Written evidence submitted by Nottingham Trent University

Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee Inquiry:

Reimagining where we live: cultural placemaking and the levelling up agenda

Submission by Dr Ana Souto, Principal Lecturer in Architecture, School of Architecture Design and the Built Environment, Nottingham Trent University

February 2022

Introduction.

1. Thank you for the opportunity to provide written evidence to the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee Inquiry: Reimagining where we live: cultural placemaking and the levelling up agenda. In this submission we will reflect and show evidence on item number 9 “Pride in Place” as published in the recent ‘Levelling up’ white paper by the Government, especially in reference to the question of the Committee: How can creatives contribute to local decision-making and planning of place?

1.1. We use Nottingham as an example of how public engagement and creative initiatives can promote meaningful connections with the built environment, sense of place and sense of pride within communities. We will refer in specific to a Nottingham Trent University research project, Mapping Nottingham’s Identity, led by Dr Souto, which uses creative practices to promote a dialogue with the general public in regard to identifying places that should be recognised as community assets in planning policy.

1.2. We also reflect on certain initiatives guided by Nottingham City Council (Nottingham Local List; The Big Conversation; Co-PLACE and the Quality Design guide), which demonstrate how local-decision making should be based on meaningful public engagement, co-designing the redevelopment of the city (for example the Broadmarsh transformation) and co-creating guides that will influence planning policies.

Mapping Nottingham’s Identity

2. This research project started in 2016 to support Nottingham Trent University’s aim to become an anchor within the community. Mapping Nottingham’s Identity has been led by Dr Ana Souto since 2016, but many people have contributed to it, especially the public. The aim is to provide a creative space as an inclusive and flexible platform to listen, discuss and share different points of view and engagement with Nottingham. Based on participation, and co-creation of knowledge, our practice is based on mapping, an essential tool to discover and to present visually how people understand and feel about places and their connection with the community.

Maps of Carrington and Nottingham co-produced by participants (2016 and 2017).

2.1. Data gathered through creative practices (mapping, drawing, Monopoly cards, participatory exhibitions) suggests that people’s attachment to the built environment is not necessarily connected to the recognition of heritage landmarks. For example, we invited participants to draw a postcard which could represent Nottingham, and many participants drew the Council House, Robin Hood statue or the castle, all of which could be understood as representations of heritage from Nottingham. However, when requested to draw their favourite spaces in Nottingham, participants drew parks, coffee shops, pubs, and other spaces which one would not usually identify as forms of heritage, and that are not as yet part of English Heritage Listing. This suggests there is a disconnect between heritage as culture, and how people engage with these spaces.

2.2. Consequently, our main contribution to knowledge is to challenge the notion of “Heritage” with the concept of “community heritage” by engaging people’s perceptions of their surroundings translated in the production of collaborative maps and creative drawings. These workshops/ creative participatory exhibitions have served as a safe space to explore and reflect on Nottingham, and how its residents connect emotionally with its built environment[i].

2.3. Initiatives like this demonstrate how creative approaches to research and public engagement can contribute to local decision-making and planning of place. Our research demonstrates that conversations about Heritage and the future of our cities can be facilitated by creative practices and public engagement.

Nottingham Local List

3. Nottingham Council recognises the importance of public engagement, as demonstrated in several initiatives. Nottingham Local List was created in 2017 following a public consultation in which 98% of the participants supported this initiative to ensure that heritage assets, not protected by Historic England listing, are identified as such by the community.

3.1. The Local List promotes community participation and ultimately, empowers citizens to decide on the future of local heritage and its legacy. There are currently 119 assets on the Local List, which have been chosen by members of the public who believe that these places have a significant meaning within the community, enhancing their sense of pride and belonging in Nottingham.

3.2. This local government initiative aligns with the National Planning Policy Framework 2018 whereby ‘the City Council takes the impact of development on non-designated heritage assets (those on a Local List) into account when determining planning applications’[ii].

3.3. If used more widely, alongside other creative practices for public engagement, Mapping Nottingham’s Identity could encourage more members of the community to apply for more sites to be part of the Local list.

The Big Conversation – Nottingham 2020

4. Nottingham City Council has demonstrated its interest in gathering the perceptions and ideas from the public with large consultations like the one regarding Broadmarsh, a shopping centre that occupies the south entrance to the city since 1975.

4.1. In 2020, in the midst of the Coronavirus pandemic, and following the bankruptcy of the group redeveloping the Broadmarsh shopping centre, Nottingham City Council took ownership of the building and organised the ‘Big Conversation’, a consultation exercise that collected more than 3,000 responses in less than two months (20th October – 31st December 2020). The most popular design proposals for this re-imagined site included a design that embraced green infrastructures, History and Heritage, as well as a Mixed Development.

4.2. Below is an example of a landscape proposal submitted to the ‘Big Conversation’, allowing creatives to have a significant role in shaping local government decisions.

Figure 1. Broadmarsh re-imagined, Proposal by Landscape designers Influence[iii].                             

4.3. Influenced by the data gathered as part of the “Big Conversation”, Nottingham City Council commissioned Thomas Heatherwick to work on a proposal for Broadmarsh which embraced these ideas: green spaces; history and heritage; and mixed-use solutions. Heatherwick embraced this feedback, recognising the value of the comments from the public consultation, which empowers communities. The architect also taps into the vision set out in the Levelling up White paper, ensuring that Natural beauty is accessible to all, by bringing nature to the heart of the city.

4.4. Moreover, this project also demonstrates how mixed-use in the re-imagined Broadmarsh will reanimate our public spaces by mixing culture with shopping streets. The masterplan envisions 750 homes, office and conference spaces, retails spaces, a vast array of public, green and leisure spaces, the enhancement of the caves of Nottingham and establishment of old street patterns. The new plan also protects part of the ruins of the brutalist original shopping mall, as a gesture to remembering the past history of Nottingham, building up more layers to this historical area of the city[iv].

Heatherwick’s proposal for the Broadmarsh[v].

Nottingham City Council: Co-PLACE; The Design Quality Framework.

5. Nottingham City Council has been actively seeking community participation by organising public engagement events as part of the Co-PLACE initiative. Co-PLACE is the 'Community Programme to Learn and Action in the City Environment’ that brings communities, authorities and industry together, joining the principles of Community Organising with the tools and strategies of Placemaking to deliver better places and a more democratic planning system.

5.1. With Co-PLACE individuals and communities are empowered to join the other stakeholders - developers, designers, planning officers, local authorities, Councillors - in driving schemes from the ground up. Active engagement becomes a key part of the design process, and feedback given at the start of projects and right through to end-point delivery informs and guides the decision-making. This initiative aligns with the ideas formulated in the Levelling up White paper, promoting a more equal collaboration between different stakeholders[vi].

5.2. The Design Quality Framework (DQF) is a series of guides to help residents make better design choices for their building projects and to meet Nottingham City Council planning requirements more easily. The framework is in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and the National Design Guide. Similarly, Nottingham City Council is currently organising public engagement events to co-design a Carbon Neutral Design guide for the city.

5.3. Nottingham City Council believes places are made for all, by all and therefore strongly advises applicants to engage with local communities, residents and stakeholders as per the Community Engagement Guide criteria. Working in collaboration results in stronger schemes and smoother planning processes. Nottingham Council offers community engagement training and support and have a range of ideas and examples available online[vii].

Conclusions

5.4. NTU supports and plays an active role in promoting a meaningful pride of place in Nottingham through creative practices. Moreover, we believe that at the core of this initiative there must be a meaningful approach to public engagement in regard to local decision-making. The above examples demonstrate how existing projects in Nottingham, both from Nottingham Trent University and from Nottingham City Council are already working towards that goal.

5.5. Mapping Nottingham’s Identity research project demonstrates how participants reflect upon the built environment using creative practices (drawing, collaborative mapping). This exercise recognises the value of individual perceptions, which offers a better understanding of how residents connect with the built environment. Ultimately, these reflections empower citizens, who will ultimately shape the future of the city, and in return, increase a sense of place and pride in Nottingham. Similarly, the Local List empowers communities to identify heritage assets, not listed, to be properly acknowledged for future generations.

5.6. The Big Conversation is a significant example of citizens’ appetite to contribute to the future of the city, with over 3,000 ideas and proposals submitted to influence the future of Broadmarsh. The participatory work that Co-PLACE is doing in Nottingham also aligns with these ideals. Initiatives guided by a local councils will have a clear impact in achieving point 9 of the Levelling up agenda: ‘By 2030, pride in place, such as people’s satisfaction with their town centre and engagement in local culture and community, will have risen in every area of the UK’.