Resources
Since 2000, the planning system in the UK has been in the process of reform and design has become an important issue. A number of award schemes and voluntary standards have been initiated to promote good design. These intend to describe good design as not only aesthetic quality but as fulfilling various other needs. For example that housing is built to last, for all types of people to occupy and that the risk of crime is reduced. Competitors need to make sure that their designs meet these standards as they develop.
CABE publications
The following CABE publications are relevant to the issues raised by Europan, and entrants may find them a useful reference point for current design and planning policy and good practice examples in the UK. .
Creating successful masterplans
Successful masterplanning is the key to creating great places. A clear, considered
masterplan developed by professionals and local people together can lead to
the physical, social and economic revival of places. Creating successful
masterplans sets out advice for masterplanning project clients based on the experience
of CABE's enabling and design review programmes.
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Creating successful neighbourhoods
Creating successful neighbourhoods highlights how the adoption of design innovation
is leading to early success in the Government's nine housing market renewal
Pathfinder areas.
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Building sustainable communities: actions for housing market renewal
Published in June 2003, Actions for housing market renewal sets out a 'manifesto'
of seven actions for successful housing market renewal in the nine Pathfinder
areas in the North and Midlands of England.
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Actions for housing growth: creating a legacy of great places
Actions for housing growth contains 10 actions for local government and delivery vehicles that are seeking to create high-quality places in areas of housing growth. From putting in place the right design processes to building teams with the right skills to deliver the vision, this guide explores what is needed to make places where people want to invest, live and work. It includes case studies that demonstrate the results of effectively putting the actions into practice to create successful places. Download PDF here.
Start with the Park
Published in June 2005, this guide gives an overview of the issues to be considered
in designing and managing green spaces within sustainable communities.
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this publication
Delivering great places to live: 20 questions you need to answer
This guide explains the 20 Building for Life standard criteria. Developers
can use the 20 questions as a basis for writing development briefs, with a
view to speeding up planning approvals and winning local community support.
Local authorities can use them to demand high standards of design. Delivering
great places to live provides a valuable tool to assess design quality in new
housing schemes and should be referred to when applying for a Building for
Life standard.
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Housing audit: assessing the design quality of new homes in London, the South East and East of England
This publication was the first phase of a nationwide
audit of new build housing.
It covered London, the South East and East of England and has assessed 100
housing developments for quality in terms of layout, urban design and place-making
and uncovered the processes that helped shape them.
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Housing audit: Assessing the design quality of new homes in the North East, North West and Yorkshire & Humber
How good is the new private housing being built in England today? With rapid
housing growth now planned, it's a vital question for developers, planners,
government and consumers. The CABE housing audit seeks to provide an answer.
It offers a detailed assessment of nearly 100 new private developments across
the north of England and follows 2004's audit of homes in the south. The audit
reveals some sobering news on new housing design, but equally highlights what
can be achieved when developers get it right.
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Housing audit: assessing the design quality of new housing in the East Midlands, West Midlands and the South West
This final part of CABE's national housing audit looks specifically at new
developments in the East Midlands, West Midlands and the South West and also
completes our assessment of the quality of new homes in England as a whole.
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publication
Manual for streets
The purpose of the Manual for streets is to consolidate the necessary
components for effective street design into a single integrated source of information
and guidance that will facilitate professional communication and understanding.
The manual recognises the full range of design criteria necessary for the
delivery of multi-functional streets and ensures that practitioners have the
most up to date information available on the considerations relevant to those
criteria, including quantitative thresholds where appropriate. There is also
a Manual for Streets website.
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Standards and best practice
Building for life
A housing standard, which is the national benchmark for well-designed housing and neighbourhoods in England.
EcoHomes
The independently assessed environmental rating for homes. The performance of a development is rated on a variety of issues: energy; water; pollution; materials; transport; ecology and land use; health and well-being. To achieve excellence a design must achieve a score of 70% which would mean that most issues highlighted would be addressed to some degree. The EcoHomes Pre-Assessment Estimator (Adobe PDF) gives a useful indication of the design issues.
Lifetime homes
These standards for flexible and adaptable homes are the result of careful study and research. A wheelchair-turning circle was chosen as the benchmark for a good space requirement. This is true for parents with small children, people with bikes or bags of shopping. Accessibility is for everyone, not just people who use wheelchairs.
Code for Sustainable Homes
Published in mid-December 2006, this is currently a voluntary code that sets out six levels of environmental performance that go beyond current building regulations. The highest being zero-carbon homes, which it aims, step by step to make a common standard within a decade. The code builds on EcoHomes and will use the same method of independent assessment. It also includes Lifetime homes principles. From April 2007 all Housing Corporation grant-funded schemes will have to achieve level 3 of the Code for Sustainable Homes Framework. This is a mandatory requirement and therefore will be relevant to this competition. Level 3 is similar to ECO Homes 'Excellent' but will require greater overall performance.
Sustainability checklist
There is broad agreement that new developments need to contribute to the creation of sustainable communities. Tools such as EcoHomes/BREEAM/Code for Sustainable Homes assess the sustainability of designs for individual new homes and buildings. This checklist works at the next scale, helping developers, local authorities and other interested parties to assess how sustainable designs are for new housing and mixed use developments. Specifically relating to developments in the South East, but a useful introduction to the wider issues of development.
Housing Corporation scheme development standards
The Housing Corporation is the government agency that funds new affordable homes and regulates housing associations in England. It may fund affordable housing at each of the UK Europan sites, via housing associations. Although currently under review, scheme development standards are a good guide to the general themes that entrants should consider.
Green Flag award
The national standard for parks and green spaces in England and Wales devised as a means of recognising and rewarding the best green spaces in the country. It is also seen as a way of encouraging others to achieve the same high environmental standards, creating a benchmark of excellence in recreational green areas.
Secured by Design
Secured by Design is an initiative led by UK Police supporting the principles of "designing out crime", by use of effective crime prevention and security standards for a range of applications. In the context of housing design the initiative supports one of the Government's key planning objectives - the creation of secure, quality places where people wish to live and work.
By design: urban design in the planning system
Published by CABE and the DETR in 2000, this guide aims to promote higher
standards in urban design and provide sound, practical advice. By design generally seeks to encourage developments that respond to the local context,
have attractive well-enclosed streets and spaces, are accessible by all forms
of transport and are easy to move around.
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Urban design compendium
Published in August 2000 in partnership with The Housing Corporation, the compendium examines the factors that make neighbourhoods stimulating and active places in which residents feel comfortable and safe. It aims to provide accessible advice to developers, funding agencies and partners on the achievement and assessment of the quality of urban design for the development and regeneration of urban areas. It is designed to provide a source of best practice to all those involved in the regeneration and development industries.
Car parking: what works where
Published in May 2006 by English Partnerships, this toolkit highlights the most appropriate car parking approach according to density of development and housing typology. It takes stock of common car parking treatments and reviews how successful they are in providing adequate levels of safe parking with a high quality environment. CD-ROM or hard copies can be ordered from the English Partnerships website.
Sustainable communities plan
The Deputy Prime Minister launched the sustainable communities plan (Sustainable communities: building for the future) on 5 February 2003. The plan sets out a long-term programme of action for delivering sustainable communities in both urban and rural areas. It aims to tackle housing supply issues in the South East, low demand in other parts of the country, and the quality of our public spaces.
The plan includes not just a significant increase in resources and major reforms of housing and planning, but a new approach to how we build and what we build. The programme of action aims to focus the attention and co-ordinate the efforts of all levels of government and stakeholders in bringing about development that meets the economic, social and environmental needs of future generations as well as succeeding now.
UK planning policy
Planning policy statement 1: delivering sustainable development (PPS1)
PPS1 sets out the government's overarching planning policies on the delivery of sustainable development through the planning system. This PPS replaces Planning policy guidance note 1, general policies and principles, published in February 1997. Published alongside PPS1 is The planning system: general principles. This provides a general description of key elements of the planning system, including its structure the determination of planning applications and the Secretary of State's role.
Planning policy statement 3: housing (PPS3)
Planning policy statement 3: housing (PPS3) underpins the delivery of the government's strategic housing policy objectives and their goal to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to live in a decent home, which they can afford, in a community where they want to live. PPS3 replaces Planning policy guidance 3: housing (PPG3) which was published in March 2000.
Planning policy guidance 17: sport and recreation (PPG17)
PPG17 describes the role of the planning system in assessing opportunities and needs for sport and recreation provision and safeguarding open space which has recreational value. The guidance observes that it is part of the function of the planning system to ensure that through the preparation of development plans adequate land and water resources are allocated for organised sport and informal recreation.
Planning policy statement 22: renewable energy
PPS22 sets out the Government's policies for renewable energy, which planning authorities should have regard to when preparing local development documents and when taking planning decisions.
