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This way to better streets
Streets are hard-working spaces. They balance a wide range of uses, communicate values and signify the transformation of neighbourhoods, towns and cities. To be sustainable and fit for purpose in the 21st century, streets need to respond to the demands of climate change and shifts in culture. CABE has reviewed 10 streets, looking at design development and implementation to unlock the lessons learnt. They provide an insight into recent developments in street design. This briefing summarises the findings.
Retailing, sustainability and neighbourhood regeneration
This Joseph Rowntree Foundation study looked at retailing in regeneration areas, based on 14 case studies around Britain. These were selected to represent a range of challenges, including refurbishment of existing local shopping precincts, parades of shops, high streets and market halls. The cases were selected because each has made significant achievements in retail regeneration. Each case study identifies 'points of inspiration' or best practice but also 'constraints on regeneration'.
Resource for Urban Design Information (RUDI) Case Studies
Access all areas: A new city heart for Liverpool
The choice of a single development partner has been a fundamental driver in the success of a retail-led, mixed use development in Liverpool. The Paradise Project was planned to create a new, easily accessible city centre.
A framework for urban design skills
A skills initiative being undertaken by a London Borough which aims to set a baseline for assessing 'recognised practitioners'.
Barcelona: City Information
This case study contains background information on the history, architecture and planning of the city of Barcelona.
Bespoke house types add quality and character
The South Devon College Campus regeneration scheme, Torquay, features bespoke house designs and an integrated public realm that balances the needs of traffic and parking.
Merton Rise, Popley: Blending new with old
Community integration and the wish to avoid a potential 'us and them' situation were key drivers behind an urban extension at Merton Rise, Popley.
Bristol Harbourside
One of the most distinctive features of Bristol city centre is the floating harbour, which winds its way through the area to the north of the river Avon. Following the decline of the docks in the 1960s, the city council had planned to fill in parts and build new roads over it. The harbour was saved when these plans were shelved in the recession of the early 1970s.
Bury St Edmonds: pioneering the historic core zone approach
Bury St Edmonds has a population of 35,000 and lies 45 miles east of Cambridge, by passed by the A14 to Ipswich. Like many smaller towns, it has an informal ring road system and parking continues to remain a sensitive local issue. It has striven to retain as much of its historic character as possible, its traditional market days dominating the centre on Wednesdays and Saturdays.
Can we deliver zero carbon?
Hanham Hall near Bristol is the first site to be developed in the English Partnerships' Carbon Challenge. The initiative is testing the skills and appetite of developers to meet the zero carbon challenges of the future.
All parties working together: Dove Lane, Bristol
This project encouraged a collaborative approach in two ways: an innovative community consultation plan engaged the public, while the development partners signed a Planning Performance Agreement.
Greenwich Peninsula: A new place in the making
A stretch of undeveloped land on a distinctive curve of the Thames has provided a blank canvas and an unrivalled opportunity to develop Greenwich Peninsula, a new place for London.
Folkestone: a case study in arts-led regeneration
Folkestone is pinning its hopes of revival on a programme of long term arts led regeneration. The Creative Foundation has bought up a large number of run-down properties in the oldest part of the town centre. It has renamed the area the 'Creative Quarter' of Folkestone and is renovating properties for letting to artists and creative businesses.
For place's sake - refurbish don't rebuild
Preserving the unique sense of place and identity associated with communities is a key element of placemaking. The refurbishment of homes, rather than demolition and replacement, should be seen as a favourable sustainability option.
Hastings: Education and heritage led regeneration
Education is regarded as one key element in a major programme of regeneration which has the aim of reviving the economy of the seaside town of Hastings, East Sussex, along with its neighbour Bexhill. A new style 'multi-versity' now has over 700 students, while a new further education college is under construction.
Ludlow: Case study of a successful market town
Ludlow is the largest town in the South Shropshire District. It has a Norman castle and a large number of listed buildings. While trading on its past to attract visitors year round, it is also looking to the future. In 2004 Ludlow was given funding by Advantage West Midlands to build a new eco-park on the edge of the town.
More than the sum of its parts
We need to learn from traditional placemaking and not turn our backs on the streets, squares and the places that have been successful through the ages. This case study looks at the lessons that can be learned from Copenhagen.
Shrewsbury: Urban design in a historic core town
A sensitive approach to urban design has been adopted in Shrewsbury, seeking to tackle some of the visual problems caused in historic towns by the clutter of modern road signage and inappropriate paving materials.
St Johns Square, Blackpool: Flexible, multi-activity public space
The redevelopment of the St John's Precinct area forms part of the greater regeneration plan being delivered by ReBlackpool - the town's urban regeneration company. St John's Precinct project is being managed and delivered by Blackpool Council through its Townscape Heritage Initiative with additional funding from the North West Regional Development Agency.
Streets are places too
This case study says Local Authorities could - and should - have taken a little trouble to make sure that road design and maintenance was coordinated with town planning.
Survival of the fittest: places must respond to survive
Planning meets preservation, urban design meets conservation. If we reconcile identity and technology, there is no reason why character and innovation should not go together.
Virtual Slaithwaite: A public participation
Looks at the potential of using the internet to increase public participation in environmental decision making. The use of on-line geographical features as an alternative to a traditional 'Planning For Real' ® exercise was the main aim of the project.
Vital and viable towns
Focuses on the conviction that a successful public realm, where people feel safe, comfortable and enjoy using streets and places both during the day and into the evening, is also likely to be an economic viability.
Walsall: waterfront-led regeneration
The Walsall Regeneration Company has drawn up a framework for development that sets out to transform the town over the next 10 to 15 years.