Main news
Vision Zero UK Launch – aiming to eliminate deaths on UK’s streets
UDG Exec Supports Vision Zero Campaign
Volvo promises zero death car by 2020
Savills report – Completing Streets
Town Centre Investments Zone – joining together to regenerate high streets
Edinburgh Council Adopts area wide 20mph limits
Patent filed for drive-in Supermarket
Is Odense, with its commitment to whole city cycling, Europe’s most liveable city?
Can a High-Rise Apartment Make You Fat?
Practice of the Week – NLP – West Saltash
Jobs – EDP, Phil Jones Associates, ProVision, Turley, Place Services Essex County Council, Crawley Borough Council, Barton Willmore Edinburgh / from the Urban Design Group
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National Urban Design Awards 2016
Wednesday 9th March 2016
18.15-22.15
Sponsored by Marshalls
- Practice Award - Francis Tibbalds £1000 Award
- Public Sector Award
- Book Award
- Student Award – Francis Tibbalds £500 Award
- Lifetime Achievement Award
UDG, RICS, RIBA, ICE, CIHT, RTPI and other sister professions
Standard Tickets £75
Next UDG Solent Event
Thursday February 11th 2016 – 4-6.30pm
Delivering Custom and Self Build Housing
Yolande Barnes (Savills) – Research on build to own
Fabiano Lemes/ Silvio Caputo (Portsmouth University) – Custom Build and Urban Design
Ron Beattie (Beattie Passivhaus) – Building your own Passivhaus – training and delivery
All events start at 4.00pm and are located in Savills Southampton office:
Floor 8
2 Charlotte Place Southampton SO140TB
Please email Peter Frankum at Savills if you wish to attend.
UDG London Events 2016
PUBLIC SPACE or PUBLIC CORPORATE SPACE
with lessons from Kings Cross and City of London. Wed 10 February
A view of what public realm been achieved, how is financed and managed
Anna Strongman, Partner at Argent, and Victor Callister, now Deputy Director at Design Council Cabe and previously Assist Director of Environmental Enhancement at the City. Chaired by Philip Cave.
6.30 – 8.45pm at Argent Offices, 4 Stable Street, London N1C4AB ( for directions).
Talk followed by complementary drinks and networking
£7 advanced booking only through Eventbright . Numbers are restricted
PLEASE NOTE THIS EVENT IS NOT BEING HELD AT THE GALLERY - BUT WITHIN THE KINGS CROSS DEVELOPMENT
Latin America
Tuesday 15 March
South West
Urban Design - From Process to Place
RTPI supported by UDG
16th March 2016 - @ Taunton
Rebuilding “open planned” council housing estates could help meet London’s housing needs
Up to 360,000 extra homes could be created in London by redeveloping council estates to a higher density along street patterns, according to Government commissioned report
London needs to build some 50,000 new homes a year over the next 20 years and some of this requirement can be accommodated by increasing the density of existing places, including local authority housing estates.
Many such estates require updating and this can be done in a way that creates many more homes, a significantly improved living environment for existing and future residents, and better value for local authorities. This would be achieved by rebuilding estates in a street-based pattern, fully integrated into the urban network of neighbouring streets.
Download PDF – Completing Streets
/ Vision Zero UK Launch
How many people should die on our streets and highways each year? 2000? 200? 20? Well how about zero? This is the goal of the Vision Zero Campaign launched in the UK on Tuesday. The Vision Zero movement began in 1997 in Sweden. Led by central government, it has succeeded in making the streets and highways in Sweden being among the safest in the world.
One of the ways to reduce deaths, is to reduce exposure. It is easy to reduce cyclist deaths by reducing the number of people cycling. But this would be a totally wrong interpretation of the Vision Zero ambition, which is to encourage healthy, active mobility and especially walking and cycling, and also to reduce fear. Around 90 percent of crashes are caused by human error. This can lead to an approach which focuses on blaming the road users. But central to the Vision Zero philosophy is to accept that people make mistakes and to try to create a street environment that does not punish human fallibility with death and injury. What few UK practitioners realise is that that is also what the Common Law requires – which is to have regard to the safety of careful and negligent road users – (see Yetkin vs Newham).
At the launch event Professor Anders Lie, from the, Swedish Transport Administration, outlined the measures adopted in Sweden including.. ABS for motorcycles (50 percent reduction in fatalities)
- 2+1 roads – placing a crash barrier down the centre of rural highways to stop head on collisions - 90% reduction in fatalities (2+1 road is a specific category of three-lane road inter-urban road, consisting of two lanes in one direction (to enable overtaking) and one lane in the other, alternating every few kilometres, and separated usually with a steel cable barrier.
- Seat belt reminders - 80% reduction in fatalities
- Rearward facing child restraints CRS 90% reduction in fatalities
- Automatic Braking Systems (ABS) on Motorcycles 50 percent reduction in fatality risk
- Electronic Stability Control Electronic Stability Control
Speed limits should be set to ensure survival given the current state of vehicle design:
Head on / 80 kph / 50mph
Side Collisions / 70 kph / 44mph
Rear end / 40 kph / 25mph
Pedestrian / 40 kph& preferably 30 kph / 25 / 19 mph
Dr Adrian Davis, of Public Health Bristol, spoke of the need for a systems wide approach, as there were so many different interests involved and so many different effects. Obesity for example is linked to the amount of physical activity, which is in part influenced by people’s perception of road danger. He quoted the vision for Bristol that it should be a city safe for a 10-year-old to walk independently to school.
Anna Semlyen, Co Founder, Vision Zero UK, warned that the consequences of fear, death and injury on the roads in the UK was costing at least £500 per head per individual. When roads are dangerous, people don’t exercise enough risking obesity, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and other health problems. The UK currently had terrible levels of cycling – as few as 4 percent of people cycling daily – amongst 5th lowest of all EU 28 countries. Costing just £3 per head, she argued that 20 mph limits were an effective option, offering
- 20 percent fewer casualties
- Noise reduced by half
- An improvement in air quality equivalent to talking half the petrol cars off the road
Professor John Whitelegg, Co Founder, Vision Zero UK, spoke of the challenges involved in getting some professionals to take road safety seriously. He related the story of an encounter between a Swedish Government minister who asked her officials, after they had indicated that they didn’t like Vision zero – what should we aim for in numbers of dead Swedish children. They replied that it was an unfair question. “Well I think its zero”, said the minister, adding that if they thought there should a different target then they should say so and make their views public. Needless to say, Sweden got its Vision Zero initiative.
Vision zero means getting to grips with urban design Professor Whitelegg added – a huge increase in people walking and cycling is needed. He also called for much more team working. How often does a roads designer sit down with an urban designer or with a public health practitioner? – he asked.
Discussion
In discussion, there the need for the proper investigation of road deaths was a repeated theme. In the marine, rail and aviation sectors each incident is investigated and recommendations made. On streets and highways, while coroners have powers to make recommendations, the attitude is that deaths are an unfortunate but inevitable, and there is little to be done. The impression is one of resignation at best, and complacency at worst.
There was concern about an inherent bias towards vehicles and vehicle safety and a tendency to give pedestrians and cyclists a lower priority. Adrian Davis complained that the time saving debate is skewed and unscientific – eg that the time of people in cars are more important than people cycling or on buses. It is these hidden but devastating biases that compromise the way cities are designed and built.
More information.
UDG Executive Supports Vision Zero
The UDG Executive has given the UK Vision Zero Campaign its support and endorsement. /PRACTICE OF THE WEEK
West Saltash, Cornwall
Nathaniel Lichfield & Partners
West Saltash is one of Cornwall’s most exciting strategic housing projects. The site’s location, scale and inherent landscape qualities - including extensive woodland - present a unique opportunity to develop a high quality, sustainable, mixed-use community where people will want to live.
The site covers approximately 120 hectares on the outskirts of Saltash. The proposal for up to 1,000 new homes, nearly six hectares of employment, a primary school, shops, hotel and community facilities.
The local community has helped shape the scheme and the design has been the result of a creative exercise to achieve a high quality development. The masterplan iterations have developed through design review with the Cornwall Design Review Panel and in consultation with the Council, statutory consultees and the local community. Public consultation has been extensive and has helped shape the application proposals. There is strong public support for the development and planning permission was granted in 2014.
The aim is to create a highly desirable environment which is a first choice on all levels: outstanding new homes, quality infrastructure, distinctive and extensive open spaces, education, local quality employment and comprehensive services. A £125m construction investment will transform the area and once operational the site alone will provide 700 direct jobs.
Additional facilities will include shared public orchards, allotments and imaginative children’s play areas as well as outdoor sports amenities, cycle paths and walking routes for use by existing local residents. This mix will foster the creation of a truly sustainable extended community.
Read more
Have you used the Urban Design journal archive yet?
100+ editions now available to download free
UDG volunteers working over the holiday break have completed the digitising of all available back copies of Urban Design. Well over 100 are now available to download free.
Jobs
Urban Designer Phil Jones Associates
Urban Design Consultant, Place Services - Essex County Council
Masterplanner - EDP - Cirencester
Urban Designer – Edinburgh - Barton Willmore
Senior Urban Designer – Provision – nr Winchester
Associate Director, Urban Design, Turley - Bristol
Design Director, Turley
Urban Designer - Crawley Borough Council
To advertise jobs in Urban Update – please email
Volvo promises zero death car by 2020
The vehicles will combine
- Blind-spot detectors now watch for oncoming vehicles,
- adaptive cruise controls reduce speed based on cars ahead,
- camera systems which warn drivers when they drift out of their lanes
- Rear impact mitigation
- Pedestrian detection
- Collision avoidance and automatic braking
- Sign reading
- Driver fatigue detection – many motorway crashes are caused by sleep.
20s Plenty for Us Conference
Friday 26 February 2016 – The Guildhall, London
Events and Webinars
Academy of Urbanism
Pub Quiz – with Rob Cowan
1 Feb 7-10pm
Landscape Institute
Rethinking the Urban Landscape Exhibition
Leeds, Sheffield – see website for dates
MADE
Build your own - Wolverhampton Arts & Heritage
Competition deadline 8th Jan
City Builder Academy
July 2016
West Midlands Urban Design Forum
Next events 2016Yorkshire
Regional Urbanism in the Era of Globalisation
3-5 Feb – University of Huddersfield
Engage Liverpool
The Creative Process - Film31st January
Urban Design London
Events coming up – extensive programme some free, some charged/ £175+VAT(Free for UDLsubscribers)Challenging Practice: Street Design
26th January
Cycling Infrastructure Skills: Achieving Balance in Scheme Design
28th January 2016 (09:15 – 16:00)
Design South East / Kent Design
Event Calendar
Designing our Highways
10 February Canterbury
Booking…
/ Architecture and Design Scotland
Several workshops on the use of traditional materials coming up. No one should attempt architecture or urban design in Scotland without a knowledge of Ballachulish slate!
IHBC
Culture. Capital. Cities. UK City of Culture 2021 / European Capital of Culture 2023
11 February 2016 - Manchester
Museum of Walking
Dash or Dawdle – Clerkenwell PubsAny day until the 22March 2016
Out and About in Shoreditch–Journal making and walkshop
Saturday 13 February10.45am-1.45pm
Geffrye Museum, London E2
Centre for Cities
Cities Outlook 2016 Launch
25 January 2016| 12.30pm| CIty Hall, London
BOBMK Events
Future of Transport and Innovation
February 2016
@ Milton Keynes
PTRC
Transport Practitioners Meeting 2016 – Nottingham29-30 June 2016 | Nottingham
Call for papers open.
Transport Planning Society
4th Annual Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects Forum 2016
9th February
RTPI
/ Latest Lectures
on UrbanNous
New
Improving the quality of new housing: Negotiating improvements in delivery and design
Amy Burbidge is Design Action Manager atNorth Northamptonshire Joint Planning Unit.
Improving the quality of new housing: New issues for affordable housing.
Andy von Bradsky is former Chairman of PRP, Chair of the RIBA Housing Group, Board Member of the Housing Forum and recent chair of the Governmentappointed Challenge Panel for the HousingStandards Review that advised on UK standards for housing of all tenures.
A better future for high streets and town centres.
Julian Dobson, Urban Pollinators
Towns and cities: Function in form
Julian Hart, Lancefield Consulting
Designing the business model: Sharing land uplift and unlocking long term value.
Yolande Barnes, Director of the World Research team at Savills
Weather in the City – How Design Shapes the Urban Climate
SandaLenzholzer
All urban designers, architects, planners, and highway engineers should have a knowledge of this subject.
UrbanNous Catalogue available on-line
Highlights include Christopher Alexander, George Ferguson, Hans Monderman and scores of others.
Urban Nous is produced and operated by Fergus Carnegie for the benefit of practitioners worldwide.
Walter Segal Housing Exhibition to March AA London
Urban Design around the World
Australia
Beat the heat: western Sydney tackles the urban heat island effectChina
Why China Keeps Building So Many Western-style Copycat TownsDenmark
Europe's most liveable city? The secret of Odense's post-industrial revolutionA bumpy ride in Copenhagen, city of cycling
USA
Social goals now top revitalization plans for south downtown neighborhoodWill U.S. Cities Design Their Way Out of the Affordable Housing Crisis?
Politics, Philosophy, Economics
Town Centre Investments Zone - Report of the Fragmented Ownership GroupRecommendations involve the pooling of a critical mass of property assets into an investment vehicle, will allow the assets to be managed and curated, rejuvenating the high street.
Environment
Assessment aims to maximize greenhouse gas reductions from bioenergyScientists apply new method to determine whether specific climate impacts can be traced to human-caused emissions
Rising carbon dioxide emissions pose 'intoxication' threat to world's ocean fish
A new study puts temperature increases caused by CO2 emissions on the map
Zika virus may have infected 100,000s in South America – leads to microcephaly in new-borns
List of arthropods found In a typical American Midwest house - potentially 200 species
Built Environment
A fence blocking a Wellington couple’s million-dollar views amounts to a “territorial violation … ”, a court has been told.Look at the photos – you will probably agree. In many countryis6ft fences are progressively closing off the views and streetscenes.
Is Odense, with its commitment to whole city cycling, Europe’s most liveable city?
Patent filed for drive-in Supermarket
The New Rules of Public Art
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Latest Research, Policy and Practice
Health
Drexel Research and Community-Based Projects in Consortium's First Annual Report on Health and Urban DesignCan a High-Rise Apartment Make You Fat?
Anew studyout of Switzerland, however, has found a long-term connection between obesity and urban geography. “ It’s possible you behave like your neighbors, and it’s possible the fact that you arrive in a building where your neighbors are obese …it’s more likely for you to become obese”
Study shows that heart attacks are deadlier in tall buildings
Regular exercise critical for heart health, longevity – concern that media have created a myth that exercise can damage the heart
Mentally challenging activities key to a healthy aging mind
Creating a dementia-friendly world: what it looks like, and why it has to include the workplace
No evidence of seasonal differences in depressive symptoms – Winter blues don’t exist
The importance of play for young children in developing life-skills
First-of-its-kind study finds parental debt affects children's socioemotional well-being
Chronic stress and anxiety can damage the brain
Too much sugar during adolescence may alter brain's reward circuits
Nature Offers Clues to Designing for Health
Norway – Air pollution caused by log burners
Movement