Some recollections of a participatory planning event
To celebrate its 10th anniversary in 2005 John Thompson & Partners (JTP) have been running ‘a series of 10 events designed to explore a range of issues currently affecting development’. November’s offering, the ninth, was a ‘Hands on Planning’ seminar + participatory event based in Clerkenwell, the home of JTP’s London office. This was designed to share with planning and regeneration professionals JTP’s long experience of and expertise in running community planning events, and to offer them an opportunity to observe and/or participate in a ‘live’ JTP-run local event.
The seminar was introduced by David Chisholm, JTP’s Managing Director , and included short presentations from other practice members to explain its philosophy and approach to community planning. Eric Holding, Director of Communication, spoke about the nature of community planning and noted that although 15 years ago those promoting the process were seen as ‘weirdos’, it is now recognised as relevant and important and is enshrined in government policy. However the exceptionally complex nature of development leads to many potential pitfalls, not the least of which is residents’ being alienated from their everyday environment and thus having no identity, ownership or stewardship therein, leading to social breakdown. The results of this were seen in some events of the early 1980s, including those at Lea View House in Hackney which saw 300 burglaries in one year alone. JTP’s experience of residents’ meaningful contributions in a community planning workshop embraces key elements regarding residents knowing exactly what is going on and that they are being listened to, including
- getting things off their chest
- hearing themselves being listened to
- recognising other points of view
- synthesising views to make joint issues rather than individual hang-ups
- asking them what their dreams are for their place
- reaching the disadvantaged
- directing professionals
- looking at solutions not problems
- getting direct quotes (from the horse’s mouth)
- providing a learning journey
- discovering strange bedfellows – unlikely alliances sometimes emerge from these events
- the power of the post-it!
The last refers to all participants being asked to write down on a single post-it one problem regarding their place, which is then read out and discussed by all before being sorted into key themes (such as transport, green issues) and stuck on a board under that heading. This gives each participant a voice in the proceedings, and they can complete as many post-its as they like. The same procedure is followed for ‘dreams’ and ‘solutions’. Having extensively aired what worries people, what their dream (ideal) would be and what can be done (and who should do it), the exciting stage follows where groups are formed with a professional to draw up some creative strategies.
Charles Campion, Director of Community Planning , spoke in more detail about JTP’s approach to running community planning events. After identifying the stakeholders involved he described 3 approaches to the design process:
- open community planning process
- charrette (closed) process (see definition)
- combined approach, using both the above processes
The new town centre of Balgaddy near Dublin, a deprived area with suburban sprawl for which JTP’s team organised a 5 day process involving local politicians, officials and business, was referred to as an example of good practice. Events should be extensively advertised, using a clear flyer with a programme attached. The workshop is an opportunity to move from negative to creative and positive thinking, and direct quotations are important in illustrating points. It also offers interesting press opportunities and can engage young people. Understanding the background to any proposed development is very important in order to deal with the issues which arise. The Hands on Planning exercise, which is an exciting process, needs managing carefully.
The benefits of such an event would hopefully include adding value to a new development, helping mend fractured communities, connecting communities and attracting people into the area. Most people attending such an event are not used to urban design principles, and the professionals working with them interpret what they want through representative drawings, and by asking careful questions. Following community planning events it is important to involve the community in the process on a continuing basis, say monthly meetings, along with encouraging stakeholders to get involved.
Clare San Martin, Regeneration Director , described a difficult project in Lancashire involving 3 former industrial towns which are now suffering from unemployment, low wages, and the associated deprivation of poor housing. Under the ODPM’s (Communities and Local Government) Pathfinder initiative the demolition of large numbers of terraced housing was proposed to address an oversupply. Following the involvement of local people this strategy was reconsidered and the focus shifted to building on the heritage assets and improving the town centre and waterfront. JTP got the community involved and arranged a walk around by local people who said what they liked and valued, and took notes. Key heritage views were identified and the heritage value of different terraces were analysed in relation to the townscape as a whole. Ideas for modernising this housing to meet current aspirations were developed with the community as an alternative to demolition which included moving living rooms upstairs to get the views, loft conversions to add more space, and knocking 2 into one for larger families. Another idea was to thin out the terraces by selective demolitions and create usable community gardens and open spaces at the rear or parking at the front. The event, which was an intense participatory design process, was used to create rapidly and efficiently lots of ideas to be incorporated into the Area Development Framework.
Joanna Allen, Associate , talked about a week long charrette in Kartal, a suburb of Istanbul which JTP had run with an international group and the masterplan for a new settlement outside Moscow which JTP are developing with an international team. The practice has been involved in planning and design projects in several countries, ranging from sheltered housing to whole new settlements, and before this seminar had held a morning meeting with collaborators from France, Germany, Holland and Russia, whose contributions enriched the seminar. Andreas von Zadow from Berlin talked about the morning session which had reviewed the JTP’s methodology and the processes involved in working with local teams in other languages and cultures.
In the general discussion which followed, several points were made:
- The charrette can also work within the community planning process, and JTP are now moving towards running a mini-charrette to start with which will lead the workshop process
- JTP also uses classical examples in designs or masterplans, although they do not promote a particular style as such. Using precedents from elsewhere encourages people to comment.
- In the last year the backlash against big ideas, iconic buildings (the Bilbao effect) has led to a reaching out for a grassroots bottom up view of what communities want, which will probably not deliver a single visionary building. A way which accommodates both is needed.
- Raising aspirations needs to be balanced with a reality check; JTP aim to manage the process to create without taking participants out of reality.
- This process puts a great deal of responsibility on ‘lay’ people.
- Where JTP have run events and have not been satisfied that they have reached enough people to be adequately representative, they have gone back and found more to draw in. In Caterham Village, 32 residents have participated in creating ‘Voices from the Village ’, a book to be published in 2006, which should be a ‘warts and all’ view of how things worked there.
The evening’s ‘live’ event, well led and managed by Charles Campion, took place in the community centre in the Northampton Square area of Clerkenwell, where local people had been invited to come along and discuss the Square and its surroundings including 2 large housing estates and a university. This neighbourhood forms part of the EC1 New Deal for Communities area, and their representatives attended the event. Attendance by local residents was high in quality if not in numbers, and was augmented by seminar participants, some of whom had walked around the area earlier to get an introduction to it.
Starting with the post-it session which asked to hear about problems, dreams and solutions, several problems were raised which included:
- Cars / traffic
- Lack of parking
- Grey uninspired buildings
- Difficulty of finding one’s way around
- Clutter
- Lack of investment
- Noise – from students and construction at the university
- Crime: muggings and even a recent murder.
- Fear of crime which stops people going out in the evenings
- Drugs: needles in playgrounds, on apartment block staircases
- Lack of interest in local affairs, low level of participation
- Tired green spaces: lack of pleasant open space, due to vandalism, lack of maintenance, dog mess; this was contrasted with a different part of the borough where the same Council had a different attitude to maintenance because here was a lot of investment. No nice green place to go.
- Years (40) of bad planning and destruction of old streets
- Rubbish – huge unsightly bins on estates are the first impression of the place; recycling bins get full and messy
- Buses are too full in rush hour and can’t take buggies
- No places for youths or children; some young people are badly behaved and frighten other residents
- Tower block estates are deserted during the day
- Luxury flats being built mean that local shops are disappearing and young people are unable to buy or rent in the area; lack of everyday and corner shops
- Leaseholder v. tenants on estates
The power of the post-it: contributions from participants(Picture by Catherine Tranmer)
People’s dreams included:
- Go back to 1950s values when police and old people were respected and criminals were punished
- Good landscaping and nice places to go
- Community facilities with good open spaces nearby
- Good retail facilities
- Good schools which are free of charge and open to the whole community
- Being able to walk safely at night
- Restoration of historic squares for use by the community to restore also a sense of history
- Good lighting – currently trees interfere with street lighting
And solutions proposed, including who should do it:
- Working with EC1 New Deal, which has £58m over 10 years to fund improvement projects in the area. Next year it will be concentrating on Northampton Square
- Get the Council to put brighter lighting on roads
- Dedicated park keeper (Council)
- CCTV in the Park Maintain landscape gardens
- Put back the regular fruit and vegetable market
- Use (and close off) the Square for events: outdoor movies, jazz, hip hop, plays.
- The University to make more effort to get involved in local/community affairs and take an active part in managing the Square
- Develop a strategy for 100 years’ planting & maintenance (Council)
- English Heritage to inform about and restore historic buildings
- Run a ‘Get to know your neighbour’ campaign (residents)
- Organise a walkabout and audit of clutter and decide what to get rid of (residents)
- Invite a group of local residents to visit similar places in Holland and France to get some inspiration (JTP to organise?)
After over an hour of working in 4 ‘hands on planning’ groups with design professionals, four sets of ideas emerged which developed much of what had been mooted during the workshop session. The first group, in summary, concentrated on promoting the area’s sport and leisure, creating a ‘civic’ heart for the area, and developing more formal gardens. The second group concentrated on improving play spaces for children and young people.
Young resident helps present Group 2's ideas (Picture by Catherine Tranmer)
The third wanted to reclaim Northampton Square with its bandstand for events, provide a basketball pitch, improve lighting and possibly redevelop (very controversial this one) the few garages on the Brunswick Estate into something more useful to the whole community. The fourth group looked beyond the area to draw visitors in, especially tourists. It also felt that the front of the Brunswick estate is a barrier, with no formal entrance, since the only access is through a collection of parked cars. They wanted to make a formal route with trees, calm the traffic, perhaps build ‘mews’ flats or studios above the garages which would overlook the public space. If the single storey blocks linking the tall blocks were demolished, this would open up the site and the gardens created could be used by the community. Adding a few short blocks to enclose streets would recreate a more traditional street pattern.
Group 4 in the Hands on Planning exercise(Picture by Catherine Tranmer)
In summing up the event, Charles emphasised that there was enormous potential in the area, of which Northampton Square is the natural centre. It is important that the community has a creative input into its future at the appropriate time.
As an exercise the event went well, and was interesting and enjoyable. It was unfortunate that comparatively few local residents attended, and that a large number were not represented, including the university. The information collected for the event was useful and informative and contributions from schoolchildren had been elicited beforehand.
Area information collected and presentedfor the event (Picture by Catherine Tranmer)
Information collected from primary school children for the event(Picture by Catherine Tranmer)
All this was well displayed and was helpful to those from outside the area. What emerged from the workshop and Hands on Planning event was useful information which will be taken up and used by the EC1 New Deal team in their selection of live projects in the area.
Catherine Tranmer
November 2005
Publicity material for the event: a clear flyer with programme
