Rachel Lambert - Consultant
How can London, a city
formed by successive waves of development – both scattered evolution and
chaotic transformations – and which does not fit any discernible pattern,
benefit from masterplanning? This was the question put forward by Temple,
along with Wei Yang + Partners, at an information
sharing event on future-proofing of London held at Royal Holloway University. This interactive event looked at
the role of local authorities in achieving spatial resilience to cope with
climate change and London’s exploding population.
Climate change resilience was
emphasised as a key driving principle to strategic masterplanning. Despite its
acknowledged prominence, there is much uncertainty around policy and
decision-making on environmental change at a global level and as a consequence,
local governments face difficult trade-offs with other priorities. Climatic challenges
are not constrained by administrative boundaries – this fact reinforces the
need for collaborative working across political and spatial scales, a
relationship dynamic that often hinders movement towards sustainability on a
regional scale.
A further difficulty is the
continued ambiguity of ‘sustainability’ as a concept and its implied
significance for all built environment professionals. Nevertheless, it was
apparent from our event that one of the three well known pillars of
sustainability seemed universally important: people. From a developer’s
perspective, EIA and climate change requirements are ultimately thought of as risks that have to be managed. Community
on the other hand has the power to influence the success of an entire scheme.
Community
Duncan Bower of Westfields discussing the community that make ups the shopping centre's surrounding area
It was generally agreed at the event that community engagement can have the power to significantly influence the outcome of a development, through mutual alliance between the developer and community or communities. To encourage effective communication, local authorities can use community profiling as a tool to counteract the lack of trust that is often apparent among local residents and businesses. Local authorities must not forget the hard to reach groups when engaging, as social isolation is still a common issue. These groups do not necessarily have a voice in the community and do not generally get involved in neighbourhood planning and consultation.
Initial discussions defined
community as an organic collection of people who have been geographically
defined, though there is much fluidity as people are part of multiple
communities: business, virtual, social or mobile etc. Additionally, communities
can also be artificially created, particularly in cities, due to key worker
status - locating similar professions and people into a certain area. Community
needs vary but generally are thought to include an element of the following: jobs and local
opportunities for all ages; social care for the elderly; neighbourly support; recycling
facilities; local food supplies; community facilitators/ entrepreneurs that could
help to bring about community change through the development of enabling
platforms; and affordable housing.
Planning has played an
active role in enabling greater community involvement, dispersing more power
towards neighbourhood planning. With the introduction of the Localism Act
(2011), certain areas in London are seeing a growth in the applications for
Neighbourhood Plans. Event attendees agreed that community participation has
noticeably increased.
Movement
Temple's Jenny Stafford presenting the notes from the 'movement' session at the event
Discussions around movement recognised London as a unique and inspiring case study for the development and incorporation of sustainable transport methods. The city has a plethora of policy and guidance, with the GLA covering the spatial elements and TfL considering the aspect of movement. On reflection this raises the question as to whether additional guidance is required outside of London.
It was suggested that certain transport characteristics in
London are generational – where older generations saw the car as freedom, many
young Londoners opt for public transport as this represents freedom from having
to maintain a costly vehicle. Although this may contribute, planning has
certainly played a significant role in restricting car parking provisions in
new developments. Improvements are certainly evident: the introduction of the
congestion zone has significantly reduced traffic in central London and the
increasing trend of cycling is apparent throughout the city. There is still a lot
to be done, however, to improve accessibility and ensure transport modes are
effectively connected and integrated for the user.
Ultimately, the design of urban spaces and places should couple
a focus on local community need with collaborative working across
administrative boundaries to respond to wider climate change and movement
challenges.
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