Development Guidelines (also known as Urban Design Codes) are not a new idea and have been used in one form or another since the Renaissance. Some of our most cherished developments, from the Georgian Period through to the Garden Villages and New Towns, were based on adopted codes. It is a process whereby the landowners establish key components of the design of new developments up front and, through legal requirement, then require abidance by any developers subsequently wanting to build in the area covered by the development guidelines. Aaron Davis can help clients and communities create development guidelines that apply certain principles to the process of making places.

 

Aaron bases his development guidelines on local distinctiveness - including historic character, ease of movement, legibility, quality of public space, continuity and enclosure, and adaptability. The result is all the things we love about our best neighbourhoods - a clear centre with shops and community amenities, a place that is easy to walk and feels safe, has different places for children to play and high quality buildings that communities can take pride in. Although development guidelines usually best apply to new towns and urban extensions, we also work with existing communities to prepare development guidelines to work alongside a local plan. The process goes through a range of community consultation workshops and characterisation studies to ensure that the outcome is founded in local distinctiveness.

 

Our first task is to decide what we mean by development guidelines for a specific project. At its simplest form, a development guideline report is a form of detailed guidance for future growth. Aaron prefers codes that help to address the characterless homogeneity of much of our recent housing development, but they should also give ample room for the architectural, landscape and engineering professions to work creatively with local communities to shape their own needs and desires. In other words, Aaron creates development guidelines that ensure the fundamentals are right, but are not so prescriptive that they give little scope for architectural expression and a variety of styles in order to help generate a successful legacy.