CITY | TOWN | NEIGHBOURHOOD | STREET | PLACE Poetry by Ian McMillan
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MANIFESTO The Academy of Urbanism brings together a group of thinkers and practitioners involved in the social, cultural, economic, political and physical development of our villages, towns and cities. The Academy was formed in February 2006 to extend urban discourse beyond built environment professionals and to create an autonomous, politically independent and self-funded learned voice. We aim to advance the understanding and practice of urbanism by promoting a culture of scholarship through evidence-based inquiry, providing an inclusive forum for dialogue across all disciplines, sharing knowledge with the community and our peers and nurturing, recognising and rewarding excellence in achievement. Principles Urban settlements must perform at their fullest potential to advance the quality of human habitation and ensure the survival and recovery of the natural environment, at both a global and local scale. The practice of good urbanism can establish a high quality of living, nurture a healthy and creative way of life, support economic, social, political and cultural activity and deliver robust, distinctive and attractive physical environments.
1. Successful urbanism is the result of a collective vision, realised through creative and enduring relationships between the community, government, developers and professionals involved in its design, delivery, governance and maintenance. 2. The culture or cultures of the people and the ecology of the place must be expressed at a human scale and through both physical and social structures. 3. The identity, diversity and full potential of the community must be supported spiritually, physically and visually to sustain a sense of collective ownership, belonging and civic pride. 4. Vibrant streets and spaces, defined by their surrounding buildings and with their own distinct character, should form a coherent interconnected network of places that support social interaction and display a hierarchy of private, commercial and civil functions. 5. There must be a permeable street network with pedestrian priority that gives maximum freedom of movement and a good choice of means of transport.
6. Essential activities must be within walking distance and there should be a concentration of activity around meeting places. 7. Places must provide a diversity of functions, tenure, facilities and services; have a mix of building designs and types; and include a variety of appropriately scaled districts and neighbourhoods. 8. The social, cultural and economic needs of all inhabitants must be capable of being met without detriment to the quality of the lives of others. 9. Security should be achieved by organising the urban environment in ways that encourage people to act in a civil and responsible manner. 10. The pedestrian environment should be closely associated with active frontages at street level and there should be an appropriate intensity of use in all areas at all times. 11. The design of spaces and buildings should be influenced by their context and seek to enhance local character and heritage whilst simultaneously responding to current-day needs, changes in society and cultural diversity. 12. The public realm and civil institutions must be supported and protected by sound and inclusive
processes that respond to the local community and changing economic and social conditions. 13. Decision-making for the ongoing development and management of the urban fabric must engage stakeholders and the local community through public participation. 14. Diverse, accessible, affordable and active villages, towns and cities will encourage successful commercial activity, promote prosperity and support the well being of their inhabitants. 15. New and existing places must respect, enhance and respond to their local topography, geology and climate and connect to the natural environment within and around them. 16. Urban parks and other landscaped areas should provide space for recreation, encourage biodiversity and help support a balanced environment. 17. New urban forms should be capable of adaptation over time to meet changing needs and to promote the continued use of existing resources, including the built environment. 18. The built environment must seek to minimise the use of carbon-based products, energy and non-renewable resources.
In this, the fifth year in the life of the Academy, we bring you a further sequence of great places at the level of the City, Town, Neighbourhood, Street and Place. Through The Urbanism Awards we have learned that one of our most important legacies for future generations is the patterns that we leave on the ground. Through their three dimensional shape and form, these patterns have the innate ability to either nurture or destroy the daily and long term life of the individual, the community and the planet. We have simultaneously observed that it is the historical, fine grain patterns that were designed and delivered through place-specific combinations of social, cultural and economic entrepreneurship that have shown the greatest ability to re-invent themselves over time and give birth to selfgenerated Renaissance. On the other hand, places that have been designed by the dead hand of professional planning have consistently demonstrated an unhappy knack of being first up for demolition whenever there is a paradigm shift in needs and aspirations.
We believe that the physical, social and economic integration of fine grain, self commissioned, mixed use development has been the missing spice within urban recipes for far too long. We enjoy it whenever we experience it, yet for over a century we have failed to sprinkle it in sufficient quantities over the places that we have collectively created. If we are to rediscover the culinary art of great placemaking we must continue to learn from the best practice exemplars that already exist, both new and old, and simultaneously re-tune the political, fiscal and statutory balance in favour of the creation of micro enterprise zones for entrepreneurs (MEZE’s) at the heart of every new community - an important first step in the delivery of Localism. Through our Core Programmes of Learning from Place, UniverCities and City X-Rays we are gaining deeper insights into the critical relationships between Space, Place and Life. If you would like to join us in our quest to re-unite these essential ingredients of great placemaking within sustainable patterns of urbanism, fit for the 21st Century, you are very welcome to come on board.
John Thompson, Chairman The Academy of Urbanism
The URBANISM AWARDS 2011
a figure ground
a memorable image
and a poem
BUDAPEST GLASGOW HELSINKI
City by the Danube, city of the mind City that resists the easy flowing rhyme; City of light and motion redefined. City built on people’s need to make a home Where earth and air and water intertwine: A city built on commerce and crossings of ideas And a city where, from bridges one to nine History feels essential as the hazy morning clears, And the Budapest sun begins to shine. But history’s just a bridge to the present, and the sense That Budapest is easing forward to a time As exciting and shape-shifting and delightful and intense As anything this city has experienced before: The future feels like Budapest, so open up the door!
BUDAPEST
GLASGOW My Dad was a Scot; to him Glasgow was Utopia, And Heaven and Nirvana, and all points in between And he’d be proud to find the city’s still a cornucopia Of water, stone, laughter, and endless, endless green. Let’s give this place a name: A Seat of Reinvention, A City with a Mission, A Gallery on the Clyde, A City where the promise matches the intention: The promise is renewal, the intention’s local pride And Glasgow as a city goes far beyond these shores; It’s so large and so ambitious you can see Glasgow from space As it mixes art and commerce and it opens up the doors To business and to culture with a grin upon its face. My dad was right. This place is special. So raise a glass and let’s go And shout a toast at the top of our voices: I give you Glasgow!
An elemental city, this: Fire and air, Earth and water. Fire of a sunset Over the rooftops, layer on layer Of red on redder. Perfect subject For a poem like this, a celebration Of an elemental city: Water shining In a necklace of islands, an incantation In a sea-based language, a watery lining On the sleeve of a city’s fashionable coat, City built on ancient earth, Helsinki soil; And the air of excitement grabs at your throat And simmers and bubbles and comes to the boil In a city that’s certainly most elementary: Fiery and Watery, Airy and Earthy...Helsinki!
HELSINKI
HEBDEN BRIDGE STROUD WESTPORT
Town with a tissue that’s quite unique; Town where history’s strata show Alternative visions cheek to cheek, Different plants allowed to grow. In a world where towns are pallid clones Hebden Bridge stands out a mile, As the sun lights up West Yorkshire stones And the sky is as bright as a smile; You walk through the streets and the voices rise Like steam from a coffee emporium And very quickly you realise This whole town’s an auditorium! Hebden Bridge is theatre, so let’s all clap The wizard’s cloak behind the new flat cap!
HEBDEN BRIDGE ENGLAND
STROUD
Say it with a kind of dashing loudness: There’s something here we all call Stroudness! Built round a mix of cloth and wool When the hills turned noisy and industrial This town thrives on reinvention, Changing direction and intention; Creativity’s the key round here, Because there’s strength in a pint of local beer And joy in the sort of local store When they know who you are when you walk through the door; Yes, Stroud’s a town with an aura about it You can’t define it but you just can’t doubt it So stand and say with Stroudish proudness There’s something here we all call Stroudness.
ENGLAND
And never, unless you’re being rude Refer to the town as flipping Strood.
WESTPORT About Westport there are so many things to say-o: It’s a town by the water in gorgeous County Mayo And if you come to Westport we know you’ll want to stay-o For more than an hour or two and longer than a day-o! Settled in the mountains it’s been Ireland’s tidiest town Its bars are lively and its architecture is profound: Georgian with echoes of how Normans marked the ground Feel history running through you as you wander slowly round. I want this poem to feel as welcoming as Westport; To make you smile; give you moments of acutely deep thought This town ensnares you: any stay here has to be far too short Westport hurls its net and you can’t struggle ‘cos you’re caught! My rhymes might be clumsy but my feeling’s not: Westport’s the most amazing town County Mayo’s got!
IRELAND
CATHEDRAL QUARTER POLLOKSHIELDS NORTHERN QUARTER
CATHEDRAL QUARTER There’s a renaissance here: come and catch it! There’s a groundswell powered by art, Hear it, taste it, touch it, watch it: A transformation in a city’s heart. Of course you need money to make change last And commerce helps to turn things round But art makes sense of the glorious past
BELFAST
So the future’s on solid creative ground. Galleries and bars and espresso to savour; A fiddle tune and an abstract construction This Quarter’s a feeling, a notion, a flavour, A place of delight and of subtle instruction So come and write a sonnet or raise a glass of porter In the artistic hub: the Cathedral Quarter!
NORTHERN QUARTER MANCHESTER
The ignorant say all of Manchester’s ‘northern’; Not a quarter, not a half, but the whole Manc cake. You should treat that kind of thing with Northern caution ‘Cos there’s a Northern Quarter here, make no mistake! Its throbbing heart is beating on Oldham Street And it dances round Tib Street and Shudehill It’s a real work-in-progress and it’s not complete And its creative heart is never, ever still; If you want a definition of the cutting edge Come to the Northern Quarter and feast your eyes On a gaggle of streets that fulfils its pledge To ‘exist on work and play and surprise!’ If you want urban living that’s delightfully vital Come to the quarter with Northern in the title!
POLLOKSHIELDS If you want a neighbourhood with a neighbourhood feel And a feel for the world and the future Get down to the neighbourhood of Pollokshields It’s a place where the people teach you That regeneration begins in the heart And spreads right through society That the street where you live is the place to start And the streets buzz with variety That steps right up when you step off the bus And shouts ‘This is Pollokshields, I’m proud to say!’ And regeneration begins with us From the Glasgow dawn to the end of the day. Bottle what they’ve got and take a sample If you want a neighbourhood here’s a great example!
GLASGOW
EXMOUTH MARKET ST. PATRICK’S STREET UNION STREET
EXMOUTH MARKET Exmouth market, take note of the word, Take note of the mouth in the market’s name: Exmouth Market’s at its best when heard, When the complex rules of a market’s game Are shouted or sung in the market’s voice, An aria of stalls, fine restaurants and bars A song of plenty and a ballad of choice
LONDON A chorus of shopfronts shine like stars. It could have been Exeye Market, I guess Because this really is a sight to behold Where commerce and streetlife coalesce As the city’s lights turn the evening gold. To be alive in Exmouth Market is Experiencing the closest you’ll get to bliss!
ST. PATRICK’S STREET CORK
Walk down here in any kind of weather And you’ll feel the pulse of Cork beneath your feet; Throbbing through your soles and your soul and whatever Clothes you’re wearing, to the beat of St. Patrick’s Street. More than a row of shops, more than a place to spend, It’s like an ancient route that ancient people strode Or a meeting place to turn a stranger to a friend Or one of those thoroughfares that’s more lifestyle than road, One of those streets that never ever seems to end Because the shops keep coming, and the laughter, and the talk In a mixture that you have to call the St. Patrick’s Street blend So come and feel that pulse, come and take that walk On the street that defines just how life should be Come and dance down St. Patrick’s Street with me!
A city needs a striking thoroughfare That’s an artery and a river of stone That leads you in and holds you there; It’s the city’s sinew, the city’s bone; Aberdeen has the street called Union Street Built as a gateway to reflect the pride Of a city, and make the city complete With a street as deep as it is wide; To wander down this street is to wander through A theatre of shopping, a ballet of buying A street that fits Aberdeen like a shoe A street that’s moving and singing and flying! I know you can’t fly without wings, dance without feet, But anything can happen on Union Street!
UNION STREET ABERDEEN
PRINCESSHAY ST. ANDREW SQUARE TOBERMORY HARBOUR
PRINCESSHAY Next time you’re down the South West way Get yourselves to Princesshay! A place to work and rest and play And dress yourself in fine array To twirl, Parade, pose and sashay ‘Cos no day’s Early Closing Day* And once you’re there you’ll want to stay
You’ll never need to go away With no desire to go astray So let’s present a fine bouquet Let’s whoop and yell and shout ole! Or if we’re staid, Hip Hip Hooray As everybody stands to say: Three cheers for the mighty Princesshay! *except of course on Christmas Day
EXETER
This place is a festival all on its own; And a fringe, and a late-night cabaret. A geometrical statement in light and stone: Changing exhibition, permanent display. This place is a picture on a crisp new note; The sound of money and the noise of living, It’s lovers walking in winter coats Or Summer evenings spent believing That the world is better for St. Andrew Square The world is brighter for a place like this With a kind of indefinable Edinburgh flair Stronger than a handshake, lovely as a kiss. And if all this poetry makes you sick Then go and have a coffee at Harvey Nick’s!
ST. ANDREW SQUARE EDINBURGH
TOBERMORY HARBOUR ISLE OF MULL This poem is in praise of sunlight on water, Ferry timetables, and showers for all; Buildings much more than mere bricks and mortar, Weather that plunges from sunshine to squall. This poem is in praise of a gem of a harbour, A link to the mainland, the future, the past, To leisure and sitting and back-breaking labour To skies that seem endless and seas that are vast. This poem is in praise of a place that’s essential To Mull, to prosperity, to a region, a nation And a realisation of endless potential: This poem is a sonnet of sheer celebration! The harbour’s a song and a play and story A painting, a sculpture: pure Tobermory...
SPONSORS
ACADEMICIANS
Sponsors Allanvale Land Architecture + Design Scotland Barton Willmore Dublin City Council Evans Property Group Glasgow Housing Association Highland The Howard de Walden Estate Land Securities The Muir Group The Peel Group Ptarmigan Land Savills The Trevor Osborne Property Group WYG Planning and Design
Directors John Thompson (Chairman), Pam Alexander, Chris Brett, Prof Brian Evans, George Ferguson CBE, Dick Gleeson, Prof Kevin Murray, Trevor Osborne, John Worthington. Academicians Robert Adam, Marcus Adams, Lynda Addison OBE, Linda Aitken, Prof Chris Alexander, Sandy Allcock, Ben Allgood, Ian Angus, Debbie Aplin, Judith Armitt, Stephen Ashworth, John Atkin, Jasvir Atwal, Jeff Austin, Prof Chris Balch, David Balcombe, Sue Ball, Jonathan Barker,Yolande Barnes, Alistair Barr, Prof Lawrence Barth, Jemma Basham, Trevor Beattie, Ian Beaumont, Matthew Bedward, Steven Bee, Andrew Beharrall, John Bell, Michael Bennett, Robert Bennett, Janet Benton, Duncan Berntsen, John Best, John Betty, Joost Beunderman, Richard Bickers, David Bishop, David FL Bishop, Noemi Blager, Sergey Bobkov, Alan Boldon, Ben Bolgar, Duncan Bowie, Andrew Bramidge, Guy Briggs, Ross Brodie, Jonathan Brown, Patricia Brown, Mark Burgess, Andrew Burrell, Jonathan Burroughs, Prof Georgia Butina Watson, Peter Butler, Stephen Byfield, Robert Camlin, Fiona Campbell, Kelvin Campbell, Steve Canadine,Tony Carey, Emma Cariaga, James Carr, Sam Cassels,Manish Chande, Visakha Sri Chandrasekera, Sarah Chaplin, Prof James Chapman, Richard Charge, Prof David Chiddick, Nick Childs, Harry Christophides, Prof Greg Clark, Tom Clarke, Adrian Cole, Robert Coles, Garry Colligan, Paul Collins, Martin Colreavy, Peter Connolly, Karen Cooksley, Nick Corbett, Rob Cowan, David Cowans, Toby Crayden, Linda Curr, Liam Curtin, Ned Cussen, Jennie Daly, Debbie Dance, Phil Darcy, Philip Davies, Prof Trevor Davies, Michael Davis, Paul Davis, Simon Davis, Mark Davy, Eric Dawson, Guy Denton, Neil de Prez, Ben Derbyshire, Andrew Dick, Hank Dittmar, Andrew Dixon, Sir Jeremy Dixon, Nick Dodd, Mike Donnelly, Lord John Doune, Martin Downie, Roger Dowty, Peter Drummond, Duncan Ecob, Luke Engleback, Karen Escott, Prof Graeme Evans, Nick Ewbank, Richard Fagg, Dr Nicholas Falk, Alan Farningham, Sir Terry Farrell, Jaimie Ferguson, Darryl Flay, John Foddy, Sue Foster, Bernie Foulkes, Jane Fowles, Simon Foxell, Alan Francis, Jerome Frost, William Fulford, Jeremy Gardiner, John Geeson, Lia Ghilardi, Andy Gibbins, Prof Mike Gibson, Bruce Gilbreth, Ian Gilzean, Herbert Girardet, Christopher Glaister, Francis Glare, Stephen Gleave, Keith Gowenlock, Charles Graham, Gerry Grams, Colin Grant, Gary Grant, Mark Greaves,
Supporters in kind Alan Baxter & Associates BDP Charles Russell Solicitors Ecobuild Gillespies John Thompson & Partners PPS Group Prentis & Co Space Syntax Terry Farrell & Partners Tibbalds Planning and Urban Design URBED
Stephen Greenberg, Ali Grehan, Simon Guest, Richard Guise, Patrick Gulliver, Prof Stuart Gulliver, Paul Guzzardo, Trutz Haase, Susan Hallsworth, Pete Halsall, Tim Hancock, Malcolm Hankey, Annette Hards, Dr Matthew Hardy, Geoff Haslam, Helen Hayes, Nicholas Hayward, Prof Richard Hayward, Peter Heath, Prof Michael Hebbert, Michael Hegarty, David Height, Wayne Hemingway, David Hennings, Peter Hibbert, Jason Hill, Stephen Hill, Marie Hodgson, Tom Holbrook, Tim Holden, Eric Holding, Guy Hollaway, Sam Howes, Stephen Howlett, Jun Huang, David Hughes, John Hyland, Delton Jackson, Philip Jackson, Sarah Jarvis, Sir Simon Jenkins, Philip Jones, Stephen Jordan, Prashant Kapoor, Dr Kayvan Karimi, Andy Karski, Jonathan Kendall, Angus Kennedy, David Kennedy, John Kennedy, Sir Bob Kerslake, Ros Kerslake, Hugo Kirby, Gary Kirk, Jim Kirkwood, Liezel Kruger, Chris Lamb, Cllr Andrew Lamont, Charles Landry, Derek Latham, Diarmaid Lawlor, Adrian Lee, Sir Richard Leese, Mick Leggett, John Letherland, David Levitt, Harry Lewis, Michael Lewis, Martin Lippitt, Michael Liverman, David Lock, John Lord, Vivien Lovell, Fergus Low, Michael Lowndes, David Lumb, Barra Mac Ruairi, Tom Macartney, Pol MacDonald, Robin Machell, Roger Madelin, Riccardo Marini, Andreas Markides, Alona Martinez-Perez, James McAdam, Steve McAdam, Richard McCarthy, Donald McCreadie, Frank McDonald, Prof Michael McGarry, Kevin McGeough, Marie-Thérèse McGivern, Patrick McGrogan, Nigel McGurk, Martin McKay, Craig McLaren, Alan Mee, Alastair Mellon, Ian Mellor, Prof Roger Milburn, David Miles, Stephan Miles-Brown, Willie Miller, Shane Mitchell, Prof Ruth Morrow, Elizabeth Motley, John Muir, Ronnie Muir, Eugene Mullan, John Mullin, Barry Munday, Andy Munro, Chris Murray, Dr Claudia Murray, Prof Gordon Murray, Hugh Murray, Peter Murray, Vivek Nanda, Peter Nears, Marko Neskovic, Trevor Nicholson, Lora Nicolaou, John Nordon, William Nowlan, Dr Dellé Odeleye, Simon Ogden, Killian O’Higgins, Adeola Oke, Sean O’Laoire, Chris Oldershaw, Tiago Oliveira, John O’Regan, Paul Ostergaard, Clara Overes, Dr Susan Parham, Chris Parkin, John Parmiter, Prof Richard Parnaby, Richard Pearce, Adam Peavoy, Prof Alan Penn, Alison Peters, Andrew Petrie, Hugh Petter, Jon Phipps, James Pike, Ben Plowden, Demetri Porphyrios, Jonathon Porritt, Dr Sergio Porta, Prof David Porter, David Powell,
Robert Powell, Sunand Prasad, John Prevc, David Prichard, Paul Prichard, Rhona Pringle, Douglas Pritchard, Mark Raisbeck, Peter Ralph, Clive Rand, Mike Rawlinson, Tony Reddy, Richard Rees, Richard Reid, Amanda Reynolds, Ingrid Reynolds, Christopher Rhodes, Anthony Rifkin, Prof Marion Roberts, Prof Peter Roberts OBE, Dickon Robinson, Stuart Robinson, Bryan Roe, Lord Richard Rogers, Angela Rolfe, Pedro Roos, Anna Rose, Graham Ross, Sarah Royle-Johnson, David Rudlin, Robert Rummey, Gerard Ryan, Prof Andrew Ryder, Robert Sakula, Rhodri Samuel, Andrew Sanderson, Hilary Satchwell, Jamie Saunders, Biljana Savic, David Schwarz, Dominic Scott, Toby Shannon, Barry Shaw, Richard Shaw, Keith Shearer, Anthony Shoults, Ron Sidell, Paul Simkins, Dr Richard Simmons, Alan Simson, David Slater, Jonathan Smales, Dr Lindsay Smales, Malcolm Smith, John Smylie, Jim Sneddon, Alastair Snow, Adrian Spawforth, Jerry Spencer, Andy Spracklen, Chris Standish, Alan Stewart, Martin Stockley, Andrew Stokes, Alan Stones, Tim Stonor, Peter Studdert, Janet Sutherland, Mick Sweeney, Nicholas Sweet, Stephen Talboys, David Tannahill, Ian Tant, Prof Robert Tavernor, David Taylor, David J Taylor, Ed Taylor, Mike Taylor, Nick Taylor, Sandy Taylor, Catherine Teeling, Chris Thompson Robert Thompson, Kirsteen Thomson, John Thorp, Jeremy Till, Rob Tincknell, Andrew Tindsley, Niall Tipping, Damian Tissier, Canon Andrea Titterington, Ian Tod, Tricia Topping, Stephen Tucker, Iain Tuckett, Dr Richard Turkington, Jonathan Turner, Chris Twomey, Peter Udall, Julia Unwin, Valli van Zijl, Atam Verdi, Andy von Bradsky, John Wakefield, Ian Wall, Ann Wallis, Russell Wallis, Prof Martyn Ware, Pam Warhurst CBE, Paul Warner, Nick Wates, Rosemary Westbrook, Duncan Whatmore, Craig White, Lindsey Whitelaw, Patricia Willoughby, Marcus Wilshere, James Wilson, Simon Wilson, Chris Winter, Godfrey Winterson, Matt Wisbey, David Woods, Nick Woolley, Linda Wride, Nick Wright, Ian Wroot, Tony Wyatt, Wei Yang, Bob Young, Roger Zogolovitch. Honorary Academicians Prof Wulf Daseking, Jan Gehl. In Residence David Harrison (Artist) Ian McMillan (Poet)
The Academy of Urbanism 70 Cowcross Street London EC1M 6EJ United Kingdon  +44 (0)20 7251 8777 info@academyofurbanism.org.uk www.academyofurbanism.org.uk