URBAN DESIGN Journal Issue

URBAN DESIGN 122 Spring 2012

TEMPORARY URBANISM

This issue of Urban Design journal looks at Temporary Urbanism, guest edited by Irena Bauman, architect and patron of the Urban Design Group. Temporary urbanism is growing in popularity as a response to the need for low cost, loose fit and creative solutions to increasing liveability factors in cities, as well as fighting blight caused by the economic downturn. Reshaping space for changing needs, encouraging the use of unoccupied places in innovative ways, and creating a vibrant street culture improves the economic competitiveness of a city.  The articles in this issue are from both England and Denmark, and open with Henning Thomsen writing about this new form of squatting, and the coalition between authorities and finance, and the unsalaried, anarchic and creative grass roots, visiting an example in Copenhagen Tina Saaby, City Architect for Copenhagen explains Lively Copenhagen - a municipal initiative to use temporary measures in the development of the city  to promote urban life at all scales. The article includes reasons for using temporary measures and case studies in Carlsberg, Sundholm and �restad.  Peter Schultz Jørgensen, Planner of the Municipality of Roskilde and Jes Vagnby, architect of the Rosklide Festival examine the effect of the international music festival on the planning of the area, and its temporariness in keeping the city open to change at the hands of urban society.

In England, Cany Ash looks at adaptable neighbourhoods as resilient and community-driven urban economies, working in Canning Town, Leicester Waterside and Leather Lane Market; these temporary projects try and develop ideas rather than lock them into top-heavy investment. John Harrison describes perceptions of Dewsbury, West Yorkshire - ‘the town that dare not speak its name – with its cycle of long-term socio-economic problems. His temporary interventions address perceptions of place, community confidence and civic engagement, as part of community-led regeneration. Florian Kossak, Head of Masters in Urban Design, Sheffield University School of Architecture explores how students experiment with temporary and permanent urban design proposals within their real setting, and the rise of radical urbanism.

Kindly supported by Speirs + Major, this issue also includes a report on the Urban Design Group’s Annual Awards, plus the shortlisted and winning Student Award entries. Regular features include the classic texts Urban Design Library this time with Penny Lewis looking at Hannah Arendt’s The Human Condition, and the Urban Design Interview talks to urban designer Ludovic Pittie. The Design CouncilCabe writes about creating the right conditions for the civic economy, Mark Major describes the importance of both the dark and light city in urban lighting design, and Catherine Kedge reveals what her urban design education taught her.