Shaping Places Autumn 2015

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AUTUMN 2015

SHAPING PLACES

research + engagement news from the School of Architecture, Planning + Landscape

The Town Meeting/ Sustrans DIY Streets/ Making Provisions/ Warm room/ The North East Obesogenic Environment Network/ Newcastle City Futures

Welcome to the third edition of Shaping Places: the research and engagement newsletter of the School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape.

happens when a researcher and a theatre company come together to produce a play in which the audience are the main protagonists.

This edition comes nearly a year after our research was graded 4th in the UK for both research intensity and research power in the Research Excellence Framework (REF), the new system for assessing the quality of research in UK higher education institutions. These results stand as testament to our desire to make a positive difference by undertaking excellent research with a clear purpose.

We also look at emerging research, which is likewise designed very much with other stakeholders: on ways to minimise the risk of food crises; and on the relationship between planning our neighbourhoods and health.

In this edition we highlight how engaged research can produce positive and lasting benefits outside academia through projects diverse as: architecture students working with communities and organisations in Kielder to build a warm room for visiting stargazers; our academics and students working with the charity Sustrans to add value to their DIY Streets projects in Newcastle upon Tyne; how our research and engagement activity on city futures has led to a closer working relationship between the University and city leaders; and what

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Public Lecture SeRies

In some cases, these projects build on previous work and illustrate the importance of sustained relationships with partner organisations. We look forward to working with these partners again in the future and to developing new connections as we begin a new academic year.

The School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape’s Public Lecture Series, now in its sixth year, showcases inspiring writers, researchers and practitioners in the built environment and related fields.

Lectures are free and open to all and our aim is to welcome people onto campus to inform, stimulate and engage them in current thinking on issues of societal and global concern.

Details of our 2015-16 series, and recordings of previous lectures, can be found on our website www.ncl.ac.uk/apl

NewcastleSAPL

Professor Geoff Vigar, Director of Research geoff.vigar@ncl.ac.uk Professor Rose Gilroy, Director of Engagement rose.gilroy@ncl.ac.uk

Image credit/ James Fish

Contents 01/ Public Lecture Series 02/ Sustrans DIY Streets: Creating and evaluating inspirational participation 03/ Making Provisions: Anticipating food emergencies and assembling the food system 04/ Warm room: Students design and build astronomers’ warm room 05/ The North East Obesogenic Environment Network Cover image The Town Meeting /credit - CUBESEDGE

06/ Newcastle City Futures: Newcastle Urban Foresight 07/ The Town Meeting: Using theatre to explore how communities interact with the planning process 08/ PHD Successes 09/ Book Publications 10/ Engagement with the region directory

CONTACT Kim McCartney Research & Consultancy Manager kim.mccartney@ncl.ac.uk Anne Fry Events & Engagement Manager anne.fry@ncl.ac.uk

@NewcastleSAPL www.ncl.ac.uk/apl

Sustrans DIY Streets: A team from Newcastle University have been adding value to work undertaken by national charity Sustrans

Creating and Evaluating Inspirational Participation 1 Sensory Mapping

and their DIY Streets Programme. The objectives of the

Residents were asked to ‘Imagine Fenham Hall Drive as the

(DIY Streets) Programme are to:

best street in Britain…’ and using small scale models and

02 There are lots of old people in Fenham, could do with somewhere to sit and watch the world go by. woman walking dog, aged 50+

3 dimensional maps, people were able to create a series of

Re-design streets and neighbourhoods to

scenarios and explore ideas. These ranged from sparkly

overcome barriers to walking and cycling

paving and treehouses to cafes and play and meeting spaces.

I like these (the bench), we can sit here after finishing your swimming and eat your sweets and get your energy back.

Such an approach engaged a wide range of residents,

Increase community involvement in decisions that

particularly those put off by street view maps.

affect their neighbourhoods

Increase walking and cycling

Geoff Vigar, Professor of Urban Planning, Armelle Tardiveau and Daniel Mallo, lecturers in architecture, PhD candidates Rorie Parsons (APL) and Clara Crivellaro (Open Lab), and architecture student Bryony Simcox worked with Sustrans on their DIY Streets project in Fenham, an area in the west end of Newcastle. Their work sought to deepen the engagement with the community in a specific part of the DIY Streets study area and will later broaden the evaluation of the project to assess whether interventions of the type used by the team can contribute to the development of social and community capital.

2 Street Prototyping The team built prototypes of mobile street furniture: two benches, a planter and a low table. These were placed on wheels and their mobility allowed people to play around with

people who live and work in a particular society, enabling that society to function effectively.

DIY Streets is a well-established programme that seeks to work closely with local communities to help them re-design their neighbourhoods affordably, making them safer, more attractive, and more conducive to active, healthy travel such as walking and cycling. The project focused on a specific street and used ‘inspirational’ participation practices that can harness the capital that exists within a community, enabling them to reach their own decisions. The

was placed in front of the local library during a street party

mum

organised by Sustrans. They helped trigger conversations about the street and potential changes that would enhance

We were just waiting for the bus… it’s a good little spot, next to our school.

the area and encourage use of public space.

3 Street Observation

schoolgirls

The furniture, along with a green carpet and trees, were placed at a busy intersection where the team observed how people interacted with these unfamiliar objects on their way the furniture throughout the day in different ways and this action created an opportunity to interrupt the current rhythm on the street and create a social space where none existed before.

4 Focus Groups Focus groups were held with residents to discuss the study area and possible future interventions. Large photographs of the area were used as a template, on top of which sketches and drawings were made based on suggestions from the group.

5 Stakeholder meeting

approach contained five elements.

Lady and daughter sitting on the bench/ Armelle Tardiveau Children’s hands playing with the sensory model/ Clara Crivellaro Library elevation with street prototypes/ Bryony Simcox

It’s until you see things like this (bench) that you realise how dreary the environment is.

familiar objects in unfamiliar places. The mobile furniture

to work and school. Both adults and children engaged with Social Capital - the networks of relationships among

young child

The use of familiar and unusual objects as a method for engagement has been a success. The bespoke furniture in particular helped trigger imagination and facilitate spontaneous conversations.

More importantly, such objects helped not only to assess community aspirations, including the reclamation of public space, but also to contribute to ongoing debate and action to co-create a more social, delightful and playable street.

The project team are currently working on a framework to evaluate the ways projects such as this might, or might not, generate social and community capital in the medium to long term.

The project is ongoing to the end of 2015 and findings

A conversation has been facilitated between residents and

have so far been presented to the Cycle City Active City

representatives of the community such as Councillors and

conference (Newcastle June 2015) and to the Institute of

managers of local facilities such as the allotments and the

British Geographers conference (Exeter Sept. 2015).

library.

Making Provisions:

anticipating food emergencies and assembling the food system

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From animal disease outbreaks to accidental

Dr Andrew Donaldson, working with Dr Jane Midgley

contamination, food-borne illnesses and concern

and Dr Jeremy Brice, will connect with individuals

over the providence or ingredients of food, food

responsible for major incident plans related to food

crises of one form or another are seemingly a

crises, regulatory organisations, farms/producers,

regular occurrence. The question that gets asked

supermarkets, logistics and transport companies,

each time is ‘couldn’t we have seen this coming?’

campaigning NGOs and the voluntary/charitable sector, amongst others, in order to address the

The Making Provisions research project, led by

following research questions:

Dr Andrew Donaldson, and jointly funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and the Food Standards Agency (FSA), under the Global Food Security programme, examines the

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What forms of anticipatory activities,

ways in which those involved in the production,

techniques and technologies exist in the food

processing, retail, management and governance of

system?

food anticipate future problems and develop plans to avoid them or deal with them, through precaution, preparedness and pre-emptive action.

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How are these activities enhanced,

driven or hindered by the increased amounts of information associated with foodstuffs?

A key feature of a food system that is resilient to shocks and able to deal with uncertainty and emergencies is the capacity to anticipate and make provisions for handling possible future events.

Through desk-based research, site visits and interview, the project will explore how the increasing amount of information generated about food during

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How do they affect relationships between

different sites and actors in the food system – both in terms of inclusions and exclusions?

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In what ways might anticipatory actions

be improved, disseminated or introduced to help build a more resilient food system without unduly compromising day-to-day functioning of the system?

its production and the increasingly sophisticated technologies for generating and managing that information, helps or hinders the anticipation and management of food emergencies. Making Provisions will also look at how those involved in all aspects of food production (from large commercial operations to local /alternative modes), retail and regulation form communities and networks to plan for problems and build a more resilient food system, and whether certain ways of thinking and acting - and the bodies associated with them - come to dominate efforts to stave off future problems.

Image credits/ (clockwise from top) Matt Horne, Jane Midgley, Colin Cuthbert

The project aims to identify current gaps in practice and examples of best practice concerning the management of food system risks and anticipatory actions. A dedicated project website will make the research findings available to organisations in order to develop greater awareness of, and information about, food management systems and ways of anticipating food crises.

Making Provisions aims to ultimately contribute to the health and wealth of the nation by helping to conceive

Resilience – the ability to respond, adapt and recover from crises Anticipation – the capability to imagine and identify future problems and threats

of more resilient, safer food system.

warm room: Newcastle University architecture students have designed and built a warm room and cooking shelter on Kielder campsite for visitors to the Dark Sky Park.

Students Design and Build Astronomers’ Warm Room

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Architecture students worked with the Kielder Water

Shaping Places 2, Summer 2014). The projects have

and Forest Park Trust, Kielder Art & Architecture, The

been grounded within a consideration of the broader

Forestry Commission and the Kielder Village community

ecology of the building process, using locally sourced

to develop a brief for the project, from which proposals

materials, or reusing or recycling locally available

were drawn up and presented to the community.

resources where possible. They have also sought to explore social sustainability, by working directly with

The resulting timber-framed building is clad with larch

communities in participatory ways, using local expertise

and lined with birch plywood and has floor to ceiling

or providing local training opportunities whilst also

windows to allow views of the Kielder landscape and sky.

adding a direct social and economic benefit to remote rural communities.

The Warm Room provides a sheltered space and equipment charging point for stargazers who participate

Both projects were completed under the supervision

in overnight star camps as well as a venue for meetings

of Director of Architecture Professor Graham Farmer.

and educational events. The students also designed

Professor Farmer’s academic work explores the

and built a sheltered external cooking area for use by

connection between design practice, teaching and

campers.

research through engagement with communities. The projects provide students with practical insights and

www.kielderartandarchitecture.com/art-architecture/the-warm-room.html

The Warm Room is the result of a continuing

skills as well as the opportunity to work with external

collaboration with Kielder Art & Architecture’s Testing

organisations, clients, users and communities. They also

Ground programme, following the construction of a

allow for ‘real world’ experimentation with materials,

stargazing pavilion at Stonehaugh last summer (see

performance and different modes of design practice.

The North East Obesogenic 05 Environment Network Are some high streets bad for our health?

What can be done about these ‘toxic high streets’?

Investigation is needed into how the places we live in affect our decisions about our lifestyles and our health. As a first step Dr Tim Townshend is coordinating a network

This is the question being answered by Dr Tim

which aims to help initiate partnerships between research,

Townshend, whose research into interdisciplinary

practice and the wider community, focusing on the causes

health and the built environment has taken in the

of obesity.

subject of ‘Obesogenic Environments’.

The North East Obesogenic Environment Network Obesogenic - that which pertains to or causes obesity in humans.

(NEOeN), which also involves Steering Group members Dr Amelia Lake (Durham University), Dr Louisa Ells (Teesside University) and Dr Michael Heasman (Public Health Intelligence North East) will focus on five main themes:

Obesogenic Environment - the totality of influences that contribute towards obesity, such as our surroundings, opportunities or life conditions.

In the last couple of decades local shopping

Obesogenic Environments

Food Environments

Physical Activity (Green spaces, transportation, walkable neighbourhoods)

Urban Planning Policy

Culture

streets have completely changed. In upmarket neighbourhoods, it’s all about delis, bistros and

The Network has recently set up a blog to highlight

expensive kitchen shops. However, in poorer areas

research and act as a hub for individuals and organisations

there has been an explosion in fast-food takeaways

interested in health and the built environment.

- selling energy-dense, but nutritionally poor food, colocated with other potentially ‘unhealthy’ outlets such

The website: www.neoen.org.uk is to be launched, and

as pawnbrokers, betting shops, pay-day loan shops,

invites to join the network will be sent out, in Autumn 2015.

tanning salons and so on. Dr Tim Townshend believes there is an unequal impact on the lives of poorer communities from these concentrations.

Image credits/ Graham Farmer

Image credits/ Tim Townshend (left), Simon Veit-Wilson (right)

Newcastle City Futures:

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Newcastle Urban Foresight

Image credits/ Dermot McNaney (far left), Jack Fisher

Professor Mark Tewdwr-Jones is leading the

The artefacts on display acted as prompts to

Newcastle City Futures project, which uses a

discussions and debates about what Newcastle could

range of methods supported by academic evidence

and should be like in the next 50 years. Visitors were

to shape conversations between city leaders and

asked ‘What would you protect and why?’ and student

communities to enable them to better plan for the

volunteers invigilated the exhibition, engaged the

future of their cities.

visitors, and created resources for a family area which, alongside artist facilitated activities, enabled children

Newcastle City Futures began as a ‘pop up urban

and young people to participate in conversations about

room exhibition’, a multi-media exhibition which

the future of the city.

explored examples of development from Newcastle’s

The Newcastle Urban Foresight project is a partnership between the national Foresight Future of Cities programme of the Government Office for Science, Newcastle University, Newcastle City Council and Newcastle Science City Board.

The Newcastle Urban Foresight project, which includes Dr Paul Cowie, piloted a methodology in the Newcastle city region which brings together local stakeholders and draws upon the city’s resources to identify and address future potential challenges and opportunities.

This methodology can be adopted elsewhere nationally or internationally.

The project was launched in summer 2014 and a Lead Expert Group (LEG) was established; the LEG was later merged into the Newcastle City Futures Development

recent past and proposals which were never realised

Separately, Professor Mark Tewdwr-Jones and

(see Shaping Places Summer 2014). It ran over May

Professor John Goddard (Newcastle University) were

and June 2014 and over the 19 days of the exhibition

invited by the Government’s Chief Scientist Sir Mark

received 2,400 visitors, hosted 24 free events

Walport to lead research into the trends facing the

authority, enterprise and business, and the voluntary

and involved 22 different partners ranging from

Newcastle city region as part of a national project

sector to forge stronger relationships and to boost

professional bodies, private sector organisations,

Foresight Future of Cities.

research-policy links.

Group. Chaired by Professor Mark Tewdwr-Jones this comprises representatives of higher education, local

local authorities and artist run community archives, amongst others.

Tewdwr-Jones, M., Goddard, J. and Cowie, P. (2015), A Future for the City Region: Newcastle Urban Foresight, Newcastle City Futures, Newcastle University, Newcastle, which outlines the findings of the Foresight project and illustrates the role universities can play in shaping the future of the cities in which they are key institutions, is available from www.newcastlecityfutures.org

The Town Meeting: With localism now an established element within planning there is a growing need to understand its consequences for both planning and planners.

However, it is often difficult to research community participation in planning in a systematic and robust way. Communities are diverse both in their

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Using theatre to explore how communities interact with the planning process The main aim of this project is to make academic research more democratic, accessible and relevant to communities.

composition and the planning issues they face. This

However, with the current seam close to exhaustion, there is growing uncertainty about the future and a difficult decision has to be made.

The play is set on the eve of a crucial hearing when the audience, in its role as the town’s residents, must come up with a plan for Little Rikjord’s future assisted

project uses theatre as a way of overcoming these

The use of theatre as a tool for conducting

only by shambolic junior planning officer Benjamin

issues and at the same time seeks to co-produce

collaborative research, known as performance

Rennold (Brad McCormick).

research with communities through the production of

ethnography, is novel in the field of spatial planning

a new piece of theatre – The Town Meeting.

and these issues are particularly relevant at the

Little Rikjord is modelled on a real-life mining town in

current time with moves to ever greater devolution

Sweden – Kiruna - which is being moved 3km east to

in planning. The play has highlighted how the role of

allow iron ore mining to continue.

The Localism Act was introduced in November 2011. The aim of the act was to devolve more decision making powers from central government back into the hands of individuals, communities and councils. www.local.gov.uk/localism-act

The Town Meeting was developed by Dr Paul Cowie

planner has changed in recent years, moving away from the role of expert to more of a facilitator or

The play has already been performed in seven

mediator in the planning process.

communities in the north of England and a further tour is being planned across the north. Later this year

The Town Meeting is set in the fictional Little

the play will also be performed in front of professional

Rikjord - a town in crisis. Voted most picturesque

planning officers who will take on the role of the

town in Great Doggerland four years running, it is

community.

an affluent and vibrant community which owes most of its wealth to an open cast iron ore mine.

PHD Successes

www.cap-a-pie.co.uk

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and theatre company Cap-a-Pie and draws upon research into neighbourhood planning outlined in publications by Dr Paul Cowie and Professor Simin Davoudi, Newcastle University. This research highlighted issues of democratic legitimacy in

Congratulations to the following people, who successfully passed their PhD Viva Voce in 2014-15:

neighbourhood planning and how neighbourhoods seek to represent themselves within the planning system. The Town Meeting builds on this by exploring how communities react to external pressures and represent themselves; rather than research participants the audience are co-investigators.

NI KETUT AGUSINTADEWI Transforming Domestic Architecture: A Spatio-temporal Analysis of Urban Dwellings in Bali MOHAMMED ALHAJI MOHAMMED Natural Ventilation: An Evaluation of Strategies for Improving Indoor Air Quality in Hospitals Located in Semi-Arid Climates ALI ARDESHIRI Evaluating Urban Services Using Economic Valuation Techniques: Towards Better Urban Environmental Quality and Promotion of Sustainable Development

Image credits/ Warm design (top), CUBESEDGE (middle), Audience feedback wordle (bottom)

OLUWAFEMI AYODEJI OLAJIDE Understanding the Complexity of Factors Which Influence Livelihoods of the Urban Poor in Lagos’ Informal Settlements

RACHEL GILL GALLO GONZALEZ Exploring the Relationship Between Prevalence of Overweight and Obesity in 10-11 Year Olds and the Outdoor Physical Environment in North East England MANSOUR HELMI The Ability of the Local Planning Authority to Implement Zoning Regulations: A Case Study of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia LIZ JUPPENLATZ Rural Regeneration and Localism: A Case Study of Northumberland CHANDRIMA MUKHOPADHYAY A Comprehensive Approach Towards Transparency: Case Study on Highway Development Through Public Private Partnership (PPP) in India WIDO PRANANING TYAS Resilience, Home-based Enterprises and Social Assets in Post-Disaster Recovery: A Study from Indonesia RHONA PRINGLE Moving Towards Whole Settlement Energy Self-sufficiency in Rural Communities

Book Publications Reconsidering Localism Edited by Simin Davoudi & Ali Madanipour (Newcastle University) Routledge: 2015 ‘Localism’ has been deployed in recent debates over planning law as an anodyne, grassroots way to shape communities into sustainable, human-scale neighbourhoods.

But “local” is a moving category, with contradictory, nuanced dimensions.

Reconsidering Localism brings together new scholarship from leading academics in Europe and North America to develop a theoreticallygrounded critique and definition of the new localism, and how it has come to shape urban governance and urban planning.

Moving beyond the UK, this book examines localism and similar shifts in planning policy throughout Europe, and features essays on localism and place-making, sustainability,

09 social cohesion, and citizen participation in community institutions. It explores how debates over localism and citizen control play out at the neighbourhood, institutional and city level, and has come to affect the urban landscape throughout Europe.

Reconsidering Localism is a current, vital addition to planning scholarship.

“This important and timely collection has been well crafted by its editors, both leading thinkers in the field of planning studies. The essays point to the possibilities but also the paradoxes inherent in the contemporary emphasis on localism in many national settings. In a context of seemingly intractable global environmental and economic crises the book’s critical emphasis on sustainability is especially pertinent and powerful.”

Professor Brendan Gleeson, Director, Melbourne Sustainable Society Institute, University of Melbourne

Engagement with the region directory

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The Global Urban Research Unit (GURU)

GURU has undertaken a great deal of

within the School of Architecture,

research in and around the north east

Planning and Landscape executes high

region and has recently compiled a

quality research and consultancy for

directory of completed research, which

a range of funding bodies. Its work

is available to view at:

is primarily focused on developing a

www.ncl.ac.uk/guru/publications/

better understanding of place and its

EngagementwiththeRegion.htm

potential transformation. GURU’s work is theoretically informed but applied, inter-

For further queries about the work of

disciplinary, and internationally focused.

GURU please contact: kim.mccartney@ncl.ac.uk

GURU’s work is organised around four

Image credit/ Matt Home

Cities, Security and Vulnerability

Cities and International Development

Planning and Environmental Dynamics

Power, Place and Materiality

design by morphcreative.co.uk

over-lapping themes: