The University of Dundee, Geddes Institute for Urban Research Architecture Design Scotland

The Academy of Urbanism

In collaboration with The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors

Planning Aid for Scotland Sniffer

You are invited to join us on the forthcoming Symposium.

Creating Sustainable Communities: Better Approaches to Master-Planning Practice

Date: 01/11/2013 Time: 13.00 – 17.00 Location: Dalhousie Lecture Theatre LT3, The University of Dundee

Austerity and ambitions for recovery challenge how we develop sustainable places. The active collaboration between state, market and community stakeholders is required for sustainable development to take root. Professor Stuart Gulliver and Steven Tolson have presented an economic and social case for creating better places. They argue for better state-market relationships focused on the supply of well-designed places which provide for meaningful economic and social development. As a University our focus is carry-out robust evaluation of current practice of spatial design and planning and to stimulate the critical assessment of new ideas and methods. Through these activities we can provide a research and learning framework promoting better place-making. The Geddes Institute for Urban Research has explored the practice of place-making through a

Symposium series1,2. A framework of principles covering engagement, design, planning and

development has emerged. A final Symposium, delivered in collaboration with RICS Scotland, the

Academy of Urbanism, Sniffer, Planning Aid for Scotland and Architecture and Design Scotland, will

explore the application of the principles to guide the design and management of the processes of

sustainable place-making.

The focus of the final Symposium will about how by collaboration we can overcome the challenges

of ‘Creating Better Places to Live’.

Three closely-related questions will be considered:

Given foreseeable macro-conditions what collective strategies are required for managing spatial change?

What would active collaboration look like?

What would a more effective master-planning process look like? We are delighted to host this event collaboratively with community and development sector partners. Professor Rob Duck, Dean of the School of Environment, The University of Dundee

1 http://www.ads.org.uk/urbanism/features/masterplanning-in-current-conditions 2 http://www.ads.org.uk/urbanism/features/practice-of-community-charrettes-in-the-uk

Briefing

‘Creating Sustainable Communities: Better Approaches to Master-planning Practice’

The Symposium will share learning and identify practical action areas for developing better master-planning practice.

Professor Stuart Gulliver and Steven Tolson in their prospectus ‘Creating Better Places to Live’ present a case for place-making as a core element providing for economic and social development. They contend that “There is today an overwhelming consensus about place-making in Scotland and this consensus rests upon two factors. First; there is an insufficient supply of places actually being created and delivered in Scotland and second; the quality of that supply varies, with few exceptions, from poor to indifferent. The central place-making problem then is one of short supply and the quality of that supply and we need to do something about both these phenomena as part of an overall strategy towards addressing poor economic performance”. Gulliver and Tolson call for active collaboration between state, market and community stakeholders in design, funding and development.

Professor Lawrence Barth of the Architectural Association questions the relevance of the end-state masterplan as a tool in the negotiated process of practical development. He contends that “We have tended to become distrustful of masterplans that claim too much for a final vision and understand too little the process of change, or that emphasize too much the formal beauty of a composition and too little the human synergies that may support our investment in a future…..…..the field of urbanism needs to invest greater effort into the masterplan and the design learning that they contain, rather than less, for these are challenging tasks.” 3

In short, delivering sustainable places requires better approaches to the processes of planning, design and development. A re-framing of the process of master-planning is required. Three closely-related questions will be considered:

Given foreseeable macro-conditions what collective strategies are required for managing spatial change?

What would active collaboration look like?

What would more effective master-planning processes look like?

Programme

12:00-13:00 Light Lunch Dalhousie ground floor

13.00-13.15 The Dean’s Welcome The Symposium Programme

Professor Rob Duck, University of Dundee Husam Al Waer, Diarmaid Lawlor & Kevin Murray

Dalhousie (LT3)

13.15-13.30 An integrated Masterplanning process: the 6 (C) principles Husam Al Waer

13.30-13.55 Opening Provocation: Public and Private Interests in Masterplanning

Prof. Stuart Gulliver

13.55-14.20 Replacing Architectural Determinism: practitioner response Prof. Lawrence Barth

14.20-14.45 How to harness communities own ambitions and vision: community response

Petra Biberbach

14.45- 15.00 Questions and Concluding Remark Kevin Murray

15:00- 15:15 Coffee

3 http://www.cu2030.nl/images/2013-04/learning-cities-platform.pdf

15.15– 16.05 Question 1 / Question 2 / Question 3 Facilitated discussion (Kevin Murray)

Dalhousie (2F11)

16.05 – 16.20 Rapporteurs feed-back

16.20 – 16.45 Client Response Steven Tolson, Head of RICS Scotland Regeneration Forum

16.45 – 15.00 The Shape of Better Master-Planning Practice – Concluding Remark

Architecture Design Scotland and Academy of Urbanism

17.00 Close

Drinks reception Dalhousie ground floor