Achieving Good Town Form PDF

ACHIEVING GOOD TOWN FORM Strategic Urban Design | Laying the foundations for successful place-making This paper sets out the key urban design considerations in the preparation of a local development plan. This strategic urban design approach lays the foundations for the layout of streets and buildi...

ACHIEVING GOOD TOWN FORM Strategic Urban Design | Laying the foundations for successful place-making This paper sets out the key urban design considerations in the preparation of a local development plan. This strategic urban design approach lays the foundations for the layout of streets and buildings within the local plan area. We look at the timing of those key design inputs and note the importance of having a high-level shared vision and a delivery plan as integral components of a town’s local plan. Contents What is town form? Does our ‘plan-led system’ deliver good town form? An alternative approach to making local plans Timing of urban design inputs into the local plan process Recommendations Published by the Urban Design Group, April 2024 Author: Roger Evans UDG working group: Scott Adams, Roger Evans, Lucy Fineberg, Robert Huxford, Barry Sellers, Katja Stille, Naike Zambotti Credits: ‘Call for Sites’ map published by South Oxford District Council and Vale of White Horse District Council Roussillon Park, Chichester, housing design by Ben Pentreath, Architects. Photo courtesy of Broadway Malyan Hammarby Sjostad, Stockholm Drawings and other photographs by Roger Evans WHAT IS GOOD TOWN FORM? Town form is the result of how streets and buildings Typical map showing dispersed locations of are arranged within a landscape to shape a town. potential development land arising from a ‘Call for Sites’ Good town form achieves social, economic and environmental objectives through a considered spatial arrangement of these elements. Individual buildings might be replaced over time but building footprints and surrounding street patterns can last for centuries. Town form shapes our human habitat and good form helps make for efficient towns, healthier lives and a better environment. Town form is sometimes also called ‘built form’, ‘urban form’ or ‘urban morphology’. This paper is aimed at a wide audience and uses the term ‘town form’ because it is thought more likely to be readily understood even though it refers also to villages and cities. A map is compiled of the submitted sites and further iterations of the local plan process invite comments DOES OUR ‘PLAN-LED’ PROCESS DELIVER on their suitability. Landowners’ agents will argue GOOD TOWN FORM? that their clients’ sites are the best suited for new The first stage in the local planning process is a development while others will oppose development. district-wide issues consultation (currently known It is an expensive and time-consuming exercise with as Regulation 18) accompanied by a ‘Call for Sites’ questionable results. - an invitation for landowners to submit a site to be considered for development. 1 Invariably, sites with the fewest objections and The National Model Design Code, produced by constraints tend to be chosen. These are often poorly the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local connected, frequently lie on the boundaries of political Government, targets ‘helping local authorities and areas and are under the control of a single owner or communities decide what good quality design looks promoter. Design considerations are deferred largely like in their area’ and then prepare design codes for until a scheme is brought forward as a planning new development. application. These initiatives provide valuable guidance on the A range of problems have been raised in recent layout and design of major development. The National studies of growth areas. Transport for New Homes’ Model Design Code requires local planning authorities report Garden Villages and Garden Towns: Visions to consider the character of growth areas and existing and Reality (2020) included research which found neighbourhoods undergoing change. Building for a that most of the current programme of Garden Healthy Life urges developers to ‘look beyond the Villages and Garden Towns have been planned in red line that marks the extent of your site’ and create the wrong locations, far from town centres and rail ‘places that are well integrated into the site and their stations; they lack local facilities and their streets wider natural and built surroundings’. are designed around car use. The study Location But if new development is to respond to a wider of Development (2018) commissioned by the Royal context, then a vision for that wider area, setting out Town Planning Institute found that only a fifth of new primary streets, their character, and the massing housing units surveyed were within walking distance of buildings, is required. Without that vision each of a public transport node, such as a railway station or development site is likely to look inwards rather than tram stop. address the wider town. This has major impacts A Housing Design Audit for England (2020) on layout, potential land-use and built-form. This conducted by Matthew Carmona at UCL for approach of prioritising the selection of development the CPRE, and supported by housing industry sites ahead of having a shared vision for the shape organisations and a number of environmental of a town can severely reduce the prospects of charities including the UDG, showed that there has achieving good design on individual sites. been little improvement in housing design quality In urban areas, the character of the surrounding nationally since audits were last conducted between streets may be self-evident to a developer but in 2004 and 2007. However, because this improvement areas undergoing change or in greenfield areas, if the is from a low starting point – what CABE at the time future layout and character of the surrounding town called ‘an uncompromising and unflattering picture’ has not been considered then many key urban design – a large majority of new housing developments are decisions will already have been taken - inadvertently still assessed as ‘mediocre’ or ‘poor’. Three quarters - in simply allocating sites for development. of the audited projects fell into these categories. The report finds that the worst new estates lack nearby For example, the location of development sites amenities such as shops, pubs and cafes. They are often relies on private car ownership; if there are few often unconnected to the surrounding areas, with surrounding street and footpath connections, then the few public transport links, and do little to encourage internal street layout is likely to be based on random cycling and walking. choices or personal whims, rather than any reasoned connections to the wider area. With little or no existing Why has it gone wrong? street structure to address, such sites turn inward, Attempts to raise design standards have and with little through-movement, such sites are likely focussed largely on producing design guidance for to struggle to attract mixed uses or establish a thriving development sites. Recent examples include ‘Building neighbourhood centre. for a Healthy Life’, published by Homes England and aimed at improving the design of new and growing neighbourhoods. ACHIEVING GOOD TOWN FORM 2 Strategic Urban Design | Laying the foundations for successful place-making  A strategic urban design approach to the preparation of local plans would not start with a ‘call for sites’ but would first develop a shared vision for each town. The key strategic urban design considerations should include a landscape framework, a plan for the primary street network and proposals for a neighbourhood structure, much like a high-level set of parameter plans as would be submitted for an individual strategic site. Existing town Landscape framework An analysis of the underlying landscape is critical to any town plan and will reveal the land’s eco-systems, microclimates and topography. By seeking to grow settlements by watersheds rather than arbitrary ownership boundaries, we are better able to plan settlements that are ‘hefted’ to the landscape and create a meaningful context for the creation of new landscapes within subsequent development sites. Historic towns and city quarters which grew incrementally benefitted by design decisions being taken by townspeople who could walk around their Growth by development sites arising from local plan allocations: isolated neighbourhoods, along routes that followed the estates, dependant on car ownership and costly major road infrastructure. underlying topography, who knew the local micro- climate and so could avoid frost pockets and plan shelter from prevailing cold winds. Landscape survey and analysis should result in a sieve map showing where the landscape could best accommodate potential development: opportunities, not just constraints. In the absence of landscape planning, we are reliant on mitigation and off-setting measures for each individual site rather than ensuring that development is in the right place from the outset. Settlements with a long history are often characterised by local development patterns such as how the street structure responds to topography. Street-based urbanism: growth designed as seamless and harmonious These may be as important in influencing the shape of extensions of a town, and enable walking, cycling and public transport. growth areas as architectural details or local building materials. AN ALTERNATIVE APPROACH TO MAKING LOCAL PLANS Primary street network The planning of towns benefits from strategic urban The network of primary streets – arterial routes, high design considerations being an integral part of the streets and avenues – establishes the structure of a plan process, and there is nothing in the current or town. How this network is configured, how it navigates proposed changes to the planning system that would the landscape and the resultant hierarchy of routes, prevent this. determines to a high degree the location of different land-uses. ACHIEVING GOOD TOWN FORM Strategic Urban Design | Laying the foundations for successful place-making 3  District centre alongside arterial road following a ‘site selection’ approach. (Bicester) District centre following a street urbanism approach. (Summertown, Oxford) The primary route structure establishes the identity of a town (Newbury) The network will also influence built-form and density. and producing design codes which coordinate This forms our mental map of any town: a public building frontages, the detailed design of the street, realm is the common ground, in both a spiritual as pavements and possibly tree planting. well as geographic sense, that creates identity and The result could not only be a memorable public engenders community. Yet it is difficult to think of a avenue or high street, but also accommodate new high street or major avenue that can compare to significantly higher built densities compared to the those we have been gifted by earlier generations. The back-edges of inward-looking development sites. creation of a meaningful and memorable public realm Arterial should again be at the centre of town planning, not an approach to afterthought. historic market town ‘upgraded’ One reason we fail to build such main streets is that and funded by developer local plans identify sites rather than development contributions on corridors along arterial routes. Development on large either side of the road. sites frequently turns inwards, placing ‘centres’ at the lower end of the street hierarchy which means they invariably struggle to attract mixed development without cross-funding or subsidy. District-wide uses such as large food-stores might be located against Same street the primary road network albeit with a carpark on the designed as a public space frontage. Compare that to high streets or boulevards with higher which create the highest land values along the street density mixed- use frontage frontages. development and accommodating Creating a high street requires dealing with land other modes of ownerships on both sides of the street corridor, transport. having a vision for the modes and character of movement that is supported by the highway authority, ACHIEVING GOOD TOWN FORM 4 Strategic Urban Design | Laying the foundations for successful place-making The local plan thus often discourages street-based Long term strategy to urbanism along the primary routes in favour of progressively estates that fail to create frontages that address the remove / reduce vehicular surrounding town. This is an unintended consequence traffic from city of the ‘call for sites’ at the beginning of a local plan centre over several decades review. (Copenhagen) Failing to support a street-based urbanism along the primary routes has a further consequence: the street is likely to be re-engineered to accommodate high volumes of fast-moving traffic to service the development pods. Such distributor roads simply connect allocated sites rather like a plumbing diagram might join up random appliances. Connections to existing streets and paths Good town form is well connected, so new streets, footpaths and cycle ways should join seamlessly onto the surrounding movement network, and ideally in all A development site might therefore comprise a single directions. neighbourhood, seek to complete several existing neighbourhoods or some other mix. The branding of These connections generate the street layout and neighbourhoods may play a part in marketing new hierarchy of streets – from main streets to mews lanes development but should not determine planned - within the development. Development that is inward- neighbourhood structure. looking or is the result of a bypass creating a barrier to the surrounding landscape, is unlikely to have this Neighbourhoods in the right location connectivity and is more likely to have an illegible and The location of new development will influence poorly connected internal street pattern. whether people can get about by walking or cycling, Settlement history or whether they will be dependent on cars. Parking standards for car-dependent developments mean that The history of a town or quarter should inform the their parking footprints will be the same as the housing planning decisions that we make today. Yet streets footprint unless housing densities rise to justify urban that developed over centuries to accommodate house typologies with integral car parking, multi storey people on foot and horse-drawn wagons were seen or below ground parking solutions. as unfit for modern use by the second half of the 20th century. Where new housing is not adjacent to employment opportunities or served by rail, the connecting roads We now value such historic, walkable places. The will need to cater for sustainable commuter traffic. archaeology of a town may be displayed in the local Bus services are rarely frequent enough to rely on, museum, but it should also be evident in the streets unless new development is an extension of an existing today; these are anchors to the past. urban area with a good standard of existing provision. Neighbourhood structure Furthermore, the towns to which people will travel A new development does not necessarily equal a new from these car-dependent developments will need neighbourhood: a neighbourhood will have a social to provide additional parking too. This dominance of cohesion, often fostered by having a range of facilities cars brings pollution, noise and safety concerns with and amenities within easy walking distance. Planning the likely result that residents will walk and cycle less for neighbourhoods requires an analysis of travel or encourage their children to do so. Development distances to such amenities, calculating population that is planned as growth to sustainable towns can thresholds to support amenities and facilities and avoid these problems. New settlements need to be recognising natural boundaries within a development. of considerable size to be self-sufficient, so that they minimise the need for travel just to meet people’s daily needs. ACHIEVING GOOD TOWN FORM Strategic Urban Design | Laying the foundations for successful place-making 5 TIMING OF URBAN DESIGN INPUTS INTO THE LOCAL PLAN PROCESS The preparation of a local development plan usually follows five stages. Recommended urban design inputs for each stage are indicated below: Stage Stage 2 1 Information Gathering CONSIDER ISSUES Explore options for growth: Stage Consider Issues 2 Design options for growth can be developed as alternative scenarios through engagement with local communities. Stage Draft plan 3 This can become the basis for the local council and community to agree the direction and form of growth, creating the pattern of districts, neighbourhoods and Stage Independent Examination open spaces that make up a successful village, town 4 or city. Stage 3 Stage Adopted Plan DRAFT PLAN 5 Proposed urban design inputs into local plan process Develop an agreed vision with the community: For each town, agree with local communities a vision Stage 1 for the physical shape and character of each town. INFORMATION GATHERING Consultation on proposed submission plan and land Understand the character of the town, constraints availability: and opportunities: Ascertain the availability of land identified for The underlying local landscape, ecosystems and development. Most land with any prospect of microclimate development has already been ‘optioned’ to developers or land speculators on the basis of its The historic context – its landscape and future value, and so availability is unlikely to be an settlement history issue. Where a landowner is reluctant to make land The shape of the town, its street pattern and how available, a choice would need to be made between a this fits the underlying topography design solution or compulsory purchase. Architecture and the materials from which the The ‘call for sites’ should be the last stage of the local town is built plan process, not the first. Transport infrastructure, including rail and connections to the wider region ACHIEVING GOOD TOWN FORM 6 Strategic Urban Design | Laying the foundations for successful place-making The suitability of potential site allocations can be Urban form assessed against five key criteria: Does the likely layout establish an urban form that Topography, landscape and micro-climate is likely to serve future generations? Is the nature of the site likely to constrain development to fixed land- Is there a clear logic for how the proposed uses for all-time or would some parts be capable of development sits in the landscape? evolving from sub-urban to urban centres? Movement and connectivity Stage 4 Does the proposed site provide close access to rail INDEPENDENT EXAMINATION or other public transport node? Could the layout facilitate an efficient bus route? Does development tie This should include strategic urban design into existing footpath and cycle networks? considerations. Neighbourhood structure (land use) Stage 5 Would the development provide / enable people to ADOPTED PLAN live within an easy walk of convenience shops and Following adoption, site-specific codes would be services? Within a ten-minute journey by public required for primary routes, setting out the street transport to a district centre? Within a 20-minute design and the massing of buildings. journey by public transport to a town or city centre? Historic context Could development continue the settlement narrative of the locality? e.g. a particular form of planned settlement, edge conditions such as meeting the water, countryside or parkland? Strategic urban design framework showing landscape structure, primary street network and neighbourhoods/amenities (Oxford West End) ACHIEVING GOOD TOWN FORM Strategic Urban Design | Laying the foundations for successful place-making 7 RECOMMENDATIONS A focus on good urban form aspires to enshrine placemaking principles into the earliest planning stages. Seven recommendations follow: Architecture Oslo is one of the Centre in central fastest growing Gothenburg built cities in Europe to engage with and delivering local communities high quality in planning the architecture and rapid growth of public realm across the city sites in multiple ownership and multi timeframes but always with early provision of infrastructure 1. Strategic urban design | Seek appropriate 3. Delivery of infrastructure | Having a vision urban design inputs into the preparation of for the urban form of growth areas enables a local development plan. This will help local all forms of infrastructure - utilities, social communities to engage with the process, infrastructure (education and health), landscape understand the planning vision and lay the infrastructure (including rainwater management) foundations for good design at the level of and transportation to be planned ahead of individual sites. development in a coordinated manner. Currently, 2. A shared vision | A strategic urban design much infrastructure is only planned on the back of dimension to local plans and site allocation planning consents for development on each site policies would help to raise the quality of the using S106 and S278 Agreements. built environment, reduce opposition to new If infrastructure planning can be undertaken development, and ultimately speed up the concurrently with local plan preparation different planning process. Town-building rather than solutions might be possible. For example, isolated simply house-building offers the prospect of housing developments might each only fund a something better than the site by site allocations basic bus service but taken together, and planned that existing communities have come to resent. along a public transport route, a more efficient A ‘whole town’ approach would deliver good form of public transport might be possible. The urban form that will successfully function for UDG will publish more on achieving a shared decades or centuries leaving good urban form for vision shortly. future generations. The UDG will publish more on 4. Land supply | It is sometimes argued that it is not delivery shortly. possible to produce a local development plan without first knowing what land might be available Urban rooms tracing the for development. Yet most of the potential development development land within any UK town has already of the town and providing a forum been ‘optioned’ i.e. the landowner has signed a for discussion contract with a development company to promote around new development the land for development through the local plan options (Ghent) process. [it estimated that 85% of the UK urban land is under the control of option agreements]. ACHIEVING GOOD TOWN FORM 8 Strategic Urban Design | Laying the foundations for successful place-making 5. Resourcing | Such changes would require These road ‘improvements’ have often been local authority resources to be moved from funded by S278 contributions from adjacent development management to plan preparation. development. Just as generic design codes are to be prepared Such road schemes are not subject to design to assist development management, site-specific review nor planning scrutiny as they are built by codes would be needed for the primary routes if highway authorities as ‘permitted development’. we are to achieve a street-based urbanism. 7. The golden rule | Urban designers must look, 6. Streets not roads | End ‘permitted development’ continually, up and down the scale from town- exemption for ‘off-site’ highways in urban areas. wide to street detail to solve problems. The Many primary routes that were once high golden rule is to help make the larger entity streets or arterial routes entering a town have ‘whole’ and the smaller detail possible. This is become four, six or eight lane racetracks, hostile an important consideration for design review to pedestrians and cyclists, with no buildings and the assessment of planning applications. addressing (fronting) the roads and unusable ‘whole’ and the smaller detail possible. This is an landscape separating road and development. important consideration for design review and the Almost all towns have examples. assessment of planning applications. BENEFITS OF STRATEGIC URBAN DESIGN Urban design is often thought of as an activity that sits We enjoy a heritage of towns and cities whose between town planning and the design activities of town form is both functional and beautiful, street architecture, landscape architecture and engineering. patterns and a public realm that can support new This view sees urban design layouts or masterplans lives, new uses. Let us say the same of the towns being prepared once sites have been allocated in a form we leave behind. local development plan but before buildings or streets Over the next ten years around three million new are designed in detail. Yet when a local plan is agreed homes will be built in the UK together with supporting (made), half of the key urban design decisions are uses such as convenience shops and services, likely to have been already taken, often inadvertently. schools and workplaces. At current typical housing By the time that planning applications come forward densities around 90 square miles of land will be it is often too late, many of the urban design decisions needed to accommodate this - roughly the size of will already have been taken by the site selection Surrey. We need to ensure that not only is this volume process: an urban design input is needed at the local of development fit for purpose but leaves a legacy; we plan stage. could be leaving future generations towns to cherish while allowing those who come after us to colour their Urban design needs to continually work at a range use-maps according to the needs of their age. of scales, across different timeframes and across Efficient and ownership boundaries. appropriate use of land along a Creating good urban form means also making some primary route, family housing at site-specific design decisions that affect urban form Roussilon Park, – as distinct from generic or topic design codes which Chichester are intended to guide development after allocations are made in the local plan. ACHIEVING GOOD TOWN FORM Strategic Urban Design | Laying the foundations for successful place-making 9