Constraints on evidence-based policy: insights from government practices

Insights are offered into UK government built environment policy-making processes through an insider's perspective (based on experience of being the chief executive of a public body, the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment – CABE) on three empirical examples. The government's mandate was for policies to be evidence based. There was no shortage of demand for evidence, but it was fed into political and bureaucratic domains where less- or non-evidence-based influences were also at work. The questions considered are how much the evidence really influenced the content of policy; and whether making a policy ‘evidence based' led to its acceptance across government, causing departments to commit to its delivery. It is found that evidence (1) is powerful for defining issues to which policy should attend, (2) captures the attention of policy and decision-makers, but only if presented succinctly, and (3) is essential for testing outcomes. Supposedly evidence-based policy is not always truly evidence based. Many subjective forces counterbalance objectivity. The most significant reasons for this are mooted. Advice is offered on how to make evidence a more effective part of a process that will always be partly technical and objective, but also political and subjective

The Misalignment of Policy and Practice in Sustainable Urban Design

The urban renaissance that took place in major UK cities during the late 1990’s was seen as a response to counter-urbanisation and inner city decline. This chapter will argue that there has been an implementation gap between the intent of urban design policy and its impact on the ground. Drawing upon the experiences of the lead author as an urban designer in the North-East of England over this period, the text will present examples of the unforeseen consequences that have accompanied the policy trajectory of sustainability and quality within the built environment, specifically looking at a move towards community-led development away from centralisation, by passing local government in the process. The chapter will examine how this urban renaissance has emerged through policies focused on the renewal of the housing market and more sustainable communities (e.g. HMR Pathfinder) to the creation of the Big Society with devolved services and funding, initiatives aimed at individual households (e.g. the Green Deal) and stakeholder engagement. In analysing this policy journey the chapter will consider why demolition and new build invariably occurred instead of refurbishment and community development; why the accepted need for evidence largely ignored qualitative and anecdotal insight from local communities and why end state planning was pursued in preference to the need for a more adaptive and dynamic process