Matthew Carmona

Public space : the management dimension

In both the UK and the US there is a sense of dissatisfaction and pessimism about the state of urban environments, particularly with the quality of everyday public spaces. Explanations for this have emphasized the poor quality of design that characterizes many new public spaces; spaces that are dominated by parking, roads infrastructure, introspective buildings, a lack of enclosure and a poor sense of place, and which in different ways for different groups are too often exclusionary. Yet many well designed public spaces have also experienced decline and neglect, as the services and activities upon which the continuing quality of those spaces have been subject to the same constraints and pressures for change as public services in general. These issues touch upon the daily management of public space, that is, the coordination of the many different activities that constantly define and redefine the characteristics and quality of public space. This book draws on three empirical projects to examine the questions of public space management on an international stage. They are set within a context of theoretical debates about public space, its history, contemporary patterns of use and changing nature in western society, and about the new management approaches that are increasingly being adopted.

Contemporary Public Space, Part Two: Classification

There are a series of discrete but related critiques of the contemporary public space situation, and it was these that the first part of this paper identified and organized. These drew on different scholarly traditions to highlight the key tensions at the heart of the contemporary public space debate. It revealed that critiques of public space could broadly be placed into two camps: those who argue that public space is over-managed, and those who argue that it is under-managed. This second part of the paper begins by arguing that both over and under-management critiques result in the same end, a homogenization of public space, although these outcomes may not be as stark as many of the critics would have us believe. What is clear is that the critiques reveal a range of public space types and means of classification. These are used in a final section of this paper to suggest a new typology of public space, one based on how public space is managed.

Contemporary Public Space: Critique and Classification, Part One: Critique

This two-part paper draws upon different scholarly traditions to highlight the key tensions at the heart of the contemporary public space debate. Critiques of public space can broadly be placed into two camps, those who argue that public space is over-managed, and those who argue that it is under-managed. This over-simplifies a complex discourse on public space that this paper aims to unpack, but nevertheless provides a useful lens through which to view the critiques. In fact there are a series of discrete but related critiques of the contemporary public space situation, and it is these that the first part of this paper identifies and organizes. In so doing it also reveals a range of public space types that are used in the second part of the paper to suggest a new typology of public space.

Stakeholder views on value and urban design

The value added by better urban design has for some time been contested. Nevertheless, the benefits of identifying a linkage between better urban design and enhanced economic value, as well as social and environmental value, are potentially significant. This article reports on one part of a recent research study that attempted to explore this linkage. It examines a review of stakeholder views on value and urban design on the basis of six case studies of varying urban design quality. The research method and case studies are briefly outlined, before the detailed views of key stakeholders--investors, developers, designers, occupiers, local authorities and everyday users--are presented and conclusions drawn. A key finding is that the benefits of better urban design are increasingly acknowledged across all key stakeholder groups, albeit in different ways and forms.

Performance measurement in planning—towards a holistic view

The UKs House of Commons Public Services Committee has described the state of performance measurement across the public sector as being data rich and information poor. This reflects the fact that the performance of most public services is extremely complex to measure, and as a result, performance measurement is often limited to those aspects that can easily and expediently be measured. Examining this conundrum, and in particular the processes, impact, and future of performance measurement in planning, provided the basis for research reported in this paper. The research drew from and relates to a profound and complex discussion about how the quality of the planning process per se can be reliably and usefully measured. The paper begins by summarising the results of a wide-ranging literature review in the form of a series of conceptual dilemmas. The objectives and methods of the research are then established, before the key research tool—the analytical framework—is presented. Space does not permit a full examination of the empirical phases of the research, although the results from this work is summarised before the research objectives are once again revisited. These lead, finally, to a suggested new model for measuring performance in planning.

Delivering new homes : processes, planners and providers

Part 1: Processes 1. Introduction 2. Planning Process 3. Housing Development Process 4. Social Housing Process Part 2: Tensions 5. Land 6. Delay 7. Discretion 8. Design 9. Gain 10. Co-ordination Part 3: Solutions 11. Streamlined Implementation 12. Inclusive Planning and Decision Making 13. Integrated and Realistic Working Practices 14. Certainty and Transparency 15. Positive and Proactive Planning 16. Moving On References Index

Design Coding and the Creative, Market and Regulatory Tyrannies of Practice

This paper reflects on a pilot programme to evaluate the use and effectiveness of design coding. It focuses on the roles and relationships between the different stakeholders in the coding process and compares the preconceptions about coding with actual experiences in use. The paper reveals the gulf in professional cultures that impact on the development process. This is underpinned by the continuing struggle between creative, market-driven and regulatory modes of praxis. The paper is polemical in that it points the finger at approaches that potentially undermine the creation of the built environment as a collective endeavour. It is also propositional in that it draws from the evidence-base provided by the pilot programme to propose that design coding could, if used correctly, positively regulate the essentials of urbanism, whilst leaving room for design creativity and enhanced market value. Effective coding can help to mediate the tyrannies of practice.

Dimensions and models of contemporary public space management in England

This article discusses the concept of public space management and its evolution in a context of wider changes to urban governance. Public space management is taken as a sphere of urban governance in which conflicting societal demands on, and aspirations for, public space are interpreted through a set of processes and practices. Four interlinked dimensions for public space management are proposed: the co-ordination of interventions; the regulation of uses and conflicts between uses; the definition and deployment of maintenance routines; and investment in public spaces and their services. Within this conceptual framework, the paper looks at recent changes in public space management in England to suggest the emergence of alternative models of management. These are based on the roles ascribed to the state, to private agents and to user organisations, and on different approaches to dealing with the four management dimensions. Although the discussion shows that these models are more than just abstract formulations, and have been used to deal with a variety of public space problems, an important purpose for the paper is to provide an analytical framework through which to examine emergent practices in the management of public space and their potential consequences.

Re-theorising contemporary public space: a new narrative and a new normative

The global public spaces literature has been critical of contemporary manifestations of public space on a number of grounds. This article reports on a research project that attempted to gauge the validity of these critiques through an examination of new and regenerated public spaces in London. The article introduces the dominant critiques around public space before outlining the mixed-methods approach used to interrogate them. The key findings from this work are summarised before the nature of contemporary public space is re-theorised in a more avowedly positive and pragmatic manner than is often the case, one that celebrates a return of a public spaces paradigm through tentatively advancing a new narrative and set of normative principles for public space generation. The work concludes that a more balanced view of public space is required, one that recognises the multiple complex types, roles and audiences for public spaces in cities today.

Public Space Management: Present and Potential

Abstract This paper explores approaches to the management of external public space, both now and in the future. The paper is in five parts. The discussion begins with an exploration of why public space management is universally an important concern by drawing from literature that argues that the quality of public space has declined, and that a greater engagement of the public sector in its management is required. Next, the research methodology is discussed which sought to investigate the management of public space in England as an example of trends and responses that point to a broader international concern. The approach included both a national survey of the state of play in public space management and a series of case studies that sought to explore innovative practice. Third, the results of a national survey are briefly outlined, with discussion following the same structure as the survey itself. Next, the results of detailed interviews with 20 local authority case studies that exhibited interesting or innovative practice in the local management of public space are presented. In a final part, conclusions are drawn which confirm that this is an area of public sector responsibility in need of significant investment and reform, but also that top-down initiatives from national government are beginning to inspire a burgeoning range of local government initiatives below. Therefore, although public space management remains a fragmented area of local government activity, a number of local authorities are beginning to establish a corresponding bottom-up agenda that seems to map a potential way forward for the future.