UDAL News
Urban Design Week 2001
This will be held from 17 to 23 September and regional groups are encouraged to organise events during that period in association with other professional groups. The title of the conference is expected to focus on future city forms and this is likely to be held in Birmingham.
Main Streets Working Group
A small working group is being set up to draw attention to the importance of main streets in urban areas and to develop interest in better practice. For further information please contact Robert Huxford at the ICE.
TV Programmes
It is hoped to progress a series of TV programmes on urban design which would be featured on subscription channels intended for professionals.
Urban Design Spring School
It has been suggested that UDAL should initiate a Spring School and this is being investigated with a view to a start in 2002.
UDAL Secretariat
This year the ICE are providing the support services for UDAL and the contact there is Robert Huxford.
Tel 020 7222 7722
Fax 020 7222 7500.
In 2002 it is proposed that a separate secretariat should be established so that the Institute or Member chairing UDAL would not be required to provide major admin resources as has been the case so far. Ways of achieving this are being investigated.
Placechecks
The Placecheck method has been developed by the Urban Design Alliance (UDAL), with the support of English Partnerships and the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions.
The initiative has been managed on behalf of UDAL by CIVIX and Urban Exchange (joint project managers, Dan Bone and Robert Cowan).
Placecheck is a method of investigating how a place can be changed for the better. A Placecheck assesses a place's qualities, and shows what improvements are needed. Finding that out is often just a matter of asking the right questions. That is what the Placecheck method does.
The ten Placecheck pilot projects generally showed the method working well as a means of kick-starting the urban design process in a local area. The strength of the method has been its simplicity, accessibility and comprehensiveness. Several of the pilot projects were keen to use it again, and their experience has persuaded others to use it.
In Lincoln, for example, it has been proposed that a Placecheck be carried out as the basis for every neighbourhoold renewal initiative. In the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, where there was no Placecheck pilot, the single regeneration budget partnership has recently specificed that consultants must carry out Placechecks as the basis for community participation, following some unsatisfactory experiences with other approaches to participation.
The research experience has produced a great deal of useful information about how the Placecheck method can be improved, and how support can be provided to make the most of its potential.
Further information:
Tel/fax 020 7620 1592
info@placecheck.com
www.placecheck.com
