Memorandum by Karen Sims-Neighbour (UWP
19)
"We have between us the barrier of a common
language" Oscar Wilde
A quote which perhaps highlights the problems
faced today by the various professions and organisations involved
in the issues surrounding our towns and cities. Preaching to the
converted is an easy option and over the past two years I have
listened to numerous leading lights espousing the respective virtues
of their chosen profession to an audience of their chosen profession
and receiving a large round of applause for doing so. Unfortunately
these professions have been seen to distance themselves from the
communities they purport to serve and have as a consequence increasingly
failed to understand the needs of the community. A case in point
would be a recent public consultation held at Manchester, where
the community voices were clearly putting over their view and
the masterplanners were clearly putting over theirs, neither side
understood each other and worse still the masterplanners made
no attempt to bridge that gap.
What must be remembered is that what people
don't understand they will not attach any value to and further
they will, in due course, reject and ultimately destroy. To get
to those people with whom we are trying to connect requires a
different type of approach. To inspire, involve and motivate these
people demands thinking in new and different ways. The forthcoming
Urban White Paper must ensure that its recommendations do not
create tomorrow's failures and that we do not travel down the
path of the 1960's mindset, where too often, Architects, Town
Planners, Developers and Local Authorities imposed their will
on the community and delivered information that was out of synch,
making no attempt to retrieve the situation—note again the
Manchester fiasco.
The answer must therefore lie in "Facilitators",
individuals heading non-profit making organisations to co-ordinate
redevelopment projects, to raise funds for and to participate
in the development of renewal projects, and that only have the
interests of the greater community picture at heart—a clear
holistic overview. Another theme that must be considered is how
do you sustain the level of interest within the community once
the major part of the project has been finished and/or the money
runs out? All you might have done is made contact, not made the
connections that are vital to long-term success.
Inspiring people and communities into initiating
change can realistically only be achieved by leadership and this
leadership should not come from the Government, Local Authorities
or Developers, but should come from these Facilitators who have
an ability to think outside the box. What the Facilitators should
do, amongst other things, is to make sure that information is
clearly communicated and the various voices are heard and represented
in a way that is understood by all and have a flexibility and
openness to new ideas and community involvement that allows innovative
projects to flourish.
To find these new creative thinkers and managers
is not an easy task as such qualities as vision, humility, pragmatism
and altruism are needed and unfortunately this form of leadership
is rarely found in Local Government or the Professions. When it
does appear the individuals become great ambassadors and philanthropists,
Founding Fathers (or Mothers!) of our society. People that communities
feel they can trust. Unfortunately, politicians, given the decades
of bad press and behaviour of some, are no longer trusted by the
people regardless of how sincere they are, and neither are the
Professions. Nearly all are perceived by the people to be in it
for themselves and for what they can gain from their position,
rightly or wrongly. Perhaps if these people stopped being defensive
and hiding behind their respective jargon there might be a chance
for a compromise.
"We can't solve today's problems with the
same level of awareness that got us into today's problems"
Albert Einstein
Perhaps the first thing the Urban White Paper
should recommend is the demolition of Ivory Towers, the bane of
all potentially successful communities, followed by an intensive
course in Accountability and Responsibility for all those involved
in the renaissance of our towns and cities. Every profession should
be acknowledged for its ability to contribute to a better urban
experience and what we create today will become our children's
inheritance, just as the 1960's have left us with the problems
we have to address today. A much more low key, behind the scenes
approach is needed and less of the aggressive, confrontational
tactics that have been employed before, and much more is needed
for sustainable developments other than the now outdated approach
of new-build. New houses do not create sustainable, strong communities.
Indeed some of the strongest communities are to be found in poorer
areas, what is needed is to engender pride in the community—people
want to be proud of where they live, even if it is only their
public spaces that are exceptional. It is also of interest to
note that there is a direct correlation between neglected public
spaces and increased crime levels and conversely crime levels
have decreased when the role of parks and open spaces has been
broadened into a metropolitan resource centre with the latest
marketing techniques. The Urban Task Force states,
". . . new priority given to the public
realm and a need to create the sort of urban environment in which
people want to live".
To address this statement you must address the
issues of reclaiming public spaces for the community and the fact
that the urban experience is one that people should find natural
and should enjoy. In order to create such an environment, understanding
the actions and opinions of ordinary people should be paramount.
The question must always be, "Yes, but would you live there?".
Enhancing open spaces has been the keystone
to numerous successful regeneration projects around the world
and has finally been recognised as such by the findings of the
DETR Select Committee on Town and Country Parks who state,
"We believe that parks are key features
in the renaissance of our urban areas . . ."
Greening becomes a tool for change in our towns
and cities, transforming people and their neighbourhoods through
green initiatives and public spaces are indicators of civic health
wealth and happiness.
Much work has been done all over the world to
reclaim public spaces for its citizens yet England has yet to
switch the light on. Paris has just reclaimed the Avenue du President
Wilson, where traffic noise and pollution continually blighted
the lives of the citizens and have transformed it into the Jardins
Wilson. The solution was to cover the offending traffic lanes
and to create parks, playgrounds and community areas stretching
over a mile long and nine traffic lanes wide. The result is a
joy to the eye and to the people who live there. People are starting
to speak to each other again as the parks and gardens are conducive
to doing so. The area has become safer and less polluted. Better
still it can be done here if only we could see past the short
term effects and concentrate more on the longer term.
Two other examples are available in Paris of
similar concepts, both close to the Bastille and both yet again
incorporating that missing element in most of England's cities—high
quality green spaces. When will the powers that be realise that
people's needs and desires are very simple and the more concrete
you put in front of them the more they need nature to soften the
impact. Helsinki, Stuttgart (who aim to reclaim one quarter of
their city by covering over the trains and general traffic) Berlin,
Amsterdam, Malmo, and the oft quoted Barcelona are all embracing
the green approach to making their cities liveable, along with
towns and cities the length and breadth of America. Land can be
made and can be reclaimed by people who have vision.
January 2000
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