18th June 2012
Building new communities Presentation to Cherwell District
Council LSP Reference Day
Social Life is a new venture set up by the Young Foundation
Social Life has been established as a centre of expertise in social sustainability. It takes forwards the Young Foundation’s 50 year heritage of work on community dynamics, including the work of Michael Young, and Peter Hall, both former Directors of the Institute of Community Studies.
The Young Foundation brings together insights, innovation and entrepreneurship to meet social needs. The Young Foundation works across the UK and internationally – through research, influencing policy, and creating new organisations, often with imaginative uses of new technology.
We continue to build neighbourhoods that fail to thrive as flourishing communities
This is an urban and a rural issue: more in common than often believed
Success and failure are both complex and subjective.
Where are the people?
200 years+ of planned new communities
We believe we can learn from both the mistakes, and the hopes, of the past.
Putting people at the heart of placemaking
• Our
Our organisational heritage
Future communities consortium: learning from past mistakes
The first question: what is a community?
An alternative view: what makes a community? • Physical boundaries to promote geographical
identity • Local myths & stories • Visible leadership • Strong social relationships, networks & bonds • Opportunities for informal, spontaneous social
encounters • Rituals and rhythms • Shared belief systems, garden cities, new towns,
eco-cities
Working in Bicester: with Cherwell council and the developer of exemplar stage – A2Dominion - to build social sustainability into the ambitious new development, 20,000 homes over 20 years.
Two workshops plus many conversations Our findings… Legacy of past and Importance of history Acceptance of inevitability of further development Wish for meaningful consultation and dialogue Strong perceptions that infrastructure had not kept pace with growth Wish for ‘one Bicester’ and to get away from ‘Tesco Town’ label.
Bicester: locations of growth
Bicester Community Asset
March 2012
Grassroots Bicester
Bicester Local History Society
Langford Women’s Institute
Bicester Round TableCommunity Organisations
Oxfordshire Community & Voluntary Action
Bicester Rotary Club
1
2
3
4
North Bicester Surgery
Community Facillities
Montgomery House Surgery
Bicester North Rail
Bicester Town Rail
Bicester Hive (Bicester Garrison)
Langford Medical Practice
Bicester Library
Child First (Day Care)
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Emmanuel Church
St Edburg’s C of E Church
Parish of the Immaculate Conception
Bicester Methodist Church
Religious Organisations
1
2
3
4
Heyford Park RA (Upper Heyford)
Bure Park RA
Bicester Parkland RA
Langford Village RA
ResidentsAssociations
1
2
1st Bicester Scout Group
2507 (Bicester) Squadon ATC
Bicester Courtyard Youth Arts Centre
Bicester Youth Council
7th Bicester Scout Group
Youth Organisations
1
2
3
Banburyshire Community Transport Assoc.
Cherwell Crime Partnership: Bicester
Bicester Chamber of Commerce (Banbury)
Bicester Link Point (Cherwell DC)
Bicester Town Council
Statutory Organisations
Bicester Resource & Wellbeing Centre
Bicester Vision
1
2
3
Cherwell Volunteer Bureau (Cherwell DC)
Cherwell District Council (Banbury)
Bicester Village
Bicester Farmers Market
Bicester Market
Garth Park
Chesterton Golf Club
Places of Interest
1
2
3
4
5
West Bicester Community Centre
Langford Village Community Centre
Southwold Community Centre
Bicester East Community Centre
1
2
3
4
Community Centres
Kings Meadow Primary School
Bicester Community College
Glory Farm Primary School
Bardwell Community Special School
The Cooper Secondary School
Longfields Primary School
St Edburgs C of E Primary School
St Mary’s RC Primary School
Southwold County Primary School
Bure Park Primary School
Langford Village Primary School
Brookside Primary School1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
10
9
11
12
Schools
Stagecoach Bicester (Theatrical arts)
Bicester Concert Band
Bicester Choral & Operative Society
Sport &Leisure
Organisations
Bicester Leisure Centre
Bicester Green Gym
1
2
3
4
5
Assets located in Bicester Assets located outside Bicesteror non-physical assets
What can be done?
Reviewing the evidence “… where these facilities were already in place when people began to arrive, the community came together and networks were formed more easily” CLG New Towns Review
“ … most mixing across social groups takes places between children. It is these contacts … that provide opportunities to meet and form relationships.” CIH/JRF 2005
“ … planning for hard infrastructure alone would never build a community … it would only be done by a matrix of formal and informal opportunities or supported activities.” Cambridgeshire PCT (2007)
A framework for social sustainability
The Young Foundation/Social Life Social Sustainability Framework, 2011
Plaque to commemorate the site of former Arkwright Town
New Arkwright, Derbyshire
• HafenCity, Hamburg
•
Hafen City, Hamburg: sociologist appointed as “go-between” - intermediary for early residents and developer
What does this mean for Cherwell?
Locations of growth in Banbury
My questions for you
1. How can you understand community dynamics better and work with them?
2. If residents don’t want consultation meetings and leaflets, what are the other options?
3. If consulting communities reveals profound opposition to housebuilding, what can you do to build support for new developments?
social-life.co [email protected] [email protected]