EUKN - United Kingdom - Towards a quality charter for growth in the Cambridge area: charter symposium final report

Towards a quality charter for growth in the Cambridge area: charter symposium final report - UK

Introduction

Considers the feasibility of producing a charter which could help guide development in the Cambridge Growth Area.

Description

Outlines the challenges facing the Cambridge Growth Area in the context of creating sustainable communities. Identifies strategic pressures and constraints in terms of new housing required to sustain economic growth, the environmental constraints around flood plan and green belt, and the potential for developing existing railways and the new bus way to minimise car use. Looks at the potential for creating a sustainable suburbia.

Discusses the elements of a possible charter under four themes:

collaboration;
connectivity and conservation;
character;
choice and community.

Looks at the barriers to achieving the vision for the charter.

Background information

The Charter Symposium, held on July 7th 2006, was the final event in one of a series organised by URBED and sponsored by the Academy for Sustainable Communities, Inspire East, Cambridgeshire Horizons and English Partnerships. The aim of the symposium was to see whether it would be useful and feasible to produce a charter – a concise set of principles based on good practice – which could help guide development in the Cambridge Growth Area.

Methodology

The Symposium drew together an invited group of participants, half of whom had already taken part in the study tours to innovative new communities in the East of England or in Freiburg in Southern Germany.

Conclusions

Concludes that

the charter needs to be short enough to unite a set of ambitions, but specific enough to secure a step change that will also reduce risks;
that higher level ownership is vital if it is to make a difference;
that models should be taken from exemplary projects such as the Olympics and schemes that have stood the test of time;
that it needs to be linked to emerging management frameworks;
that it needs to promote greater collaboration, choice, community, character, connectivity and conservation and also possibly wealth creation.

Contact info

URBED
Francesca King, tel. +44 (0) 207 831 9986

Publication date

01/09/2006

Project finished

Researcher

URBED

Towards a quality charter for growth in the Cambridge area (PDF, Eng, 990 KB)

Document type

research

Themes

Urban Policy > Housing > Housing quality

Keywords

Housing design & standards