People first placemaking

Short-termism is killing our cities – you only have to look at the proliferation of new home build projects to see how few would pass muster on any test which measures aesthetics, resident well-being, child friendliness and environmental impact. Most city centres have been saved by the legacy of the Victorian and Georgian eras. But, just imagine, if these architectural gems didn’t exist and we were left entirely to the vagaries of today’s market economics.

 It is astonishing how little consideration is currently being given to people, health and planet. We now know so much more about the link between where we live and our physical and mental health. Exercises, I have led with pupils in secondary schools in Edinburgh and Glasgow show that the upcoming generation have a different vision of their built environment. They are also quick to point out that, we allow millions of lives to be directed by those whose sole focus is on profit. A life built on short-term return and long-term greed is a life impoverished and without noble purpose. As Andrew Carnegie said: "The man who dies thus rich dies disgraced.

 Short life build is not good enough

 Buildings with a 30 – 40-year life-span spring up with minimum regard for human life or nature. Many are aesthetically criminal. This matters. Listen, if crime can be reduced in Tirana merely by painting buildings in bright colours, planting trees and cleaning up civic spaces, imagine the impact we can make with a more creative approach to place making. In my experience that imagination resides in the communities themselves. Your neighbourhood should be an extension of your home where you see things you enjoy; where you walk freely and safely and where your children play without fear. We want colour, greenery, trees, benches, meeting places and essential transport and services with easy walking distance. We want to see the pedestrian and the cyclist as primary concerns.

I live in the Leith area of Edinburgh where new homes are springing up at a rate of knots. When I look around l see evidence that quantity has overtaken quality and the life of the resident seems to have been relegated to squaring the supply and demand equation. If there is an easy market – put it up, pocket the proceeds and sod the consequences. If there are commercial spaces, get in a global player who can set up in weeks. It is more profitable to skimp on those pesky considerations than to account for social and environmental impacts.

 Inspirational examples exist

 Our built environment impacts our mood. That’s why more and more urban planners around the world are taking a long-term view. Take Gehl Architects of Copenhagen whose focus is entirely on improving urban life. They re-orient city designs towards the pedestrian and cyclist. That people first approach has seen the company being awarded contracts in all corners of the World. They create beautiful, livable and human environments and examples of their work show us what is possible. We may talk a good game in this country, but with the rhetoric we need action and delivery. This is not a time for small mindedness and low ambition. Neither should we get caught up in needless red tape and cow to the complexity sellers.

Urban design needs broad vision. It needs nature and humanity to be at its core and it needs to be bold and unflinching in the face of fast-buck and unthinking opposition. Above all it needs a local signature – a distinction, a personality, a recognition of its people past and present.

I have led many community workshops over the years – bringing together residents young and old with architects, planners and a host of service professionals. It is astonishing how much can be achieved by pooling ideas. The future seems uncertain right now but, here is one way in which people can be critically involved in shaping their environment.

New ideas for a ready audience

 In the past year, I have had the chance to present my visionary approach to what neighbourhoods could look and feel like. It excites audiences and shifts the conversation from the probable to the possible and asks questions that haven’t been asked before. I show a wall in Dresden that plays music when it rains. I talk of how food can be grown and distributed locally. How public art can impact on mood and attract inward tourism. I talk of how fun and play can be integral to design. I also challenge labels like social housing as creating built in stigma. As the great thinkers from the 18th century proved this is not about amending our thinking this is about overturning ideas.