Artikkel i The Guardian, London 26.11.
Den britiske regjerningen planlegger å stimulere til både bedre stedsutvikling og økt lokal deltakelse ved at det blir en høy terskel for at myndighetene skal kunne avvise prosjekter som er utviklet gjennom aktiv deltakelse av type plansmie / charrette. Prosjekter utviklet i medvirkningsprosesser vil ha større forutsigbarhet og kan realiseres raskere. Dermed stimuleres også utbyggerne til å ta befolkningens ønsker og bekymringer på alvor.
Lignende nye vinder blåser i Norge: Miljøvernminister Erik Solheim sa i Stortinget i vår at regjeringen vurderer nye regler for å sikre bedre deltakelse gjennom bl.a. plansmier, se www.plansmier.no
Det er interessant å merke seg at en berømt britisk arkitekt, Will Alsop, er bekymret fordi mer demokreti vil fremme tradisjonell stedsutvikling og arkitektur. Han har rett, en rekke meningsmålinger i mange land viser at 70 - 80 % foretrekker ny utbygging baserte på tradisjonelle prinsipper. Spesielt er Allsop bekymret for at kommuner skal bruke The Prince's Foundation, etablert av Prince Charles, som konsulenter, åpenbart fordi denne stiftelsen ikke har problemer med å godta at befolkningen foretrekker stedsutvikling basert på velprøvde, velfungerende og populære prinsipper.
Gjennom plansmier får befolkningen anledning til å gi føringer for utformingen av nye byområder og byggeprosjekter. Erfaringsmessig resulterer det i planer som er preget av respektfull tilpasning til verneverdig bygninger og bruk av lokal byggeskikk. Flertallet ønsker å skape levende tettsteder i menneskelig skala.
Større tetthet og funksjonsblanding er avgjørende for å oppnå bærekraft. Erfaringer fra flere norske lokalsamfunn viser at folk er mer positive til høyere utnyttelse hvis de føler seg trygge å at arkitekturen blir attraktiv og i samsvar med lokal byggeskikk og folks egne preferanser. Å lytte til befolknignens ønsker for byggeskikk er derfor nødvendig for å oppnå optimalt bærekraftige tettsteder.
Arkitektur som folk misliker vil øke protestene mot en bymessig utvikling egnet til å redusere bilavhengigheten.
Når mange arkitekter ensidig går inn for modernistisk arkitektur og konvensjonell blokkbebyggelse fungerer det derfor både antidemokratisk og undergravende for viktige miljøoppgaver samfunnet står overfor.
Vi kan forvente at også representanter for dagens toneangivende krefter innen stedsutvikling i Norge vil motsette seg bruk av plansmier, og vil undergrave de deltakende prosessenes autoritet. Ellen de Vibe og Plan- og bygningsetaten gikk aktivt inn for å gjøre charrettene på Majorstua og i Bjørvika for noen år siden så lite reellt deltakende, konkrete og forpliktende som mulig. Dermed kunne etaten og dens partnere i arkitekt- og utbyggerverdenen opprettholde sin makt. Disse inngrepene fra de Vibe og PBE er påpekt i forskningsrapporten "Virker Medvirkning Virkelig" fra Asplan-Viak, 2007.
Vi får håpe Miljøverndepartementet vil følge opp Solheims signaler om å innføre mer forpliktende deltakelse på et tidlig tidspunkt i planleggingen.
På samme måte som en plansmies suksess avhenger av at mange ulike aktører deltar, vil også en vellykket utredning av forsterket medvirkning forutsette at andre krefter enn "the usual suspects" innen designetablissementet deltar. Konsulteres bare NAL, Norsk Form, Ecobox, arkitekthøyskolene og departemetnets egne fagfolk vil resultatet trolig bli lunkent og utflytende.
Les mer om plansmier på www.plansmier.no
Artikkelen fra The Guardian, London, nedenfor.
Audun Engh
NABOSKAP - www.naboskap.no
Tlf. 92622626
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The Guardian article, below:
Important new development in UK planning law: I will be difficult to reject proposals based on participatory charette processes:
-- "Under proposals expected to be included in the bill, local authorities will be required to adopt the outcomes of community workshops as a planning framework unless there is a significant problem with their legality or practicality."
There will be very good reasons for developers to involve communities actively, rather than imposing unpopular projects on them.
The Prince's Foundation is ready to help:
--- "If the localism and decentralisation bill does enhance local planning through stakeholder engagement, the Prince's Foundation would be pleased to help local authorities to respond, by community planning training sessions and by conducting Enquiries by Design."--- Dittmar recently denied promoting any particular style, saying: "Unlike the critical elite, with its allegiance to often vain statement buildings by famous architects, our bias is toward design in service of walkable, mixed-use neighbourhoods, linked by streets and squares and landscape".
The design establishment is not pleased. An honest comment from award-winning architect Will Alsop,
--- "This is dangerous," he said. "We already know that the vast majority of people would favour the Prince of Wales's attitudes, but architecture, like all forms of art and science, thrives on the new and asking interesting questions as well as protecting the old. With the Prince's Foundation involved, the new would go out of the window."
Alsop confirms that the promotion of "innovative", modernist architecture and urban design has to depend on top-down, undemocratic decision-making processes. For modernist ideologists, the correct style is more important than democracy.
Article link:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/nov/26/charles-shaping-britain-towns-cities?intcmp=239
Fuill text below.
Audun Engh
CEU Norway - www.ceunet.org
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Prince Charles seeks 'big society' role in shaping UK towns and cities
Critics believe bid by prince's charity to play key role in neighbourhood planning system is dangerous and inappropriate
* Robert Booth and Chris Gourlay
* guardian.co.uk, Friday 26 November 2010
The Prince of Wales's charity, the Prince's Foundation for the Built Environment, is aiming to co-ordinate community groups setting the planning vision for local areas. Photograph: Matt Dunham/PA
The Prince of Wales is attempting to extend his influence over Britain's towns and cities by taking a key role in the neighbourhood planning system under changes launched by the government.
The prince's aides have been advising the government on one of David Cameron's "big society" policies aimed at handing people, rather than officials, power over what is built in their neighbourhoods.
The Prince's Foundation for the Built Environment, a charity of which Charles is president, is lobbying to co-ordinate community groups that would set the planning vision for local areas, including what housing and public facilities should be built and how they should look.
The innovation is expected to be announced in the coming weeks as part of the localism and decentralisation bill and is meant to turn the planning system on its head with the public "collaborating" rather than simply being consulted on official policies.
Planning experts believe the foundation's involvement in steering meetings would mean more neighbourhoods shaped according to the prince's favoured traditional and conservative architectural values, and have warned it could embed his influence in the democratic planning system.
Will Alsop, one of Britain's leading architects, said the bid was dangerous and threatened to stifle architectural innovation, while campaigners opposed to Charles's influence over democratic processes branded it "grossly inappropriate".
The foundation's decision to press for the role comes amid a resurgence in Charles's influence over planning under the Conservatives. Last month his foundation proposed taking over the design review of major planning applications from the government design watchdog, which has had its funding slashed.
The charity has also been drafted in by the Qatari developers of a £3bn housing plan at Chelsea barracks after the developers scrapped the original Richard Rogers design amid fears that Charles's objection might influence the London mayor, Boris Johnson, who has the power to veto major developments in the capital.
The Conservatives are understood to be keen to involve the Prince's Foundation in the planning changes. John Howell, the Conservative MP who originally proposed the new approach to planning in a green paper, said the foundation's method of running community design sessions was "one which had a good track record and people will be interested in learning of its success".
The prince's charity has used its Enquiry by Design workshops to develop housing plans from East Ayrshire to Northamptonshire which have resulted in proposals that reject modern architecture and favour traditional approaches.
Under proposals expected to be included in the bill, local authorities will be required to adopt the outcomes of community workshops as a planning framework unless there is a significant problem with their legality or practicality. The plans would be drawn up at ward, parish or town council level and district and borough councils would be expected to stitch them together. Planning sources claimed the foundation was "gearing up its machine" to seize the opportunity to advance its philosophy."We were asked by [the Department for] Communities and Local Government for input into ways that community engagement could promote more sustainable development, and we have provided information about our Enquiry by Design process, and ways that similar processes could aid local planning," said Hank Dittmar, chief executive of the foundation.
"If the localism and decentralisation bill does enhance local planning through stakeholder engagement, the Prince's Foundation would be pleased to help local authorities to respond, by community planning training sessions and by conducting Enquiries by Design."
Dittmar recently denied promoting any particular style, saying: "Unlike the critical elite, with its allegiance to often vain statement buildings by famous architects, our bias is toward design in service of walkable, mixed-use neighbourhoods, linked by streets and squares and landscape."
That has not prevented criticism of the bid for increased influence. "It is grossly inappropriate for the heir to the throne to be involved in an organisation that wants to take such a central role in government business, especially in the controversial area of planning," said Graham Smith, director of Republic, the campaign for an elected head of state. "We know that Charles has deep prejudices on architecture and planning and it would be very worrying to have that influence spread across the country."
Will Alsop, winner of the Stirling Prize for architecture for Peckham library, said the prince's involvement in the often politicised planning system would breach accepted norms about the royal family keeping out of politics and would be "bad news for architecture".
"This is dangerous," he said. "We already know that the vast majority of people would favour the Prince of Wales's attitudes, but architecture, like all forms of art and science, thrives on the new and asking interesting questions as well as protecting the old. With the Prince's Foundation involved, the new would go out of the window."
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