17-08-2014

outline of issues/aspects of
urban space and articulation
of need for Urban Design

outline of issues/ aspects of urban space

and articulation of need for Urban Design

• Urban Morphology
• Place-making & Identity
• Globalization – Ideas of sustainability &
Transit Metropolis
• Community participation
• Idea of Urban Catalyst

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 17-08-2014

outline of aspects of urban space and

articulation of need for Urban Design

• Urban Morphology
• Place-making & Identity
• Globalization – Ideas of sustainability &
Transit Metropolis
• Community participation
• Idea of Urban Catalyst

Harris Park is a richly diverse suburb
with a number of significant historic
sites dating from early European
settlement, including Elizabeth Farm
and Experiment Farm. Harris Park was
named after John Harris a NSW
surgeon who bought James ruse land
& built experiment farm cottage around
1798. The Initial settlements were
along the Parramatta River which was
the first mode of the transport from
Sydney.
In 1791 parramat ta Road was abstractly
formed. The street pattern reflected this
pattern & began to develop along the
parramatta Road. Developme nt of the
area dates from the early 1800s, with land
used mainly for farming.
In 1793 George street, Macquarie
street & Charles Street were formed
primarily to develop the city of
Parramatta. In 1794 100 acres
originally granted to John Harris.
In 1828 Parramatt a Road was well
formed. Streets patterns responded to
this road. The developmen t occurred
along both sides of the road.
Urban
Morphology

Regional Context
Source : Google earth
In 1 83 6 st re et p att er ns
con tin ue d to gr ow alo ng bot h In 1 84 4 3 m ajo r ro ads we re
sides of the river. pla nn ed in ha rri s p ark to
develop the area.

Sour ce : All Mor phol o gic al sketche s ar e Author ’s inter pr etati o n of histor y
m aps fr om Har r is Par k Cultur al Landsca pe Master plan

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In 1 85 5 r ailwa y line ca me i nto exis te nce . Sub divisi on of t he l an d was m ad e aft er th e rail way
ca me int o exi ste nc e. Du rin g 1 87 0’s M r. Ha rri s ha d inc re as ed his hol din gs to 15 7 acr es.
Settl em en t wa s mi ni mal until 18 70’ s. W he n th e a re a w as s ub divi de d it w as c alle d as Ha rris
Park . By 18 84 it a pp ea rs th at m uc h of Ha rri s' gr ant h ad be en su bdi vid ed in to in divid ual
allotments.
Thi s cle arly s ho ws th at till t he s ub divisi on th e ar ea has no t be en dev elo pe d. Th e r ailwa y line
whic h c a me a ro un d this p eri od i nflu en ce d t he g ro wth of th e ar ea . Thi s i s w ell evi de nt fr o m t he
development. Most of the single storey cottages were built during 1870 & 1960.

Th e H ar ris p ark r ailwa y s tati on whi ch wa s o pe ne d i n 18 83 h ad als o s up po rt ed th e gr owt h of t he

area.

Afte r t he railw ay c am e i nt o exis te nce t he R oa d pa tte rn w hic h was a bst ra ctly f or me d al on g t he

eas t sid e of t he Ha rris pa rk st ati on e xp eri enc ed a Q ua ntu m c ha ng e in it s pa tte rn . T he s tr eet
res po nd ed t o th e rail way li ne. Th e r ailwa y li ne h ad divid ed t he mai n M ari on St re et. To day t he
eas t si de o f th e Ma rio n S tr eet is a n ac tive s ho ppi ng a re a, whil e th e w est si de is a d ea d sp ace
eve n th ou gh it c on nec ts to C hu rc h S tr eet . T his r oa d ha d b ee n us ed a s a p asst hr ou gh f or c ar
movement to join Church Street.

Urban
Morphology

Sour ce : NSW Railway

In 19 50 wh en n ew tr ain r ou te fr o m Gr anvill e t o Ca mp bell tow n was o pe ne d this f urt he r

created a break in the street patterns.

In 1 99 6 w est er n mot or way fu rt he r d am ag ed th e e xisti ng str ee t p att er ns f ro m Gr anvill e t o

harris park.

In 1 99 6 – a n ew c on nec tio n (Y -link ) f ro m h ar ris p ar k to M er ryla nd s wa s co nst ru cte d. Th e

junction of the railway areas & motorway has created huge amount of lost space.

Sour ce : All Mor phol o gic al sketche s ar e Author ’s inter pr etati o n of histor y
m aps fr om Har r is Par k Cultur al Landsca pe Master plan

outline of aspects of urban space and

articulation of need for Urban Design

• Urban Morphology
• Place-making & Identity
• Globalization – Ideas of sustainability &
Transit Metropolis
• Community participation
• Idea of Urban Catalyst

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Place Theory – Tiruchirappalli, India

View of Rockfort temple Google image

Plan
Place theory – Social responsiveness - adds
human needs, Historic, Cultural & natural
contexts..
contexts

Section Along the Rock

outline of aspects of urban space and

articulation of need for Urban Design

• Urban Morphology
• Place-making & Identity
• Globalization – Ideas of sustainability &
Transit Metropolis
• Community participation
• Idea of Urban Catalyst

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I. McHARG

P. GEDDES
P. GEDDES R. CARSON

ARTS & CRAFTS

RUSKIN

E. HOWARD J. RUSKIN

Related urban design theories

• E. Howard's “Garden Cities”
• Good City Form (K. Lynch)
• Dense cities (J. Jacobs)
• Smart Growth
• Neo-Traditional Development (A. Duany)
• Transit Oriented Development (P. Calthorpe)
• New Urbanism
• et al.

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PHYSICAL DIMENSIONS OF
SUSTAINABLE URBAN
DEVELOPMENT

1. Land Use
2. Urban Form
3. Transportation
4. Urban Ecology
5. Social Justice
6. Economic Development

outline of aspects of urban space and

articulation of need for Urban Design

• Urban Morphology
• Place-making & Identity
• Globalization – Ideas of sustainability &
Transit Metropolis
• Community participation
• Idea of Urban Catalyst

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Community Participation

YIMBY OR NIMBY?

What do we mean by Participation?

• Notification
• Consultation
• Representation
• Co-operation
• Engagement

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Leadership

Representation

Communication Consultation

Community

Mechanisms – the formal way we make things

happen
Mechanism

Representation Ele ctions/nominations, participation in

m e e tings, producing and distributing
re le vant information about your
com m unity, providing advice in formal
proce sses e tc

Consultation Em ail, phone, community meetings,

docum enting feedback on a particular
topic or to inform a decision / position
you’ll take etc

Communication Updates, newsletters, re port-backs,

re sponding whe n asked questions, being
contactable etc.

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• Public Consultation
– Involve public and stakeholders in your
planning process
– Achieve public consultation through
• Interviews
• Facilitated meetings
• Open houses
• Website discussion papers/surveys

How do we consult?
FORMALLY…
• By having discussions (by email, phone, face to face)
• Through organized processes (meetings, forum etc.)

DELIBERATELY…
• By specifically asking key questions about a particular topic
you want to know about
• By recording the views expressed in a standardized way

… AND OPENLY
• By promoting the fact we are consulting and why
• It’s important for those we are consulting with to know they
are being consulted at this time
• Also that the results of the consultation are fed back to them

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• Public Meeting
– Provides opportunity for input for all
stakeholders through
• Open house to review plans, maps, charts
• Facilitated meeting with presentation on what you
plan to do
• Facilitated meeting on interim and final report

• Website feedback
– Online survey
– Online discussion paper to generate comments

• Surveys
– Online survey
– Community survey
• Can be developed and administered locally
• Can be conducted by firm specializing in surveys

• Research
– Focus groups, surveys (primary)
– Literature review (secondary)

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– Focus Groups
• Provides opportunity to address
specific issues
• Provides opportunity for maximum
participation
• Provides maximum information in
short period of time

The engagement process

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The Developers & Consultation

• Pre-Application
• Community Engagement from the outset
• Discussions about ‘a’ scheme not ‘the’ scheme
• Planning Gain -v- commercial reality

Some Thoughts

• Is participation in the planning process

- valuable
- worthwhile
- effective
- A Political SOP or a public right

• What role will planning play in defining the future

for communities

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Some Thoughts (2)

• Who sets the agenda?

• What forum do you use?
• Will technology help or hinder?
• Who is the final arbiter?
• Determining design/quality/scale etc
• Achieving conformity

Some Thoughts (3)

• Who’s in charge of public opinion

• Cross-cultural planning issues
• Cost -v- adequate representation
• Who and how will an evidence base be
developed
• How will the less eloquent be heard
• How can a truly representative view be obtained
and then adequately represented
• Will planning by ‘open house’ Committee really
deliver to identified needs?

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Summary table

outline of aspects of urban space and

articulation of need for Urban Design

• Urban Morphology
• Place-making & Identity
• Globalization – Ideas of sustainability &
Transit Metropolis
• Community participation
• Idea of Urban Catalyst

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Idea of Urban Catalyst

• Urban Catalyst - new redevelopment strategies - series
of projects that drive and guide urban development.

• Redevelopment efforts in the past, such as urban

renewal and large-scale redevelopment projects, have
often jeopardized the vitality of downtowns.

• catalytic redevelopment is a holistic approach, to

revitalizing the urban fabric. Many cities have considered
urban catalysts as a means for revitalization.

Idea of Urban Catalyst

The urban catalyst theory says design can be linked to place
through the study of contextual factors in urban design.
These factors include:
• Morphological – change in Urban structure
• Social
• functional
• Perceptual – awareness of the place, Kevin Lynch
• Visual – positive, negative … Hard & soft space etc.
• and temporal – time

For the urban catalyst to respond to its setting it also must

possess a strong sense of place and authenticity.

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Idea of Urban Catalyst

Urban catalysts are projects, landscapes or buildings, which
drive and guide urban development and increase
the number of users in an area. A catalyst should be conceived
of as a series of projects that revive the urban fabric.

Sternberg (2002) notes that for a catalyst to be successful, it

needs to: generate social and economic activity, be located
near commercial establishments (single or mixed use), be within
walking distance of other developments, and have
strategicallyplanned entrance and exit points that will shape
pedestrian movement patterns.

Idea of Urban Catalyst

• Sternberg (2002) relates catalysts to “activity generator” and
“anchor”.

• A catalyst is essentially an activity generator, but not all

activity generators act as catalysts. A stadium, for example,
may generate a lot of activity without spurring nearby
development; hence it would not be truly catalytic.

• anchor refers to a development that generates activity that

benefits other businesses on the same private parcel.

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5 ways in which catalysts can encourage

surrounding developments (Sternberg).
• Creating pedestrian traffic is the most important way
that a project can encourage development.

• Secondly, the development needs to be properly

designed and linked to its surroundings visually and
physically.

• Third, a development attracting pedestrian traffic can

serve as an amenity even if the pedestrians do not
enter it.

5 ways in which catalysts can encourage

surrounding developments (Sternberg).

• Fourthly, a development’s character integrated with its

ability to complement a streetscape helps create an
amenity that spurs development.

• Lastly is the relevance of the project relative to its

location—for example, an art theater in a district
known for its artisans.

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END

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