We are working through interesting times. What ever we did before, we now need to be quicker, more decisive, while continuing to provide quality for smaller fees. I have been arguing for some time that the process driven, step-by-step master planning process, we inherited from the CABE, The Urban Design Compendium and most of the urban design profession needs to change. It‘s far too clunky, slow to respond, short of ideas and cliché ridden. The gap between analysis and proposals are often huge and much analysis appears to be going through the motions without any clear idea of what is really needed. If we are not thinking from the start what is possible then we are wasting time and money both of which is in short supply. I call this analysis paralysis and it stops us cutting to the quick straight away. My mantra these days is, get it right first time.
Of course what you need is lots of the following:
- The ability to think in an open and intuitive way.
- Confidence in knowing that you will get it right and not being afraid to draw.
- Leadership to communicate clearly and promote and enthuse others.
If you have access to the above its quite possible to master plan a town extension in a day…here is an example.
First Iteration: