Town & Country Planning Association Press Release

For Immediate Release: 1am Thursday 26th September 2002

APPALLING QUALITY OF NEW BUILDINGS DEMANDS NEW DESIGN CODE

An obsession with safety, fears of litigation and a tick box design culture are conspiring to produce "appalling" buildings, houses and urban environments, according to the author of a new pamphlet, published today by the Town & Country Planning Association entitled "Understand Urbanism and Get Off its Back".

Paul Murrain, one of the country's leading urban designers has authored the paper as the latest in the TCPA's Tomorrow Series aimed at stimulating debate on better planning and development. In the paper he reacts emotively to the most banal examples of risk averse design and asks "Why are we still building this rubbish?".

Some of the latest examples of development cited in the paper include houses built the wrong way around, front doors and entrances fenced off from the roadway and safety rules that make tree lined boulevards illegal.

Instead the paper prescribes wider use of design codes to step up design quality. A successful design code should aim to promote minimum requirements, be "written and illustrated with rigour", and should be "shared by all stakeholders", Murrain says.

The publication has been sponsored by David Lock Associates and is available from the TCPA priced £7.50 (free to members). Email membership@tcpa.org.uk or 'phone 020 7930 8903 to place an order.

ENDS

Notes for Editors

1. Paul Murrain is an urban design consultant and former Course Chairman at the Joint Centre for Urban Design at Oxford Brookes University. He returned to England in 2001 after four years in the United States and has recently become Director of the Urban Programme at the Princes Foundation for Architecture and the Built Environment. He is joint author of "Responsive Environments a Manual for Designers" and has carried out consultancy commissions in the UK, the USA, Australia, and South Africa, including collaborations with the founders of the US New Urbanism movement Andres Duany and Elisabeth Plater-Zyberk (DPZ).

2. The Town and Country Planning Association campaigns for the reform of the UK planning system to promote public participation and sustainable development. It has a major influence on the development of UK planning law, policy and practice. The TCPA’s membership includes a range of individuals, firms and local authorities. It is a non-governmental organisation supported by voluntary contributions.

Contacts: Gideon Amos: 020 7930 8903

07881908756 (mobile)