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Sustainable Urban Environmental Planning - Community Plans by Anne Beer, Social, cultural and economic inventory: people, land use and landscape
This stage involves gathering data on the people living in your study area and undertaking a study of how people have interacted with their local landscape and the environmental problems this interaction causes. The understanding that you develop will show the community how the local abiotic and biotic characteristics of the environment have both limited and facilitated the uses which people have made of the land and how cultural, political and economic factors have modified those uses.
The information which you need to gather about the built environment is detailed in this section; examining this information in relation to the data that you have already gathered on the local physical and natural environment will enable you to begin to identify appropriate and locally sustainable environmental strategies and policies.
a. Understanding the local land use patterns
Land uses within and around the project area For the study area and its immediate surroundings it is best to gather the information through site visits. For the more general information about land use in the surrounding site context area, air photographs will give sufficient information (although if you are not familiar with using them, you should check your interpretation at several locations on site). Indicate the extent of all the different land uses within the project site and around it. If the land area which you are studying is mainly built over or in a dense urban area, you should gather the following data:
indicate the position of any housing in the study area and on the land immediately around it; indicate the type of housing, its age, its condition and if possible who owns it (private, rented, social housing, etc.) mark the location of any community or other building with a social use (schools, meeting places, local authority offices, etc.); indicate the service provided mark the location of any industrial units, warehouses or workshops; note any noise or air pollution associated with the use of the buildings record all greenspace with the aim of identifying the total area of actual greenspace and understanding its present function (all unbuilt urban land with an unsealed surface, as well as agricultural, forestry, horticultural and allotment land and domestic gardens). Note whether it is accessible to the public and indicate the specific use made of each area of land and note how the land and landscape are managed. record the extent of the areas within the actual greenspace which are defined in planning and legal documents as a formal greenspace (public or private open space) allocation for the study area indicate all major through roads; if there are none, indicate where and how distant the nearest major road is. Record all possible access points to the main road network from the study area. record information on the location, status and accessibility of all other transport facilities serving the area (rail, airport, waterborne) indicate any footpaths on which the public has a right of way and ask the local people about commonly used short cuts indicate all the places where the present public transport systems have stopping points. Mark the routes taken by public transport on a plan. indicate the location of major service runs - sewers, water, power supply, communications cables, etc. - obtain this information from the relevant agencies.
Supplement this information, where necessary, with data on:
the minor road system which allows local movement any pollution problems affecting the site (noise, smells, air quality, visual pollution - for instance, when a community is distressed by the appearance of a specific object or group of objects) the location of any major car or lorry parking areas the location of street parking problems the location of any road accident blackspots in or near the study area land ownership. If no other information is available, at least indicate the extent of owned land by the local authority or other agencies.
Additional data on housing in the community study area When recording data about housing, record the relative density of any local housing developments, the form that the development has taken (whether it is built along streets or clustered, etc.), the size and type of housing (small, medium or large sized; terraced, semi-detached or detached houses, bungalows, or flats in tower, slab or low blocks, etc.) in each area. These variations will become important when working on plans to make the area more environmentally sustainable through change in the management of the actual greenspaces. Where appropriate, include the characteristic size of the domestic garden associated with each different housing type, as this has important links with the potential to enhance biodiversity by changing the way gardens are managed in urban areas. Data on age and condition, the original builder and the present ownership will all help to identify variations in the present housing pattern. Knowing and understanding these variations, together with data on the social characteristics of a population (indicated below), can help to identify in some detail those parts of an urban area where some form of regenerative design (Lyle, 1996) could be applied to achieve the sort of healthy living environment associated with a good quality of life. It can help a community to work more effectively with government agencies and local administrators to target resources towards alleviating social disadvantage.
b. The people who live on and around the study area
The local population Indicate approximately how many people live within the study area and in the area around. If possible break this information down so that it relates to the different land use areas that you have already identified within your study area. Those involved in local environmental planning often have to rely on observation and best guesses about populations in an area, as census data is often out of date in areas where the population is very mobile. For many local environmental projects these best guesses are quite acceptable and detailed data is only needed to support claims for financial support. Access to detailed information on the social characteristics of the population is useful as it helps to identify locations within a study area where there might be concentrations of inhabitants with particular social characteristics. Knowing this indicates the potential problem areas of which a local community needs to be fully aware so that any public resources are effectively targeted. In particular you should look out for concentrations of: the elderly, single parent families, the unemployed, and those with low levels of educational attainment or low levels of skills. The occurrence of any of these may indicate areas in need of extra help from the wider local community, if the local quality of life is to improve. They may well be the sort of concentrations that at the wider city level go unremarked, since the census information for decision making purposes are often collated for broader areas and so fail to identify the pockets of deprivation which are significant in relation to quality of life at the local level. For this reason, the age and sex structure should be recorded and the related social data from the census information should be mapped at the smallest possible unit (in the UK Census this is called the Enumeration District, although increasingly the even more detailed Post Code Area is being used to assemble social and economic data).
Employment Any data on local employment trends should be collated and consideration should be given to the potential for short and long-term change in local employment patterns. Assemble data on where local people work, the type of work they do, how they travel to and from work, how many are unemployed and what type of work they are seeking, the level of skills available in the community and the existence of training opportunities locally. Local employment opportunities (or the lack of them) can have a major impact on the possibilities for developing a more sustainable approach to interacting with the local environment. This is illustrated, for instance, through the pressure to keep a given industrial process in the area even though it is a polluter, because of the jobs associated with the plant. Sometimes it is possible to set up a compensatory system whereby extra efforts are made to improve the environment elsewhere, to compensate for the environmental damage continuing to be done in one location. There are, however, major long-term problems with this approach, particularly in relation to the adverse impact on the health of specific communities and all the ethical issues involved in such a decision.
Education and training Assembling data on the levels of education achieved by members of the local community and identifying any areas of relative educational deprivation can help to develop ideas on the local need for skills training. It is also useful to know where the local children go to school and to gather data on how they travel to and from school.
Local shopping patterns Assemble data on where and how often local people shop, as well as how they travel to and from the shops. What recent impact has any shift in shopping patterns had on the local central area facilities? What impact does the present shopping pattern have on vehicle use?
Leisure Assemble data on present recreational patterns and on any activities which local people feel that they would like to be involved in.
Land planning controls Record, by mapping where possible, the latest local government land use strategies and policies for the study area, as well as any details of land use plans. Identify any special planning controls in effect within and near the study area (green belt, tree preservation orders, conservation area status, or any other local controls). What are the local authority's Agenda 21 objectives for the local area?
c. Local landscape history - why it looks like it does
Landscape character and landscape structure zones Using a topographic map with the built-up area indicated, work together with members of the local community to draw a map indicating the boundaries of the local landscape character zones. This gives an overview of the structure of the local landscape (a landscape can be urban or rural, so you are mapping the variations that you find in the built-up, as well as rural, areas). You will find that all the mental images people have formed as they have moved around and through the study area now become very useful in identifying these different zones. In urban areas the boundaries of the different landscape zones often coincide with those of the different phases of development and the different developers. The aim is that you identify zones on the basis of distinct differences in their detailed visual appearance. Once this has been done, it is possible to identify the causes of these differences by referring to land use data and to identify the part played by the ways in which the local land and landscape features are managed. Involving the local community and its school children in this is another very useful way of arriving at a locally agreed plan of the present landscape structure and a starting point for discussion of changes. These landscape character zones (sometimes called urban structure zones - click the Landscape Structure Zones link in the menu to the right for a more detailed explanation) can be used as the basic building blocks when developing strategies and policies for the future sustainable environmental management of any area of land. As the visible end product of the long-term interaction between people and the physical and natural characteristics of the local landscape, these zones allow a natural link to be made between the abiotic, biotic and socio-economic data, and the land use and land management data. Changing the detail in the way that these landscape character zones are used and managed is how the environment can be enhanced and used more sustainably at the very local level. Such changes, undertaken for reasons of environmental sustainability, will also have an impact on the appearance of the local landscapes both within and around each zone; this will need to be considered by the local community and their landscape advisers as they develop regenerative design solutions to environmental problems.
Map the unique features, landmarks and landscape structure On the map of the landscape character zones add the location of the unique features. Include the unique physical, natural and man-made features of the study area and the land immediately surrounding it. After consultation with the local community, add the local landmarks to the plan. Landmarks can be a clump of trees, an individual tree, a tower or any building different from the others around it. The list is endless, but psychologists have shown that in our local neighbourhood even small scale objects, which to an outsider seem insignificant, such as a shop on a corner, are the landmarks that make up our mental map of the area in which we live and as such play an important part in how we move around and 'know' our neighbourhood, and our sense of 'belonging'. If you have time it is useful to understand how local people remember their area. Carrying out the following exercise helps to illustrate this. Ask local people to draw from memory a map of the area which they would describe as their neighbourhood, that is the territory in which they feel most at home. They should include all the features that they are aware of using to orientate themselves as they walk round (the buildings, the trees, the walls). If they cannot think what to do, ask them to describe a walk round the area to an outsider, perhaps someone who is blind. Ask as many people as possible to do this exercise and see if there is any consensus as to the most memorable landmarks. This will give the environmental planner and the local community an idea of the features and views which should be retained as ideas are developed for the future of the study area.
Historic features on and around the project area Plot any features of historic interest on the unique features plan. Do not neglect the walls, embankments, ditches, old trees, old tracks, old burial grounds, or even old rubbish tips. Talk to the local historical society if one exists and see if there are any published local archaeology or history books or old maps. Ordnance Survey maps in the UK are excellent sources of data on known historic sites. Find out from the local archaeology and history experts if any of the man-made features on or near your area are officially classed as historic monuments. However, remember that not all historic sites are known and a community could still unearth something of importance which will need protection. Understanding the historical evolution of a local landscape can help a local community to generate ideas for its future sustainable management and so ensure that a special 'sense of place' survives.
Views and scenery - enclosure and inter-visibility The information which you have already collected on local land form will help you to understand from which points the different parts of your study area are visible, as well as where the best views out may be obtained from within the site. To make an assessment of the relative value of these views ask local people to categorise views both into and from within their parts of the study area as:
very good views, which must be kept open good views, which ought to be kept open moderately good views, which could be used with advantage poor views, which ought to be screened very poor views, which must be screened.
This information can be used to establish which areas need screening and which could be opened up to view. |
Sustainable
Communities - local action
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Sustainable
Communities - local action
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Sustainable
Communities - local action
click here to RETURN TO COST C11 WEBSITE
Sustainable
Communities - local action
click here to RETURN TO COST C11 WEBSITE
Sustainable
Communities - local action
click here to RETURN TO COST C11 WEBSITE
Sustainable
Communities - local action
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