Urban Initiatives is working with CBRE and Ikon to prepare a regeneration framework for Townhill Park Estate in Southampton. As the largest estate regeneration project the city council has led, this strategically important project includes working with residents to find the best way forward for their community. Although much of the work will focused on improving the housing and general environment for residents, our work will also seek to tackle some of the challenging social and economic deprivation found in this part of the city. Our role will encompass masterplanning, town planning, transport advice, landscape design and community involvement.
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UI appointed to plan Southampton’s largest ever estate regeneration project
November 21st, 2011 by acampbell
Urban ISM: What? Who? Where? How?
January 18th, 2011 by Urban Initiatives
What is Urban ISM?
Urban ISM (Integrated Spatial Model) is a consultancy tool for measuring and delivering smart urbanism at a range of settlement scales. It’s a new geodesign tool, bringing GIS and design processes together with land use mix, accessibility and value as part of an integrated process for spatial planning and large scale urban design.
What does it do?
Urban ISM allows users to test development options and gain a better understanding of their potential performance based on their spatial form and relationship with existing the existing settlements. The user is able to alter land use mix, accessibility and value inputs and see the implications graphically through a series of metrics. Urban ISM can be used to test new development, reconsider planned but yet undelivered development or seek to optimise existing places through small scale and incremental change. Urban ISM doesn’t design masterplans – good designers do that. It’s more about direction setting at an early stage, or at any stage if things don’t seem to stack up. It helps set project tone and direction through a better understanding of land use mix, density, social infrastructure, accessibility, value and sustainability choices.
Who’s it for?
Planners, Highway Authorities, investors, community groups, designers and consultants or all of the above through collaborative working. The system can be used as a desktop technical geodesign tool or for more open public and stakeholder engagement process. For large-scale engagement, the tool can be used as a physical gaming board and screen projection. For in house consultancy use, the tools runs via a GIS platform with MS Excel data entry to allow maximum accessibility for users.
How does it work?
Urban ISM combines GIS data on existing places with potential development scenarios through an integrated assessment of land use mix, accessibility and value to assess growth or change planning. It brings robust inter-disciplinary solutions to spatial masterplanning and large-scale urban design projects and is backed up with a strong empirical and research evidence base, yet has the flexibility to alter metrics and thresholds depending on local circumstances and desired outcomes. The design and development team have fostered strong research links with partner orgisnations such as UCL, TRL and SU:Lab. Additionally the empirical database draws on established best practice, policy and research such as Cityform.
Where does it work?
Urban ISM operates across a range of settlement scales. To simplify data entry, we manage data through a grid and tile system. The approach is ‘scaleable’ and allows grids to be tailored to the study area. At whole town or city scale, we often adopt a 500m tile (25Ha). For many of our projects focusing on urban extensions we use a 200m tile (4 Ha). At neighbourhood level or for smaller settlements, we offer smaller grain tiles of 100m (1Ha), 50m or 15m. For some of our transport and streets projects, we only operate a link (vector) based system. > Cities and towns > Districts and clusters > Neighbourhoods and smaller settlements > Hubs and Networks > Grids sizes – (500m, 200m, 100m, 50m, 15m)
Urban ISM
January 10th, 2011 by Christopher Martin
Urban Initiatives is delighted to present Urban ISM (Integrated Spatial Model). Urban ISM is a consultancy tool for measuring and delivering smart urbanism at a range of settlement scales. It’s a new geodesign tool, bringing GIS and design processes together with land use mix, accessibility and value as part of an integrated process for spatial planning and large scale urban design.
Urban ISM allows users to test development scenarios, giving real time data on the development performance. This reduces project time and risk and gives clients a more response approach to large-scale urban design and spatial planning projects. Urban ISM can be used by all built environment professions, often working best as a collaborative project tool. Through the ‘planning game’ interface the system can be used as part of community or neighbourhood planning events. The system can be used over time to chart masterplan progress and infrastructure delivery.
Urban ISM has been designed to measure and optimise ‘Smart Urbanism’ principles and has been developed in close collaboration with partners; Smart Urbanism Lab (SU:Lab), University Collage London (UCL) and Transport Research Lab (TRL). The system combines the best of practical consultancy experience with a robust empirical academic research base.
Urban ISM operates across a range of urban scales from whole town / city through to district and neighborhood. Its been designed to test the implications of large and medium scale urban changes. At a large scale, Urban ISM is able test the effects of urban extensions, mixed use development, public transport corridors, brownfield development or town centre redevelopment. At a medium scale the system can assess the implications of new social infrastructure such as schools or hospitals or area wide transport strategies.
Urban ISM has now been successfully used on many Urban Initiatives projects across the UK. We would be very happy to assist you in your project ambitions.
www.urbaninitiatives.co.uk
020 7380 4545
urbanism@urbaninitiatives.co.uk 