El urbanismo de la reconstruccion después del desastre de la guerra. Lecciones de Inglaterra en la década de 1940

Las ciudades cambian constantemente, bien de forma lenta y gradual, o con catástrofes como ocurre con las guerras. El artículo analiza los mecanismos para la reconstrucción de las ciudades británicas después de los bombardeos de la segunda Guerra Mundial. Se discute el sistema nacional de planeamiento que entonces emerge, así como ejemplos de respuestas locales. Este ejemplo de urbanismo de reconstrucción post-catástrofe se mostró como un proceso lento y dificultoso, con varios desacuerdos entre los urbanistas nacionales y locales. No se corresponde fácilmente con los modelos estándar del urbanismo aplicado después de los desastres.Cities are constantly changing, either in a slow, gradualist manner, or through catastrophe such as war. This paper examines the mechanisms for reconstructing British towns after the bombing of the Second World War. The emerging national planning system, and examples of individual local responses, are discussed. This example of post-catastrophe reconstruction planning proved to be a slow and difficult process, with many disagreements between the national and local planners. It does not easily conform to standard models of post-disaster planning

Bomb damage, opportunity and rebuilding in post-war Britain

This paper explores how wartime bomb destruction was mapped in various British towns and cities, the apparent extent of damage, and the extent to which the damage influenced post-war rebuilding. While it is often said that the destruction created the opportunity for reconstruction, how far was there a direct influence? The pre-war pressures to redevelop tightly packed, often medieval, city cores and the need to replace slum housing were also powerful pressures, hence the popular name for the first replanning legislation, the 1944 “Blitz and Blight Act”. The paper also examines conflicts between local claims of the extent of damage and those finally accepted by central government. Overall the paper uses the catastrophe of wartime damage to question the urban morphological concept of the "morphological frame" which, under more normal circumstances, is held to contain and constrain development

Planners in space?

The discussion paper charts the problems in contemporary aspirations for space exploration and colonisation and make a case for the imaginative potential contribution of planners to ongoing debates on human space futures

Radical change, or just more of the same? Thoughts on COVID and urban change

This paper explores the extent to which COVID has led to changes in urban form, or whether these are temporary changes and the inertia of existing urban form and factors of investment, behaviour and planning systems have drawn us back to the status quo

Bombed churches, war memorials and the changing English urban landscape

War memorials are produced through acts of new creation and by the destructive effects of war. This article examines how some churches, in their bombed and ruinous condition, came to be re-used across England in the post-World War II period. The ways in which these buildings were treated throughout the war and the post-war reconstruction period represent a range of options for repurposing valued structures with varying degrees of damage and provide a useful snapshot of architectural and urban conservation theory and practices. Surprisingly common in UK cities bombed during the Second World War—perhaps less so in other countries--are the ruins of bombed churches, empty sites, or markers indicating a church's former presence in the city. There are also numerous restored or rebuilt churches with signs narrating the church's history of damage. This paper explores the nature and extent of such commemorations of destruction, particularly at a time when churchgoing was in sharp decline. Churches are, in many ways, 'special buildings' in the physical and mental urban landscape: landmarks for all if not as places of worship. The investment of past societies in such special buildings, their scale, position, intricate detailing, as well as their cultural connections, all suggest why churches might become prominent and memorable memorials. But, three-quarters of a century after the Second World War, there is very limited evidence that the bombed churches remain effective or widely used as memorials. This paper uses examples from across England to explore why and how some bombed churches became war memorials, and their transition over time from memorial to mere memento

Landscape and the City: creating a sustainable development

This paper examines the potential of a holistic approach for urban and regional strategies in order to understand the way this might contribute more effectively to current global challenges. Part of a wider research strategy investigating the extent to which low carbon and spatial quality can be delivered at a regional level, it demonstrates benefits of adopting a range of processes to deliver integrated and sustainable urban development. The case studies examined include the Landscape Observatory (Spain), the Room for the River (the Netherlands) and HS2/HS2LV (UK). The Landscape Observatory has raised public awareness of the value of landscape to the extent to which there is now a public law protecting landscape in Catalonia. An investigation of projects dealing with climate adaptation in the Netherlands demonstrates the potential and significance of introducing low carbon and the quality of space in urban and regional infrastructure projects. An examination of the HS2 high-speed rail project in the UK illustrates how it might be possible to impact on the perception and development of a singular engineering project in order to convey a wider sustainable vision and the impact that this might have on future landscape in towns, cities and rural areas. The significance of development of procurement processes, policies and legislations as part of the administration phase of urban and regional landscape schemes are also considered necessary for future landscape strategies. Initial outcomes indicate that successful delivery requires the development of a landscape vision and the understanding of low carbon and spatial quality concepts through design in order to be better expressed in the infrastructure and create added value to our cities and regions

Sustainable landscape design; key ideas for effective implementation

This paper forms part of wider research looking at pioneer landscape strategies across Europe, examining the extent to which low carbon, sustainability and spatial quality can be delivered effectively on urban and strategic scale, and covers examples from the ‘Landscape Observatory’ (Spain), the ‘Room for the River’ and ‘New Dutch Waterline’ (Netherlands), and the ‘HS2/HS2LV’ project (UK). This paper presents the Netherlands and the UK case studies, illustrating effective ways where the key issues of low carbon and quality of space are integrated in the design framework and the impact this has on the decision making. The case studies have shown that effective implementation requires visual communication and an in-depth understanding of how the concepts of sustainability and spatial quality are expressed. Policies, and legislation are also considered significant for landscape based developments

Planning the Smart City With Young People: Teenagers' Perceptions, Values and Visions of Smartness

Young people are often seen as "future citizens" and therefore relegated to a back seat in the planning process, awaiting their coming of age. Recent digital transformations in planning have brought new consultation processes but also created a digital divide and conflicting agendas. This article engages with youth, specifically teenagers, a heterogenous community stuck between childhood and adulthood, assumed to possess the necessary digital skills, but usually overlooked in participatory planning processes. This article will examine the case study cities of Manchester, Birmingham, Valencia, and Sofia, where 121 teenagers between 15 and 19 years of age have been interviewed in relation to their awareness and perceptions of digital technologies and smart cities. It focuses on critically examining young people’s perceptions and values towards the smart city. Using the smart city wheel as an engagement and discussion tool, the article presents teenagers’ critique of smart city models and future city visions. The article categorises common threads and values that this demographic has espoused and presents cautionary tales relating to awareness and skills development in this age group. Throughout the interviews and surveys, young people in all four case studies have reported strong affiliations to specific modes of inhabiting the city and values that they would like to see reflected in any future visions. The article identifies key considerations for planners and smart city practitioners when engaging young people in the creation of future city visions

Understanding landscape; the process to a quality and sustainable space

Part of a broader strategy to examine how a more holistic approach to landscape may significantly contribute the global challenges by re-establishing landscape at the forefront of development and as the context within which the development processes take place, this paper investigates the extent to which low carbon and spatial quality can be delivered in regional infrastructure projects. The paper looks at the outcomes of two case studies, one of the Landscape Observatory (Spain) and the second of the Room for the River/Dutch Waterline (Netherlands). The two case studies are complementary, the first examining the way the idea of landscape can change hearts and minds, the second showing how the idea of landscape is used to shape the implementation of national projects in the Netherlands. This research shows how the Landscape Observatory has changed public opinion through a series of catalogues, seminars, projects and public participation to such an extent that there is now a public law protecting landscape – a concept that would have been inconceivable 10 years ago. The two national programmes in the Netherlands known as the ‘Room for the River’ and the ‘Dutch Waterline’, devised in response to the problems of climate change and long term sustainability of the Netherlands, demonstrate the potential and significance of introducing the quality of space as a vital aspect of regional infrastructure. In their different ways, these case studies have shown how this idea of landscape can be used, through a range of specific tools and policies to achieve low carbon and sustainable outcomes as well as the extent to which both are dependent the various modes of visual and spatial representation of concepts, ideas and a sense of place to convey the powerful and profound value of the landscape. Finally, the potential of understanding landscape as the context for the process of development will be analysed by discussing the impact these case studies might have had for the regions