100712 risom sisternas - compact city
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Jeff Risom MSc. City Design and Social Science LSE 2009 (Distinction). Associate at Gehl Architects, Copenhagen Faculty Danish Institute for Study Abroad [email protected] Maria Sisternas MSc. City Design and Social Science LSE 2009 Urban Development Project Manager at MedCities, Barcelona Lecturer University of Barcelona [email protected] Revisiting London’s first Garden Cities: failed utopian vision or a sustainable 21st century model?
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Jeff Risoms and Maria Sisternas presentation for the 2nd Annual International Conference on Sustainable Architecture and Urban Development, held in Amman, Jordan, July 2010.
Transcript of 100712 risom sisternas - compact city
Jeff Risom MSc. City Design and Social Science LSE 2009 (Distinction). Associate at Gehl Architects, Copenhagen Faculty Danish Institute for Study Abroad [email protected]
Maria Sisternas MSc. City Design and Social Science LSE 2009 Urban Development Project Manager at MedCities, Barcelona Lecturer University of Barcelona [email protected]
Revisiting London’s first Garden Cities: failed utopian vision or a sustainable 21st century model?
1. Compare and Contrast Garden City Vision and Compact City Policy
2. Critical Examination of the Compact City Policy (Urban Renaissance)
a) The redevelopment of Brownfield sites
b) Density targets: regional focus versus local context
3. The myth of polycentricity
a) difficulty in creating a ‘centre’ in a suburban context
4. Garden City 100 years on
Assessing the Leaf proposal for the Arcadia site in Ealing
How to recapture the Garden City ideal within Compact City Policy?
a) Socially
b) Physically economically
5. Conclusion
1898 – Response to congested, dirty central London
1999 – Response to urban decay at the National Level
THE BEST OF TOWN AND COUNTRY -
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The Urban Renaissance through
A regional metropolitan plan
'compact city':
socially
economically
environmentally
Designates
areas for growth
areas for intensification
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”Slumless and Smokeless”
Ealing built density 1903
The ’leaf’ site under regional planning guidance
The redevelopment of Brownfield sites
London 2007-2017: + 326 000 homes (of which 182 000 affordable)
BUT:
Restricting available land increases housing prices (Green Belt)
People value open space and underdeveloped land more than greenbelt outside the city (social costs)
Employment growth is not necessarily coinciding with the location of available brownfield land (more pressure on car use, contradicts the compact city)
Brownfields tend not to be easily accessible by foot
'maximizing the potential of the
site'
… in places that have a high level of
Public Transport Accessibility
Level (PTAL)
Density matrix:
Central
Urban
Suburban
Does not adequately take burden on services, cost of housing, access
to green space, etc. into consideration
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Arguments in favour for high density:
Economies of scale
London's competitive advantage for knowledge economy
BUT:
… leads to smaller (undesirable) units:
… conflicts with integrity of existing places
... Pressure on local services
... Uncomfortable density
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Polycentricity
A market response to a congested Central London
Public sector trying to optimise physical expansion of the city
'pseudo suburbia': the suburban model is vastly degenerated
How sub - urban are London's suburbs?
What makes them less urban?
The geography of London for the highly
skilled is decidedly more polycentric than for the low-skilled (GLA
Economics, 2009, p. 4).
Polycentrism is crucial in terms of
social justice: as soon as a centre is defined, another zone becomes
peripheral
T
To
T
To
Only one Unitary
Development Plan
(6 years-old)
It is not ONLY a matter of
judgment 1) suburban landscapes as a problematic market-
driven form of urban expansion
2) compact city is only a myth: people's preference
diverge
3) economic growth argument: the welfare state trusts
market to come up with the best solution
4) local communities: aesthetic and other hidden
prejudices (protect their property values)
The Queen of the
Suburbs today
number of migrants has increased
by 50%.
Ealing borough is increasingly
polarised (average income in
Ealing Broadway is £40,000 per
annum, the Southall Green and
Southall Broadway wards have an
average income lower than
£27,500 per annum)
Lack of affordability of the housing
stock (due to ‘Right-to-Buy’
programmes, the Council looses
around 50 properties per year, out
of a stock of 13 400 tenanted units)
19% of Ealing households (32% of
Southall Broadway) were estimated
to be overcrowded in 2001.
Ironically, there are around 2500
vacant properties in the borough
Interestingly, in Ealing, an already
low median density of 55 residents/
Ha gives place to a congested
urban atmosphere.
Empower those who are deprived from public life participation through the analysis of a broader informational basis
Land values were high Implementation of the London Plan successful in terms of stimulating the market.
Ealing has excellent qualities as a low dense suburb. Hence, this built environment should help ensure a prosperous future, instead of contributing to suburban blight.
Removing barriers to development and physical interventions
barriers to housing aesthetic prejudices overcoming the obsession with
density
Removing barriers to development and physical interventions
infill strategy a more durable built
environment
Removing barriers to development and physical interventions
boundaries of open spaces lack of services and amenities
Additional criteria for identifying similar characteristics – local
Contribute to a more place based complementary policy to regional guidance
New tools to facilitate cooperation between non-competing local areas
Facilitate more beneficial ‘inter-local’ relationships (areas where we live, work and play)
SUSTAINABILITY LIVABILITY
LOCAL
QUALITY OF LIFE
GLOBAL
SUSTAINABILITY
SUSTAINABILITY LIVABILITY
LOCAL
QUALITY OF LIFE
GLOBAL
FEAR OF DISASTER
