VISIONARY AND AMBITIOUS PLAN-MAKING key characteristics of the visioning process report 1
VISIONARY AND AMBITIOUS PLAN-MAKING
creating better places for people
From 2009 to 2011, A+DS has engaged with Planning Authorities across Scotland to explore approaches to delivering ‘visionary and ambitious’ plans consistent with the spirit of the reform of the Planning System. The purpose of this series of three short reports set out lessons learned. The series has been written and edited by Andrew Guest [a journalist who writes about design and the environment] following a review of the outputs of the visioning processes, consultation with the Planning Authority staff and engagement with A+DS. The three reports in the series comprise: •
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Report 1: Key Characteristics of the Visioning Process This report summarises the processes, techniques, skills and values of the visioning processes tested at a range of scales from Strategic Development Plan to small town level Report 2: Case Studies - this report The case studies set out a short précis of the visioning processes in the five locations. These include visioning at Strategic Development Plan [SDP] level with Tayplan; visioning at the small city scale in the new Local Development Plan [LDP] process in Stirling and Inverness; visioning at the district scale and area guidance level at Edinburgh Waterfront, and; visioning at the small town scale in Neilston, East Renfrewshire. Report 3: Overview and lessons learned This report is a set of reflections by Andrew Guest on what worked and what could be improved from the evidence of the case studies. It is set in the context of the objective of achieving better places in Scotland, the issues and challenges this presents, and how visionary plans can help.
VISIONARY AND AMBITIOUS PLAN-MAKING creating better places for people
Key characteristics of the visioning process
Introduction In its 2008 circular ‘Delivering Planning Reform’, the Scottish Government described planning as crucial for delivering the Government’s key target of sustainable economic growth and declared that ‘planning should be one of the creative driving forces behind the delivery of better places in Scotland.’ This new view of planning calls for both Strategic and Local Development Plans to be ‘concise, visionary documents’ which communicate clearly to all public and private stakeholders, individuals and communities a shared aspiration for what that place wants to be in 20 years’ time. These aspirations should be encapsulated in the plan’s Vision Statement, and a Spatial Strategy that should describe how it would change and grow as a place; the Plan should also express a clear understanding of how this place relates to its neighbouring areas. Becoming a ‘creative driving force’, and producing ‘concise, visionary documents’ are not without their challenges for planning and for planners, and for local authorities in general. But the possibility of a local or a regional plan changing its function from something mainly seen as a reactive brake on development to a document that expresses a whole area’s pro-active vision for the kind of place it wants to be is of considerable importance. Such a plan (and the attitudes that go with it) could give the local authority the means to be on the front foot in terms of development and marketmaking, take away some of the oppositional character of the present planning system, create a more co-operative starting-point for more substantive participation by different communities, and provide more backbone for the Community Planning Process itself.
A+DS has supported five plan-making projects at five different scales
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The Scottish Government has supported the development of this new approach to planning through programmes such as the Scottish Sustainable Communities Initiative, the publication of the ‘Delivering Better Places’ good practice guide, and some of the work of the 6 Urban Regeneration Companies. As the Government’s ‘champion for good architecture, design and planning in the built environment’ Architecture and Design Scotland (A+DS) focused a significant part of its 2009/10/11 urbanism programme on working closely with a selected group of planning authorities on the production of plans at a variety of scales, in order to demonstrate a variety of options for producing plans and spatial strategies that were both visionary and concise. As a body that is not a key agency that has a ‘duty to co-operate’ in the preparation of such plans, A+DS was able to make an independent input into the production of five plans, working alongside each authority’s existing processes and timetables, using a variety of tools and co-ordinating a number of different inputs.
storyboarding the process
The purpose of this document is to set out a brief description of what is involved in the visioning processes in broad terms, what resources and skills are required, the value and status of the outputs from the process and how the process works as a tool for engaging a diverse set of groups.
Key characteristics of the visioning process Process •
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This approach to plan-making is radically different from the ‘normal’ approach of ‘survey, analyse, plan.’ The less rationalist and less technocratic approach of ‘visioning’ is more imaginative, inclusive and engaging and, with a clear emphasis on answering the question ‘what do we want this place to be like?’, also produces a tangible outcome on which to focus. Although the process needs to be planned properly and given an overall direction, the process does not need to be thought of as sequential and stage by stage, but can be seen as one that can gather in inputs from a variety of investigations, many of which could go on in parallel. Although spatial design is an important part of this plan-making, the visioning process is about taking a whole place view of people and spatial issues. In this context, a vision is like a brief for a place. It’s about outcomes. Once we understand the outcomes, or the concept, we can express the qualities of place. These qualities can help us shape parameters for the built environment; in other words, we can derive the technical aspects of a placemaking brief from the vision: the design brief becomes more place-based.
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the visioning process integrates with the plan making timetable
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Resources and time-scale • • •
The visioning process should take place at as early as possible a stage in the development planning process, and its programme and time-scale needs to be well planned. The visioning process can be done relatively quickly (in fact it is better if it is done over a short time-scale with a momentum that keeps people engaged and focused). Although it needs specialist input and facilitation, the process if planned properly need not be expensive.
Techniques and ingredients • •
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The key ‘tool’ in this approach to plan-making is that of making tangible propositions as a basis for stimulating thinking and provoking response. There is no single toolkit that can be applied to the process. There are a variety of tools that can be used and it is better that each place chooses from these as appropriate to their particular situation. The case studies on the five projects illustrate the use of some of these tools. A key part of this kind of plan-making is making the space to have the discussion about different aspects of what make up that place and about the aspirations of the people who live in that place.
Skills •
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The visioning process does call for skills which planning departments may not have in-house or be used to deploying. These range from skills such as project management and facilitation (which might be available in other parts of a local authority) to more specialised skills such as urban design, illustration, writing. The ability to talk about concepts around design and place to professional and nonprofessional audiences in clear, simple, language or images is a key ingredient in the process. In the case studies A+DS played a key role in bringing some of these skills to the project, or supporting the councils in acquiring them. While there can often be a downside to planning authorities using external consultants, in this process there was often a distinct advantage in having an independent, external view from a body such as A+DS, or from other consultants; this provided an external perception on something that it is easy for local authorities to become too close to, and a challenge that authorities often welcomed. The process also saw skills being acquired. These included knowledge - A+DS brought some to the table, but also gained knowledge from the discussions and the way they were engaged in the process by the councils; people also learned from each other by taking part in the group sessions and people applied what they learned, so that they
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‘...what kind of place do we want to be?’
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were aware of the knowledge they had, the knowledge they needed, who had it, and where they could get it. The national (and international) overview of urban design and planning, coupled with a good understanding of the local and regional context in which authorities were operating, was a valuable contribution of A+DS. The support of a national body for local practice was also valuable in building confidence in the process.
Value and status •
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Plan-making such as this is even more necessary in times of restricted capital development because it can provide a direction for a wider range of development and justification for a more flexible approach by the local authority. A visioning process provides an opportunity to raise the agenda of pro-active plan-making across the whole authority, and at a higher level within the authority. A visionary, pro-active plan and a good spatial strategy lead to better briefs for masterplans or sites and give the authority the means to remain assertively engaged in directing the output of scheme development. A well-conducted visioning exercise has a value that extends beyond the production of the strategic or local plan. It can provide a good starting-point for continuing engagement with communities, and for further stages of the plan-making process such as the preparation of the action plan and for achieving better quality standards in development. The visioning process has a direct value in making a better plan, but also an indirect value such as engaging stakeholders better in the process and exposing staff to new ideas and different expertise.
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Engagement •
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Making this space for discussion brings with it the benefits of early engagement with key stakeholders and also of engaging with a wider community than more traditional plan-making. It is important that, although the overall agenda is to shape the plan, these sessions are as open and free from agenda as possible, and that they encourage as much participation as possible. The work of obtaining buy-in from staff, councillors and stakeholders should start as near the start of the process as possible. Because of its focus on engagement and communication, and its desire to address big picture issues in simple language, the visioning process seems to have particular value in engaging the attention and involvement of councillors. But it remains a challenge to link a vision and delivery and to influence capital investment and budgets. . Perhaps visioning can be seen as a set of steps which build consensus and which needs backed up with technical discussions on better use of public resources to achieve outcomes at local and strategic levels
Conclusion The visioning process is an inclusive, pro-active activity that can engage councillors, citizens and a wide variety of stake-holders in drawing up a creative, forward-looking aspiration for a whole Council area, or a particular part of one, on the basis of asking the question ‘what kind of place do we want to be?’ It can provide both the planning authority and more importantly its citizens with an easily communicable and dynamic vision which can not only help define shared values but which can act as a powerful brief for development, enabling the public authority and its representatives to provide an important, live and flexible context to guide the contributions of both developers and designers. Running a ‘visioning’ project may be outside planners’ normal theatre of operation, but this should be seen as a positive, as the process provides an opportunity to involve a wide range of creative skills and points of views in the practice of planning, and its true goal – the making of better places. This brings long-term benefits both for the participants in the process and for planning itself and the image and understanding of this central part of the role and function of a public authority. Andrew Guest August 2011
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