BOOK READING REVIEW 3

This book titled ‘WORLD CLASS PLACES’ compiled by HM Government is a must read for everybody because it highlights the Government’s strategy for improving quality of place.

This book elaborates more on the way places and buildings are planned, designed and looked after. In addressing the issue of quality of place: the following are the reasons why quality of place matters: Bad planning, design and careless maintenance encourage crime, contributes to poor health, undermine community cohesion, spoil the environment and over the long term incur significant costs.

Understanding the quality of place is the physical characteristics of a community, the way it is planned, designed, developed and maintained affects the quality of life of people living and working in it and those visiting it, both now and into the future.

The factors that shape quality of place can be organised with four broad elements which are:

·          The range and mix of homes, services and amenities.

·         Design and upkeep of buildings and spaces

·         Provision of green spaces and green infrastructures.

·         Treatment of historical buildings and place.

The following are the outcomes of good quality of place:

·         Low crime

·         Better public services

·         Environmental sustainability

·         Inward investment and job opportunities

·         Social inclusion.

·         Social capital and community cohesion.

The implication of this text on my Broad mash project is that it has enabled me to understand the client’s vision in a detailed format and to address the issues of Broad mash with a different perspective, taking the existing urban fabric and making it a place for quality living.

The ideas are:

·         Providing well designed and maintained buildings.

·         Creating good supply and mix of affordable low energy decent homes and neighbourhoods with older, disabled and younger people in mind.

·         Well designed and maintained streets and public spaces.

·         Good transport infrastructure.

·         Good mix of local shops, pubs and restaurants.

·         Built heritage treated as an asset.

A very good case study is Hammarby Sjostedtad, Stockholm.  Hammarby and Broad mash have similar environmental heritage, it is a large, ambitious urban extension rooted in environmental sustainability which incorporated old industrial land and docklands. The city invested in sustainable transport and providing green infrastructure such as trams, ferry service and extensive cycle routes and green spaces- including semi-public communal gardens. The development which is built from eco- friendly materials features green roofs, underground waste and collection system which links waste to the local district heating plant, where it generates energy etc. Stockholm has been planned and designed with older people, disabled people and younger people in mind, with wide streets and plenty of green spaces, local amenities and public transport.

BOOK READING REVIEW 2

This book titled ‘THE COMMUNITY PLANNING HANDBOOK’ compiled and edited by Nick Wates was first published in the UK in 2000 by Earth scan.

This book elaborates more on how people can shape their cities, towns and villages in any part of the world.

Two quotes in this book got my attention

Firstly, ‘When dwellers control the major decisions and are free to make their own contribution to the design, construction or management of their housing, both the process and the environment produced stimulate individuals and social well-being’ John F.C Turner, Freedom to build, 1972.

Secondly, ‘When people feel they ‘belong’ to a neighbourhood which is theirs through their own efforts, then it will become a place which is worth struggling to retain and develop. People will safeguard what they have helped to create’ Lord Scarman and Tony Gibson, The Guardian, 11 December 1991.

This book identifies different general principles from A-Z, methods from A-Z and Scenarios A-Z.

The following are some of the reasons why it is important to get involved in community planning.

·         Additional Resources: The governments rarely have sufficient means to solve all the problems in an area. Local people can bring additional resources which are often essential if their needs are to be met and dreams fulfilled.

·         Better Decisions: Local people are invariably the best source of knowledge and wisdom about their surroundings. Better decision making results if this is harnessed.

Building Community: The process of working together and achieving things together creates a sense of community

SITE ANALYSIS FOR GROUP 3

This week we were grouped into four teams to work on our new project which is ' Intervening in The City'. Our proposed site for this project is Broad mash, which is located in Nottingham.
Each team was given a task to work on for the site analysis. My team were involved in looking at the Urban Fabric and Street Patterns: Site History: Precedent Studies (re-modelling/ rebuilding 1960's city center.)

Broadmash was built on the outskirts of the Medieval town. Despite its historic interest all the buildings were demolished to accommodate the redevelopment. From the analysis, i discovered that the changes that took place from the 1900 figure ground map to the present figure ground map interrupted the urban grid.

Larger spaces where taken over which clashed with everything around it. There is a huge difference in scale between the years. There is no life between the existing buildings. Broad mash center is a huge alien structure planted in the middle of the city. I tend to wonder and the BIG question that i asked myself was:

 What was perceived to be an intervention was it a gain / loss?

Courtesy to my team members:

Kimberly Dewhurst

Amadi Ugochinyere

Ana Gaina

Raul Nistor

Constantina Voskaridou

BOOK READING REVIEW 1

                This book by Jah Gehl titled ‘LIFE BETWEEN BUILDINGS’ was first published in 1970. It identifies the problems of architecture and city planning that documented the period of 2006 and it explains the importance of designing urban public space with the use of people as a guiding principle.

I read chapter 1- 4 of this book and I felt each chapter is relevant to the Broad mash project because they explain the importance of urban intervention.

 Image by Jan Gehl

Chapter 1

This chapter looks at the three types of outdoor activities which are necessary activities, optional activities and social activities. All this activities place different demands on the physical environment. The picture below copied from page 10 shows the three types of activities that would be summarized in this chapter.

 Necessary Activities (top view) – These activities involves a greater/lesser degree of people participation such as going to school, shopping, waiting for a bus, running errands or distributing mails, it takes place throughout the year under all weather conditions. People do a lot of street walking and as a result their incidence is slightly influenced by physical framework.

Optional Activities (middle view) - These activities takes place under favorable exterior conditions such as taking a walk to get some fresh air, sitting, sunbathing and standing around and enjoying life. This activity is important to physical planning because most of the recreational activities that are especially pleasant to pursue outdoors are found in this category. When outdoor areas are of poor quality only strict necessary activities occur but when outdoor areas are of high quality necessary activities takes place with approximately the same frequency though they clearly tend to take a longer time because the physical conditions are better.

Social Activities (bottom view) – These activities occur spontaneously and depend on the presence of others in public spaces such as children at play, Communal activities of various kinds’, greetings and conversations and passive contacts. Different kind of social activities occur in many places such as dwellings, balconies, private outdoors, gardens, public buildings and place of work. They develop because people are in the same space, meet, pass by one another or are merely within view.

Image by Jan Gehl

This image copied from page 26, shows activities and seating preferences, also, it shows how sidewalk cafe are been perceived all over the world with the cafe chairs facing the street life.

This chapter also explains the need for contact of life between buildings, by creating opportunities for meetings and daily activities on the public spaces of a city or residential areas. It explains possible access of contacts at other levels such as how play activities among children starts through birthday parties and arranged play groups in schools. From these simple levels contacts can grow to other levels as participants wish. Physical planning influences the extent and character of outdoor activities. Therefore it is possible through planning decisions to influence patterns of activities to create better or worse conditions for outdoor activities or to create lively or lifeless cities.

Chapter 2

In this chapter, Jan Gehl explains the prerequisites for planning and the patterns used in Copenhagen, Denmark.

He explains the importance of planning spaces because the physical framework can influence the in-habitation of social situation. The physical framework can be designed so that the desired contact forms are impeded or to give a broader spectrum of available possibilities. This is a means for Architects or planners to prevent or promote isolation and contact.

Image by Jan Gehl

The image below copied from page 62, explains the differences between Isolation and Contact.

          

Isolation                                                                                           Contact

·         Walls                                                                                  No walls

·         Long distances                                                                 Short distances

·         High speeds                                                                     Low speed

·         Multiple levels                                                                 One level

·         Orientation from others                                                Orientation towards others

Chapter 3

In this chapter, Jan Gehl explains city and site planning, he considered certain aspects like to assemble or disperse, to integrate or segregate, to invite or repel and to open up or close in. These are essential elements of planning that contribute to people’s enjoyment of public spaces. These elements remain very constant even as architectural style’s go in and out of fashion and the character of life between buildings changes.

Chapter 4

In this chapter Jan Gehl explains the significance of planning spaces for standing, walking, staying, sitting, seeing, hearing and talking. He describes how spaces were observed and used. Also, he proposed that public spaces can create a safe urban place by making them desirable and therefore occupied rather than abandoned. The communication between people through looking and listening is a vital consideration that Architects and Urban Planners and Designers must have.

Conclusion

Generally this book focuses on Copenhagen and other cities in Denmark. It is a must read book for Architects/Planners because it explains the failures and reactions to modernism principles of urban planning. This book looks at the spaces between buildings, plazas, streets and other open spaces of the city and how their design affects people and vice versa. This book was interesting and educative therefore I would like to recommend the rest of the group to read this book.