Communities! A Mass Transit Taskforce! And… Has The Pub Finally Been Found?
Or, can the UDG get their latest design guidance into the right hands?
“We must stop measuring success solely by the number of homes delivered and start measuring it by the strength of the communities created.” – Hannah Smart
This quote kinda hits the nail on the head.
In the last newsletter, I asked yet again: where’s the pub?
I mean, it’s fine for Steve Reed to yell “build, baby, build!”… but what, exactly, are we building?
Currently we seem to be really good at building more car-dependent nowheresvilles devoid of community facilities and third spaces, BUT!
Good. News. Is. On. The. Horizon!
The Urban Design Group (UDG) have recently published their “Growing and Sustaining Communities in New Settlements” report, which compiles the findings from a one-day event geared to discover how thriving, happy communities can be created.
The report is only eight pages long – thank heck! – and the nine recommendations to ensure delivery of our happy, sociable new towns are:
1. Establish Community Governance Early: put in place community-focused governance structures from the outset
2. Secure Long-term Funding for Stewardship: implement sustainable financial models to support community infrastructure and activities
3. Social Infrastructure – from Day One: provide key gathering spaces and amenities at the earliest possible stage, even if through interim measures. [Finally! Here’s the pub!]
4. Participation and Co-creation: adopt a co-creating approach with future and current residents
5. Inclusivity and Equity: embed inclusivity in both design and process
6. Culture and Shared Identity: take steps to cultivate a shared sense of place and belonging
7. Healthy Movement and Green Infrastructure: build infrastructure that supports sustainable mobility and healthy lifestyles from the start [They must have been reading these newsletters 😜]
8. Joined-up Planning, Delivery and Stewardship: make long-term community wellbeing a formal part of development approval
9. Learning and Adaptation: development of the community is an iterative process, treat it that way
All good: But can we actually do this?
More guidance: But can we actually implement it?
Will this report just end up on the pile of “good ideas” slowly gathering dust on a forgotten bookshelf in a poorly lit corner of the MHCLG?
There may be some hope for recommendation seven given the creation of a “mass transit taskforce” that is set to “tackle barriers to delivery of mass transit systems across the UK”.
This includes tram, light rail and high-frequency bus networks, which I fully endorse.
We can only hope that this latest taskforce will ensure that delivering such infrastructure will be easier than white elephant projects like HS2 – a development that’s bankrupting the country and which, from what I can gather, will consist of little more than a fleet of handcars moving slowly back and forth between Old Oak Common and Curzon Street assuming the tracks ever get laid.
We are still ten years – TEN YEARS! – away from the first services running and there is no guarantee of that. But this is plenty of time to waste another few £billion.
However, I digress.
Whilst mass transit systems are great, it doesn’t mean much if people still have to drive to access them.
The UDG report asks for safe “… pedestrian paths, cycle lanes and accessible public transport routes early in the development, so residents adopt healthy travel habits.”
Yes please!
This is critical.
But, I can’t help feeling that we’ve been here before.
The research is done, the document written and launched and then… nothing.
The UDG want this report to inform local plan policies, which is great in principle, but how do they do that? And how do you get developers on board who just want to build houses rather than cohesive places?
It’s good that the UDG have done this research and it’s an important step.
But alongside the plethora of similar documents from Place Alliance and Transport for New Homes etc., can the UDG make it stick?
Watch this space.
I’m currently in the middle of a house move and I’m going to take a quick break after that so I’ll see you again on 8 July!
#udg #urbandesigngroup #masstransittaskforce
… and if you liked it…