Future Stratford

Urban Task Force

In 1998 the Government set up the Urban Task Force chaired by Lord Richard Rogers. Its mission statement said:
‘The Urban Task Force will identify causes of urban decline in England and recommend practical solutions to bring people back into our cities, towns and urban neighbourhoods. It will establish a new vision for urban regeneration founded on the principles of design excellence, social well-being and environmental responsibility within a viable economic and legislative framework.’
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In 1999 the Urban Task Force published a report on its work: Towards an Urban Renaissance. In this report Lord Rogers said:

‘well designed urban districts and neighbourhoods succeed because they recognise the primary importance of the public realm…the network of spaces between buildings that determine the layout, form and connectivity of the city.’

The report outlines the importance of:

• Recycling land and buildings by focusing on brownfield sites.
• Improving the urban environment by introducing a national campaign to improve urban design.
• Making the planning system more positive in securing urban change.
• Introducing Urban Priority Areas.
• Emphasising the importance of design by introducing a national urban design framework; adopting an integrated approach to design-led regeneration; requiring single strategies for public realm and open space; increasing urban densities; improve building performance; insisting on the creation of spatial masterplans and establishing local Architecture Centres.

Importance is placed on the shape of public spaces and their impact on the cohesion of neighbourhoods. Rogers argued that cities are moving increasingly towards single use ghettos, to combat this we should be trying to create compact, mixed and integrated neighbourhoods, which are properly managed and co-ordinated.

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