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Why placeshaping matters more than ever
Arthur Tsang explains what Bournville Village Trust is doing to renew its approach to placemaking
Ask for beauty, refuse ugliness and promote stewardship – these are the recommendations of the Building Better, Building Beautiful Commission’s Living with Beauty report on development and planning, published in January.
Here in the West Midlands, the region’s combined authority has also just launched a design charter to “promote, inspire and encourage great design and quality placemaking” across the area.
Nationally and regionally, it seems that placeshaping is having a revival. But when the demand for housing is so high, with 215,000 new homes needed in the West Midlands alone by 2031, is placeshaping just a “nice to have” rather than an essential approach to your planning and development strategy?
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At Bournville Village Trust we don’t think so – and neither do the residents, partners and civic leaders we listened to last year when we reviewed our purpose and mission. They told us that rather than being just nice to have, placeshaping is a vital part of creating and maintaining environmentally sustainable places in existing and new build developments.
The government’s thinking appears to reflect this, too.
When the housing secretary Robert Jenrick visited some of our new homes in Lightmoor, Telford, last year, he said in a video released after the visit: “We need to build more homes, but if we’re going to do it, we’ve got to maintain public support for housebuilding. We’ve got to ensure that the services, the infrastructure are in place and homes are high quality.
“This is just what we want to see across the country. It’s a partnership with Bournville Village Trust, and they’re ensuring that the homes are really high quality, use good materials, and have lovely landscaping and a real sense of place.”
“We will be completely reimagining the design, character and future environmental sustainability of each of our communities”
This year marks our 120th anniversary, but rather than celebrating our past, we are looking to the future. Placeshaping is one of the main aims of our new corporate plan, and as part of this, we will be completely reimagining the design, character and future environmental sustainability of each of our communities.
In direct partnership with residents and through a series of consultation sessions, we will develop forward-looking design guides and neighbourhood plans for each of the communities in which we work, giving each its own unique sense of place, and making them somewhere to be really proud to live.
Placeshaping is about more than just creating modern design codes and guides, though – it’s about people. As Living with Beauty argues, stewardship should be promoted, too, to counter the plague of derelict buildings, left-behind places and vandalised public spaces.
“We will also be making sure our stewardship services are shaped by residents. They will be accountable, too, with measures to look at how satisfied people are with their neighbourhoods as places to live”
This is why we will also be making sure our stewardship services are shaped by residents. They will be accountable, too, with measures to look at how satisfied people are with their neighbourhoods as places to live. Community buildings will be modern, well maintained and meet the needs of the community. Parks and open spaces will be welcoming and accessible, to improve people’s health and well-being, as well as promote biodiversity.
Combined, we believe these are some of the ingredients that will ensure we are continuing to create and sustain communities where people don’t just live but thrive. Isn’t that what we as housing associations should all be setting out to achieve?
Arthur Tsang, director of communities, Bournville Village Trust
