Shape My City with Design West

In June, we headed to Bedminster in Bristol with a group of students from Design West’s Shape My City diverse talent accelerator programme.

Our team of Town Planners, Urban Designers, Architects and Landscape Architects led a workshop on the theme of Sustainable Planning which explored the voices and criteria that shape places, using our Whitehouse Street Regeneration Framework project as a live canvas.

Clare Billany

Senior Landscape Architect

The walking tour

A walking tour gave the students a chance to explore the Whitehouse Street Regeneration site, experience its current uses, character, massing, heritage, landscape and infrastructure, and then consider the constraints and future opportunities.

Download the map

Your voice

Before the workshop, we asked the students to answer two questions to gauge their personal experience of planning and development:

Have you ever been asked for your views on plans for new development in your neighbourhood?

What would it take to get you more engaged in the future of your neighbourhood?

I’ve never been asked for my views on plans for new developments, I don’t think my parents have either. To be more engaged in the future of my neighbourhood I think it would be good to have a place where all the new development ideas get uploaded to and then the community can state their views on those ideas. It would also help people be aware of what’s happening in the neighbourhood.

Noa, SMC Student

I’ve never been asked for my views on plans for new developments in my area. Information about them also tends to be hard to find. I think information about new developments should be made easy to access for local communities, and that would increase engagement. In my area in the past there were plans to build a housing estate next to a site of specific scientific interest in an extremely floor prone area, and it was partly because of community feedback that the plans fell through.

Owen, SMC Student

I’ve never been asked for my views. My community has to protest on site to get the message across. Maybe some sort of online survey would be a good place to start.

Maham, SMC Student

I haven’t directly been asked for my views, by my parents have filled in multiple questionnaires and forms as our neighbours are currently building another house in their garden. I think you can read up on planning requests on the Bristol City Council website.

Anna, SMC Student

I don’t think my family has ever been asked directly about developments in our neighbourhood. Maybe I could write to my neighbourhood newsletter or have some sort of online survey in order to make sure people are aware of new developments in the area.

Madeleine, SMC Student

The workshop was an opportunity for the students to better understand the consultation process and the importance of community engagement for sustainable planning.

As the Whitehouse Street project is currently at consultation stage, it was a perfect time for students to make their voices heard and have their observations genuinely feed into a live project.

About Shape My City

Shape My City is an award-winning talent accelerator programme for 15-18 year olds that seeks to change the future workforce across the built environment. Through the programme, Design West aims to give talented young people opportunities they might not otherwise have. Female students, those from BAME backgrounds and under-represented socio-economic groups are particularly encouraged to take part.

A new partnership with Design West

We are proud to support the work of Design West through our sponsorship of the new first floor of their Bristol venue which is set to be their cultural heart and home to regular talks, workshops and events programme including Shape My City.