Westminster University launches new course in street design and management
It is now becoming accepted that good street design is as important to the well-being of a town or city as beautiful architecture. First the Manual for Streets and now the Manual for Historic Streets make clear that streets are places for people as well as arteries for movement. The University of Westminster has devised a new course to help busy professionals to keep up with this changing world. The Postgraduate Certificate in Street Design and Management is targeted at graduates working across the spectrum of transport, planning, architecture, design and management.
Devised and taught by the urban design team at the University in combination with transport consultants working at the cutting edge of practice, the course offers hands-on practical exercises and sharp intellectual exchange.
Whilst it is easy to rattle off a list of desirable qualities of good streets and to name our favourite examples, making a difference in practice is another matter. The conflicting needs of vehicles and pedestrians have to be reconciled, cyclists accommodated, junctions designed, safety audited, budgets found, stakeholders consulted, street furniture chosen and maintenance planned.
There are fresh concepts to be taken on board too, shared surfaces, shared space, quality audits, regeneration through design. New skills are demanded across a range of professions from highway design engineers to landscape architects. Job titles are changing too, with streetscene managers and heads of public realm emerging as senior posts within public authorities.
There are three modules: About Streets; Street Design in Practice and Street Design Project. The course is offered on a part-time basis only. Recruitment is starting now for an October 2008 start. For further details please contact the University via its web-site at www.westminster.ac.uk.
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