Shaping Places Summer 2014

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SUMMER 2014

SHAPING PLACES

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

stargazing pavilion/ ESPON: Research Into Territorial Governance/ HOUSING ALTERNATIVES/ COBALT/ towards Hydro-citizenship/ The engaging student

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

In this edition we again highlight the breadth of our research; looking at projects as diverse as seeking alternatives to the housing crisis, defining territorial governance, working with communities to explore their relationship with water and an important new venture which sees researchers from across the School working with commercial property developers to make a step change in sustainable place making.

Many of the lessons and good practice we develop in our research and engagement can be shared, and indeed produced, with our students so that they enter the built environment professions as highly skilled individuals who can work effectively with multiple publics to develop knowledge to shape better places. Read about our planning students engaging young people in the planning process and our architecture students’ work with the residents of Stonehaugh in Northumberland to build a stargazing pavilion.

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EVENTS This edition has been published to coincide with an exciting exhibition developed by our School, celebrating Newcastle as a city that has been constantly reinventing itself in response to social and economic changes. The exhibition is multi-media and contains exhibition boards and explanatory stories; historic films; audio tapes of community members; an extensive photographic collection of many unseen pictures of the city; city models showing change and fascinatingly the developments that went ahead and those that were planned but not built. There will be a ‘City Forum’ where our partners will host events about the future of the city and the issues we all face, and activities for families. The perfect opportunity to have your say and talk with those currently developing new plans and strategies for the future of Newcastle and Gateshead!

participants from around the world including academics, journalists, artists, writers, creative practitioners, activists and landscape practitioners across disciplines such as conservation management, environmental philosophy, countryside planning, landscape architecture, cultural geography, literature, fine arts, and other subject areas in the arts, humanities and sciences.

Landscape, Wilderness and The Wild 26 - 29 March 2015, Newcastle University This international cross-disciplinary conference will bring together scholarly communities for knowledge exchange and debate. It aims to consider the discourses that swirl around concepts of wilderness, wildness, wildscape, re-wilding, wilding and the wild. It will seek to explore the place of these notions in the contemporary imagination, whilst giving an account of their continuing agency for academics, professionals and all those engaged in landscape issues. We look forward to welcoming

Keynote Speakers: Bill Adams / Steve Carver / Jay Griffiths / Anna Jorgensen / Paul Kingsnorth www.ncl.ac.uk/apl/news/events/thewild

Image/ Ian Thompson

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

Industries of Architecture: Relations, Process, Production AHRA 2014/11th International Architectural Humanities Research Association Conference 13 – 15 November 2014, Newcastle University This two and a half day conference invites architectural theorists, historians, designers and others to explore the industrial, technical and socio-economic contexts in which building is constituted that are all too often sidelined within the architectural humanities. Industries of Architecture will also host a number of open-structured debate-oriented workshops with the aim of bringing into the discussion those working in building, technology, law, practice management, construction or in industry together with researchers in the architectural humanities. In addition, the opening night features public screenings of a series of artists’ films that explore the production of architecture, including the work of Harun Farocki and Allan

Contents

Sekula. Image/Matthew Ozga-Lawn

01/ Events 02/ ESPON: Research Into Territorial

Governance 03/ Housing Alternatives: The role of design 04/ Cobalt: A participatory design study for Cobalt Business Park 05/ Towards Hydro-citizenship: Connecting communities with and through responses to interdependent, multiple water issues Cover image Stargazing Pavilion/ Peter Sharpe, Kielder Art and Architecture

design by morphcreative.co.uk

06/ The Engaging Student: Town planning and young people 07/ Stargazing Pavilion: Students and residents celebrate Northumberland’s dark skies 08/ Book Publications 09/ Researching the Contemporary City: Featured book publication 10/ Newcastle City Futures: Featured event

Keynote Speakers: Adrian Forty / Peggy Deamer / Aggregate / Sérgio Ferro / Gail Day www.ncl.ac.uk/apl/news/events/industries

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

ESPON

Research Into Territorial Governance

ESPON is a research programme providing data, concepts and techniques which can be used in the development of effective place-based policy.

Professors Simin Davoudi, Ali Madanipour and Geoff Vigar and Dr Paul Cowie are part of a European multi-partner research project which addresses two fundamental questions: what is ‘territorial’ governance and what are the key attributes of ‘good’ territorial governance? Territorial Approaches for New Governance (TANGO) aims to develop practical advice for ‘good’ territorial governance based on existing literature and empirical evidence gathered from contemporary governance practices in twelve case studies across Europe.

European, national, regional and local levels, as well as across different policy sectors.

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Territorial governance is the formulation and implementation of public policies, programmes and projects for the development* of a place/territory by:

TANGO asserts that territorial governance matters in order to achieve specific development goals to achieve territorial cohesion. However, how and under which circumstances it matters varies considerably across Europe.

1 2 3 4 5

The Newcastle Team, led by Professor Davoudi, undertook two UK case studies (Greater Manchester Combined Authority and North Shields Fish Quay Neighbourhood Planning) which, along with the further studies undertaken across Europe, developed an understanding of how actors and institutions at different levels formulate and implement policies, programmes and projects to achieve a certain territorial goal, and assess their performance.

Good governance is ‘an efficient and effective response to urban problems by accountable local governments working in partnership with civil society’.

co-ordinating actions of actors and institutions

integrating policy sectors

mobilising stakeholder participation

being adaptive to changing contexts

realising place-based/territorial specificities and impacts.

Good Governance (UN-Habitat 2009: 74)

Europe is still recovering from a deep financial crisis and struggling with unemployment and social exclusion. At the same time there is pressure to switch to low-carbon economies and adapt to climate change and its effects. Against this backdrop, the role of territorial governance is more central than ever and responding to these daunting tasks requires effective and urgent policy initiatives and actions at

The project team developed a working definition of territorial governance, based on theoretical debates and discussions with experts. The definition itself is a major output of the project and functions as a framework to analyse territorial governance and provide guidelines for practitioners, policy and decision makers to review, organise, and provide effective territorial governance.

The final report is available from www.espon.eu under ‘Projects’ then ‘Applied Research’.

TANGO dimensions of Territorial Governance We consider 1 to 5 as ‘dimensions’ of territorial governance which provide added value for achieving territorial cohesion.

* We define development as the improvement in the efficiency, equity and environmental quality of a place/ territory (in line with the Europe 2020 strategy).

Housing Alternatives

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the role of design The Postgraduate Masters in Urban Design has a

to bring homes closer to people’s needs. The

producing high quality places that will stand the

tradition of engaging communities and stakeholders

action-research laboratories have been sited in

test of time. Aspects of affordability, appropriate

in co-creative and mutually beneficial projects

varied and complex localities in transition, where

densities, inclusivity by design and mix of tenures

that seek to explore community-led processes of

a good foundation of engagement was already

and house types, quality of place and architectural

development and regeneration. Over the past six

in place, including community groups, local

character, social and environmental sustainability,

years, Programme Director Georgia Giannopoulou

authorities and local interest groups such as civic

and relationships with historic and natural heritage

and successive student cohorts have worked closely

societies, for example in Gateshead and Hexham. In

are explored collaboratively; bringing together local

with Gateshead Council and South Tyneside Council

Hexham, a Northumberland Market Town, a group

knowledge, expertise in urban design and sustainable

in town centre regeneration projects, as well as the

of multicultural and multidisciplinary students

architecture, and the desires and competencies of the

Hexham Civic Society in neighbourhood design and

all pursuing a Masters in Urban Design, led by

people on the ground.

regeneration. They also engage communities and

Georgia Giannopoulou and Mark Siddall of LEAP

stakeholders in other European countries through

www.leap4.it, have worked on neighbourhood

The Urban Design students have prepared and

the cities and culture teaching projects which take

masterplans for key sites for the town in close

facilitated design charrettes (an intense period of

place partly abroad.

collaboration with the Hexham Civic Society and

design or planning activity and a tool which encourages

two different emerging cohousing communities.

good co-creative practice) in the service of community

Over the past three years, the Housing Alternatives

groups to tease out and inform the development of

Design Studio has been engaging with concepts

The brief of these projects is to propose locally

various elements of the cohousing project to form part

of intentional communities, alternative housing

embedded schemes that respond to the socio-

of the site proposals. Students attempted to step out

products and alternative processes of production

economic and physical context of the area,

of the boundaries of top-down designers and expert-

Design in charrette images/ Georgia Giannopoulou Food queue Bolivia/ Suzanne Speak

“It was a very good session ...and I think we were all really impressed by the professionalism of the students and how well they worked together as a project team. We are still mulling over what we think and feel but the exercise has made us radically review what we had thought previously.�

Moyra Riseborough Community Member of Northumberland Cohousing group

COBALT

professionals, to become facilitators and enablers and empower people to be designers of their own process, homes and neighbourhoods. These exercises were met with great positivity by the prospective cohousers, both in illuminating physical implications of the way they want to live but also being transformative for the community and building momentum through tangible outputs. Outcomes of the charrettes have been given back to the communities in report-form, or videos and photographs of the process and the activities. These activities include the use of models to explore the potential of sites and land configurations, plans and individual housing units, explorations of what and how much people want to share in living areas, as well as aspects of financing and values.

The Urban Design students and tutors have been invited to present the outcomes of these projects in open community events and exhibitions and these have gone quite some way in engaging people with

“We have worked with Georgia and her MA students since 2010 on several development sites in Hexham - (a historic market town some 20 miles from Newcastle). The Civic Society has found it invaluable to have the students investigate these sites with such imagination and vigour, and to draw up concepts which we have been able to use to draw attention to areas of untapped potential in the town.”

their local sites and raising aspirations for their town, but also in opening up conversations around new ways of living and how our neighbourhoods can respond to our different needs.

Roger Higgins Chair, Hexham Civic Society

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A participatory design study for Cobalt Business Park Architects Armelle Tardiveau and Daniel Mallo, with Professor of Urban Planning Geoff Vigar, are investigating how promoting sustainable practices might help develop a sense of community amongst the 12000 individuals who work at Cobalt Business Park.

Building a community in the commercial edge-lands

Cobalt Business Park is the UK’s largest office park, located in an ‘edgeland’ environment in North Tyneside. The Park is 1.2km long and aside from the companies it houses, also has a hotel, cafes, a nursery, and parkland.

Cobalt is typical of its kind in that it has developed with limited attention to social sustainability. The owners of Cobalt have implemented a number of innovations to address some of the environmental and social externalities that have arisen. However, while consultation has been undertaken, these have mostly been led by the Park management.

Contrary to the accusation of office parks of this type being ‘non-places’, the project team approached the research believing that these areas are in fact highly significant and under researched places in people’s daily lives, and furthermore can be spaces in which ecologically sustainable practices can be encouraged. They aim to understand the priorities and visions of the ‘workplace community’ of Cobalt on for example; greener travel, social networks, and promotion of healthier lifestyles.

A series of participatory workshops will take place, with stakeholders involved in running Cobalt and the companies, workers and users of the Park; giving voice to different employee groups and testing the viability of different scenarios. From the opinions gathered, a series of research questions will emerge, leading to a more ambitious research and design project with Cobalt.

Images/ Cobalt

Towards Hydrocitizenship:

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connecting communities with and through responses to interdependent, multiple water issues

Hydro citizenship implies an awareness of, and responsibility for, water as a vital social and environmental resource at both the individual (citizen) and community level.

Being a hydro-citizen means recognising the complex and interconnected nature of water issues in modern society.

Images/ Maggie Roe

Maggie Roe, Senior Lecturer focusing on Landscape

The project, which starts in May 2014, is funded by

assigned to a small team responsible for integration,

Hydro-citizenship’ aims to advance knowledge and

Planning and Landscape Ecology, is part of a team

the Arts and Humanities Research Council’s (AHRC)

impact and evaluation throughout the project, and is

understanding about the nature of ‘community’, the co-

researching with communities to understand

Connected Communities programme. It involves 15

also working with the artist and academic Professor

construction of environmental knowledge, participatory

environmental and social challenges through

researchers from nine universities to examine how

Stephen Bottoms on the Shipley case study in

action research, ecological citizenship, social-material

participatory creative arts such as performance,

hydrocitizen knowledge can be co-produced through

particular.

relations, and the role of arts, performance and creative

story-telling, visual art, social design, film and

four large scale case studies in Bristol, London,

media. The environmental focus is on interrelated

Mid Wales and Bradford. Each case study will be

This research project aims to benefit the case

of communities. It will explore the potential of the

water issues: flood and drought risk, supply and

conducted by a team which includes academics,

study communities through the co-design and

arts to convey information, generate dialogue, provide

waste, access to water, water quality, biodiversity

artists, community activists and community partners.

knowledge exchange opportunities built into each

reflective opportunities and strengthen empathetic

and management. The social focus will consider

The Arts and Humanities Centred Interdisciplinary

case study. Through a programme of arts-led,

communities across geographical boundaries. The

how communities are formed, and interconnected

Research (AHIR) based methodologies developed in

participatory research the project aims to have

project is an exemplar for how communities and

by, environmental assets and risks and consequent

the proposal will be supported by insights from related

positive impact through the enhancement of cultural

academics can work co-productively to directly address

questions of social and ecological justice.

disciplines such as planning and design, physical

experiences, promotion of environmental awareness,

the challenges posed by environmental change, to

geography, landscape and biodiversity studies, critical

strengthening community cohesion and improving

support psychological and societal transitions towards

citizenship and community studies.

social welfare through engagement in critical

more sustainable ways of living, and cultivate the

water-related issues. It will aid arts and humanities

development of sustainable environments, places and

Each partner in the team provides specific expertise.

practitioners who work with communities on eco-

spaces in which cultures and community life (human

Maggie Roe will draw on her expertise in the area of

social transitions, resilience and sustainability.

and non-human) can flourish.

Given recent, extreme flooding incidents in the UK, as well as other pressing water issues, this research is particularly important and timely.

practice in re-shaping material-social understandings

sustainable and participatory landscape planning and landscape ecology, cultural landscapes and landscape

The work will be relevant to national policy and

architecture. She will also provide expertise on this

governance users in relation to water resilience

interdisciplinary project in relation to publication,

and governance, such as the Environment Agency,

dissemination and impact based on her long

the Landscape Institute, Natural Resources Wales,

experience working on cross-disciplinary research.

Natural England and other organisations seeking

As Co-Investigator on this project, Maggie will provide

resilience and governance in the face of multiple

overall landscape planning and ecology expertise and

challenges faced by communities in all landscape

will focus particularly on biodiversity issues. She is

settings.

The Engaging Student

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Town planning and young people Planning Tutor Teresa Strachan is overseeing a group of enthusiastic Town Planning Diploma students currently leading a pioneering engagement project in Newcastle which aims to develop methods of engaging young people in the planning process and equip students with skills in community engagement.

The project began in September 2012 with a scoping exercise that sought to establish the extent to which young people are aware of environmental issues in their local area. Student - designed questionnaires were completed by 60 Year 9 pupils across two high schools: Duchess Community High School in Alnwick and Kenton School in Newcastle. The resulting data revealed that the young people generally did not know what town planning was; that they had valid (and very often very thoughtful and considerate) opinions to share about their local environment; and that a proportion of them wanted to find out more about town planning in their local area.

The Diploma students underwent a programme of training with Kevin Franks of Youth Focus: North East, funded by the University’s engagement team. The programme explored the variety of methods of working with young people. The training also considered the barriers which prevent young people from getting involved in projects and how those barriers might be overcome to allow for more effective engagement work with them.

The students were then encouraged to take their own research approach to exploring the possibilities of the engagement facility. One student, Amy Prendergast, explored how young people themselves could devise their own set of criteria by which they might be able to assess their built environment and any changes proposed for it. This involved Amy creating her own set of visual resources by drawing on her knowledge developed whilst on planning placement with Bristol City Council. By devising a ‘toolkit’ with a group of pupils from the Duchess Community High School, Amy was able to introduce them to a range of planning considerations that need to be taken into account when a planning application is submitted to a local authority.

Title Credit

Another student, Ben Stephenson, wanted to explore how the attitude of young people in a predominantly rural community, such as Alnwick, would compare to the attitudes of their urban counterparts in Kenton, Newcastle. The survey data revealed an equally eager youthful audience with a similar desire to learn more about town planning. There were some disparities however, in what they considered to be the key issues in their local area, compared to the responses from Alnwick’s young people.

The third student, Jen Marriott, focussed her research upon the need for a stringent evaluation process to support any future engagement. Jen drew on the experiences of colleagues working with young people in the third sector and was able to devise some useful guidelines as the project looked forward to its second year, when an engagement programme would be piloted.

As a new group of Diploma students took up the engagement project challenge in the autumn of 2013, Amy, who had now returned to Bristol City Council in her new capacity as a Planning Assistant, had been invited to speak at a National Conference on Community Engagement (Engage 2013, organised by the National Co-ordinating Centre for Public Engagement). Here Amy shared her experiences on the University project and explained what she thought the young people had gained from the engagement experience.

“It raised awareness of their environment; they felt that they had a voice and felt listened to; they would be more likely to engage in the planning process in the future; they learnt skills that can then be applied to other areas of their life.”

Amy Prendergast

STARGAZING PAVILION Working with their new partner, Sustrans, the Diploma students shadowed the organisation’s officers whilst delivering a neighbourhood initiative in a Jesmond primary school, during November 2013. In mid-March 2014, the students delivered their ‘hybrid’ engagement session to Year 5 at St Teresa’s Primary School in Heaton. The half-day session involved activities designed to promote an understanding of what Town Planning is, a mapping activity which encouraged pupils to think about what they would like to improve on their route to school and a role play walkabout where pupils were encouraged to consider how other members of the community experience the area around school. The session was very well received with many pupils explaining that they now had a better understanding of what town planning meant…“Town Planning is about shaping the town for everyone.” “It can be hard work, but it is fun!”

The school session was evaluated, so that the outputs, outcomes and longer term impacts of this engagement with young people can be incorporated into the students’ final report. Sustrans officers will return to the school in late Spring to help the students work up some ideas for the improvements that they suggested.

What has clearly emerged so far is the enthusiasm and emerging engagement skills of the students themselves, as it has been their commitment to the project and to working with the children that has made such an enjoyable experience for everyone involved.

“The project really makes you think about the ways in which consultation takes place now and the depth of knowledge and opinions of young people that is out there just waiting to be gleaned! A facility such as this one has the potential to transform and really enhance consultation in the future, and I think it is fantastic that students have the opportunity to be part of it.”

Joanne Greenwell Diploma student in Town Planning

The final report on the project (together with a summary document) will be available in the early summer, once students have completed their Diploma studies. If you would like further information about the project, or a copy of the summary, then please contact Teresa Strachan at teresa.strachan@newcastle.ac.uk

Sustrans is a charitable organisation which promotes the use of sustainable forms of transport. It is currently delivering a national DIY Streets project in a number of neighbourhoods on Tyneside.

Youth Focus: North East (formerly Regional Youth Work Unit – North East) is a regional hub connecting young people and the organisations and professionals who support them.

Images/ Teresa Strachan

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Students and residents celebrate Northumberland’s dark skies

Architecture students have been working with Kielder Art and Architecture and the community in Stonehaugh to design and build a new pavilion for star gazers and nature watchers to enjoy the recently designated Northumberland International Dark Sky Park, the largest area of protected night sky in Europe.

Developed out of a teaching and research module, the idea for the pavilion was generated through a series of community consultation events and the village have been actively engaged in the process of designing and building the project. The form of the pavilion is based on a spiral and it provides a sheltered space for nature watching as well as a ‘sky court’ where groups can gather to view and discuss the night sky. Where possible, the pavilion has been constructed of locally sourced or recycled materials and it has a ‘green roof’ to increase biodiversity.

“As well as providing space for stargazing, the pavilion also offers shelter for wildlife watching and its surroundings will include a newly-planted wildflower meadow of native species.”

Graham Farmer

The project is being overseen by Graham Farmer, Director of Architecture, who says: “Students have worked closely with local residents to engage them in the design and construction process, holding multiple consultation days to gain ideas and thoughts and ensure that the pavilion responds to the community’s aspirations”.

The Pavilion will become a focal point for the rural community and will provide a venue for environmental education. It has already been booked for several stargazing events.

Peter Sharpe, Kielder Art and Architecture, has produced a video about the Stonehaugh Pavilion which is available at: www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVzllGShMwsvia

Images/ Peter Sharpe

Book Publications Public Space and the Challenges of Urban Transformation in Europe Edited by Aglaée Degros, Sabine Knierbein, Ali Madanipour Routledge, 2014 European cities are changing rapidly in part due to the process of de-industrialisation, European integration and economic globalisation. Within those cities public spaces are the meeting place of politics and culture, social and individual territories, instrumental and expressive concerns.

Public Space and the Challenges of Urban Transformation in Europe investigates how European city authorities understand and deal with their public spaces, how this interacts with market forces, social norms and cultural expectations, whether and how this relates to

Dérive Issue 54: Resilience, rhythm, and public space. Shaping robust environments Guest edited by Aglaée Degros, Sabine Knierbein, Ali Madanipour, 2014 This dérive volume on Resilience, rhythm and public space understands public spaces as spatial catalysts for social change, seeking to foster an understanding of the robustness of places by revisiting the resilience debate through the focus on rhythm. Resilience designates the capacity of cities to recover and adapt to such situations. To what extent do public spaces serve as flexible backbones to provide a city with the robustness to adapt to situations of drastic transformation and radical change? To what extent can seemingly obsolete places be rethought and recycled as places of transition where transformative forces would utilise their inherent potentials, instead of creating public spaces anew?

08 the needs and experiences of their citizens, exploring new strategies and innovative practices for strengthening public spaces and urban culture.

These questions are explored by looking at 13 case studies from across Europe, written by active scholars in the area of public space and organised in three parts: strategies, plans and policies; multiple roles of public space and everyday life in the city.

This book is essential reading for students and scholars interested in the design and development of public space. The European case studies provide interesting examples and comparisons of how cities deal with their public space and issues of space and society.

Landscape Architecture: A Very Short Introduction Ian Thompson Oxford University Press, 2014 Landscape architecture plays an important role in shaping the places in which we live and work. But what is it? Landscape architects are involved, amongst other things, in the layout of business parks, the reclamation of derelict industrial sites, the restoration of historic city parks, and the siting and design of major pieces of infrastructure such as motorways, dams, power stations, and flood defences, as well as the planning of parks and gardens. Taking a historical perspective, Ian Thompson looks at both the roots of landscape architecture and the people that established it.

New Cultural Landscapes Edited by Maggie Roe, Ken Taylor Routledge, 2014 While historical and protected landscapes have been well studied for years, the cultural significance of ordinary landscapes is now increasingly recognised. This groundbreaking book discusses how contemporary cultural landscapes can be, and are, created and recognised.

The book challenges common concepts of cultural landscapes as protected or ‘special’ landscapes that include significant buildings or features. Using case studies from around the world it questions the usual measures of judgement related to cultural landscapes and instead focuses on landscapes that are created, planned or simply evolve as a result of changing human cultures, management policy and practice.

This Very Short Introduction explores some of the misconceptions about landscape architecture and considers the discipline’s origins in landscape gardening. Thompson takes a look at a number of areas, including the influence of Modernism, the difference between landscape design and landscape planning, and the way that planning legislation has driven the growth of the discipline. He also explores contemporary environmentalism, the debate as to whether landscape architecture is an art or a science, landscape architecture in the community, post-industrial projects, and its relationship with ecological urbanism.

Each contribution analyses the geographical and human background of the landscape, and policies and management strategies that impact upon it, and defines the meanings of ‘cultural landscape’ in its particular context. Taken together they establish a new paradigm in the study of landscapes in all forms.

Book PublicationS

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Researching the Contemporary City: Identity, Environment and Social Inclusion in Developing Urban Areas

Newcastle City Futures:

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People, Place, Change

Images/ Mark Tewdwr-Jones

Edited by Peter Kellett & Jaime Hernandez Editorial Universidad Javeriana in Bogotá, 2013

This edited book is a tangible result of collective activities between Dr Peter Kellett, Senior Lecturer in Architecture, and his recent PhD students; a result of efforts by Dr Kellett to find ways of working with his PhD students as a group, to complement individual supervision.

23 May – 10 June, 10.30-4.30pm, The Guildhall, Quayside, NE1 3AF, Free Entry

‘City free and beautiful… a modern vibrant place that rivals the very best cities in the world’.

projects in the Stephenson Quarter and Science Central, this is the story of how one place has continually evolved, and of the people of Newcastle and Gateshead who have been central players in that change and renaissance.

The Newcastle City Futures exhibition incorporates a ‘City Forum’, where Newcastle University and the

The city is perhaps the most complex of all human

Newcastle City Futures is a major new exhibition and

University’s partners will host a series of evening events

constructs. In the 21st century when cities are bigger than

series of interactive events that features evocative

open to the public and free to all. The event series

ever, and the majority of the world’s population now live

imagery of Newcastle’s built heritage from the past,

includes discussions, film screenings and activities to

in urban areas, the need for research to address the large

present and future!

launch a ‘big city conversation’ and aims to engage a

scale challenges of urban life has never been greater. This

number of communities in the city’s development.

collection of research studies from different parts of the

Exploring change and renewal since 1945 the

world, brings together case studies underpinned by theory

exhibition investigates why the city looks as it does

Interactive elements will help you get a taste of what it

to contribute to the urgent search to make our cities more

today, reveals ‘unbuilt’ plans that could have changed

feels like to be an architect and planner, and there are

just, more liveable, more accessible, more participatory

the way we live, and focuses on the human stories

opportunities to make your mark on the exhibition by

and more democratic – in short, more humane places

built heritage can share. Inviting audiences to re-

identifying those places and buildings in the city you love

to live and work. These cross-cutting themes of social

discover Newcastle’s rich architectural past, the

and loathe. There will also be family workshops on the

inclusion, spatial integration and poverty alleviation

exhibition also looks to the future, and will launch

weekends and over half term, including workshops for

are the ever present motifs and motivations throughout

and debate key plans and frameworks that will shape

young adults.

the volume. These detailed and fine-grain analyses of

Newcastle and its communities for the coming years.

complex processes are a modest contribution towards the

From the development of the Metro and the airport,

creation of cities which are not simply more economically

to the building of Byker, the conservation of Grainger

viable and environmentally sustainable, but also embody

Town, the construction of the central motorway, the

Join the conversation @NewcastleSAPL #cityfutures and

the ideals of social justice.

redevelopment of St James’ Park, the creation of

read the blog: blogs.ncl.ac.uk/cityfutures

the internationally-renowned Quayside, and to new

www.ncl.ac.uk/apl/news/events/NCF.htm