How can we better approach public participation?
New initiatives in Cambridge are succeeding in increasing community involvement, writes John Mason, associate at Carter Jonas
John Mason is an associate at Carter Jonas
New public participation initiatives in Cambridge are succeeding in increasing community involvement, writes John Mason, associate at Carter Jonas #UKhousingPublic participation is a cornerstone of effective urban planning and community development. However, for many people the phrase still conjures images of dry – or occasionally fractious – meetings in community halls, with attendees who don’t represent the broader community.
In Cambridge, several initiatives are looking to address this, in order to reach a wider range of groups and encourage a broader rethinking of the urban environment.
The Greater Cambridge Shared Planning Service is running the Youth Engagement Service (YES), a pioneering initiative that involves young people in the planning process.
The recently adopted Kings Hedges and Arbury Design Code was shaped by feedback from workshops with local schools. Young people were asked about their thoughts on existing urban environments and their priorities for new development.
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The key priorities that emerged included green space and play areas, better cycling infrastructure and more homes. One perhaps unexpected finding was that children wanted to see a greater use of colour in new developments. This has provided an interesting test case on engagement as the authority moves forward with preparing its new Local Plan.
“Young people were asked about their thoughts on existing urban environments... Children wanted to see a greater use of colour in new developments”
The YES can also be used by individual development sites. As part of the ongoing redevelopment of a city centre site I have been involved with, a YES workshop was held with Year Six pupils from a local primary school. The workshop included a careers talk from members of the project team and council, a tour of the existing site and a presentation of the architect’s emerging proposals.
When asked about the top three things they had spotted on the site visit, students noted the presence of the large existing blocks of flats, which to an adult might be the most obvious features. But they were just as interested in a butterfly, an encounter with a friendly dog, a flowering buddleia and an ivy-covered wall. A child’s view tends to focus on the small details.
The workshop concluded with children designing benches and bird boxes, which will be incorporated in the completed scheme through the public art programme.
Cambridge City Council’s ambitious plan to redevelop the Market Square, Corn Exchange and Guildhall is another excellent example of public participation in action. This project aims to modernise these historic city centre sites while ensuring that community input shapes the final outcomes.
The consultation process for the Civic Quarter redevelopment has been as extensive and inclusive as possible. A particular focus has been reaching neighbourhoods where residents are less likely to visit the city centre.
Pop-ups were held around the city, including in the football stadium and various community centres, as well as a designated engagement stall in the market. Focus groups have been held with various interest groups including young people, those working in the heritage and cultural industries and market traders.
In the first stage of the consultation, in summer 2024, a dedicated website, email and phone number were set up to gather feedback. This period saw the highest ever number of survey responses in Cambridge’s online consultation history.
Such widespread consultation inevitably raises contradictions and tensions between different groups: those who want to preserve the historic character of the city centre, others who want more greenery and accessible surfaces, those who want space for pedestrians or those who are concerned about access for traders.
It is up to the project team, local planning authority and council members to build consensus around the proposals and balance the needs of these groups. Away from individual development projects and new planning policy documents, The Cambridge Room, funded by the University of Cambridge, was established in 2024 as a new way to think about urban change.
The Room is a neutral and trustworthy space where members of the public can learn about local environmental changes, influence decision-making and see their input translated into action. It is currently hosted in a temporary pop-up store in a shopping centre.
“New technologies, partnership working and a bit of concerted effort can enable planners and developers to reach beyond the demographic which most frequently engages in consultation”
On a day-to-day basis, The Room hosts talks and workshops covering a wide range of topics, from local history to mindfulness and urban health. A research project entitled the Living Atlas of Community Activism, meanwhile, aims to document the history of engagement and activism in Cambridge’s built environment from 1927 to the present. Another project is a design competition called Futures of the Estate, which invites people to reimagine a space owned by the University.
Projects such as these can get people thinking differently and more holistically about urban change, and can help situate current debates within a broader historic context.
New technologies, partnership working and a bit of concerted effort can enable planners and developers to reach beyond the demographic which most frequently engages in consultation, ultimately resulting in more varied opinion and a higher standard of engagement. The examples above show how it is possible to tailor the approach to consultation by seeking out the views of younger people and harder-to-reach groups, and find a different way of framing questions that enables people to think about where they live in a different way.
To meet the challenges of today with solutions that are more representative of the communities we serve, planners need to gather more diverse perspectives and use those perspectives to build more inclusive and sustainable places.
John Mason, associate, Carter Jonas
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