Recently in Public Realm Category

Whew, that's a relief then! According to Mike Hayes we're all on the same page in urging stability: "Change the policies; but not the process and let the IPC, HCA and LDF's find their feet."

I genuinely did sleep a bit better last night as a result of his response (when one gets through life relying so much on instinct and emotional intelligence, it is indeed a huge validation to be told that the boffins are in agreement with your analysis) and my New Best Friend, Leonora Rozee (another Big Banana at RTPI and - until recently - senior gal at the Planning Inspectorate) can write any time.

I've already nicked her "It has never been more important to have a robust, effective and confident planning system than now when we face national and global economic, social and environmental challenges on an epic scale. Planners need to step up to the plate and demonstrate their willingness to make the systems we have been given work" for a speech I'm giving in the new year.

Wonderful stuff from a genuine leader in her field (and sorry, Leonora, no royalties will be forthcoming; this is the blogosphere after all).

A cri de coeur for stability is definitely in vogue in our industry. And another cri de coeur must be to, please, get real.

Recognising the much smaller public purse for regeneration going forward, we will certainly need to forego our preoccupation with scale: much of the Grand Projets type of regeneration seen over the last decade or more is detached from community delivery and benefits.

Were any of you as bemused as me about the government announcing a "£3m funding package to help rejuvenate high streets scarred by empty shops"?

A senior retail analyst of my acquaintance said "I thought it was a misprint originally as I figured they meant £30bn. £3m is just about enough to pay for the coffee and biscuits at the local authority meetings as they chat about 'saving the High Street' ".

Does John Denham seriously think that this will help ensure town centres "remain vibrant places for people to meet and shop"?

Was out for a drink last night with the lovely John Holmes of Hull Forward who is to receive £90k from the pot for his delightful Whitefriargate project. He smiled ruefully as well but he's a seasoned old roué, too battle-worn to be cynical anymore. He takes the pragmatic view that beggars can't be choosers. And as he is a brilliant and creative practitioner, he will leverage this cash up as best he can. All power to his elbow.

The Denham plan is to "transform empty shops into something useful such as a meeting place, a learning centre or a even a showroom for local artists". But it is very well understood that 'creative uses' in this context do not often have the word viable attached to them.

As a rough guide, £50,000 per High Street would get you:

• 10 mature trees
• Repointing of one, maybe one and a half façades
  
• Painting of three or four shop fronts
• Repaving 50-60 sq m with high quality stone

Better yet, each local authority could commission a well-intentioned consultant for £45,000, get some great ideas on 'creative uses' that they can implement with the remaining £5K (minus the coffee and biscuits of course).

Great idea guys.

One of my field operatives (I have spies EVERYWHERE) reports to me that there has been a furore in Italy over young lovers attaching padlocks to street furniture and throwing away the keys.

This raises an interesting question about our engagement with our environment and, by extension, whose public realm it is and how it is managed. Like many others, I have been wrestling with this for many years.

On the same theme, a sign was spotted this morning, presumed written by a child (it may have been a rather wide-eyed adult of course) attached to a tree in Finsbury Park. It said "Please don't let your dog poop here. We have planted flowers". It was just a normal tree in the pavement that someone had laid claim to over the dog walkers.

Again, an interesting illustration of conflict in use in the public realm. And one with which I was rather sympathetic (being not great on dogs - or, at least, not great on dogs in cities - but that isn't the point).

This reminded me of the time when I was running the Business Improvement District in Paddington (not greatly assisted, of course, by the government giving us the wrong legislation - taxing (very unwilling) occupiers rather than (perfectly willing) land owners).

That mad Danish urbaniste, Eric Sorenson (then acting for St Mary's NHS Trust) and me (on behalf of Paddington developers) had been attempting to mitigate the sense of stepping out of the First World (the brand new Padders with high finishes and immaculately managed public realm) into the Third World (Praed Street with its gum clogged pavement, phone boxes full of prostitutes' cards, dodgy "bureaux de change" et al).

Well, we had been battling with Westminster council over ONE JUNCTION in Praed street for two years and, weary and punch drunk from the enervating struggle we retreated to the Gyngleboy Wine Bar one evening to lick our wounds.