel, and this may require strong guidelines or codes to control density and relationships. This is a matter for later masterplan detail and implementation, but needs to be considered early in the process.

Finally, we will address the fundamental dimension of delivery – whether through institutional or developer partnership mechanisms, or special funding routes. The danger is to create an aspirational plan that cannot be delivered. This means that the approach should be capable of support from developer partners and RSLs, as well as the local community.

We have been appointed by Scottish Enterprise Tayside to provide an Urban Design Study of the West Port area of Dundee’s Cultural Quarter. The area is regarded as a key part of the Cultural Quarter and proposals need to be inspirational and imaginative while acknowledging the principles of the Dundee City Council Urban Design Guide.

As part of the urban design strategy, we will devise a spatial concept that recognises the inherent nature and structure of the area and protects the townscape legacy whilst creating new opportunities for new and revitalised buildings and external spaces. It must help to define a hierarchy of streets and spaces that reflects the relative significance of individual places, based on existing and potential uses, physical scale, character, status of adjacent institutions and other material factors. This will in turn allow a clear rationale to be developed for improving certain spaces, adopting distinct design approaches and identifying priorities for investment. The outcomes from this would certainly include a more focused series of public spaces.

West Port is clearly an important transitional area between different functional zones of the city. It is currently an important node – but it lacks place related qualities. We propose an integrated approach to the design of the area which seeks to match the physical opportunities with the scope for economic and social renewal. It is essential that an all-embracing view is taken, including the need to restructure and reframe streets and spaces, accommodate new uses, assess the movement issues as an integral part of a complex and evolving environment, achieve an acceptable balance between the desires and needs of different user groups and reinforce and/or create a sense of place.

Together with lead consultant Kevin Murray Associates, yellow book, McLean Hazel, Drew Mackie Associates and Turner & Townsend, we have been appointed by East Dunbartonshire Council to produce a masterplan for the regeneration of Twechar.

The history of Twechar as a mining village, initiated by Baird and Company, lasted only around one hundred years from the 1860s to the 1960s – short in settlement terms. Like many comparator villages in Lanarkshire, Fife and Ayrshire, the legacy of the mining industry has been truncated, with no significant alternative sources of prosperity since the closure of the pits.

Twechar’s narrow physical composition of pit and council housing has reinforced a constrained social range with limited choices – exacerbated by the absence of good transport linkages. Fundamentally, Twechar is marginal and has not been big enough or powerful enough to sustain itself as a vibrant entity following its loss of economic rationale some forty years ago.

The proposed regeneration masterplan could provide the impetus to realise a unique opportunity for Twechar and play a pivotal role in shaping the future of the place by establishing a new shared vision of the future role of the village – economically, socially and environmentally – and balancing the interests of all stakeholders. The masterplan could develop an imaginative but functional place-making approach which addresses the future of council stock in conjunction with opportunities for new kinds of affordable housing. The process could also generate community confidence and involvement in the future of Twechar, including assisting the business case for investment in appropriate mechanisms of delivery.