building new communities

18th June 2012

Building new communities Presentation to Cherwell District

Council LSP Reference Day

Social Life is a new venture set up by the Young Foundation

Social Life has been established as a centre of expertise in social sustainability. It takes forwards the Young Foundation’s 50 year heritage of work on community dynamics, including the work of Michael Young, and Peter Hall, both former Directors of the Institute of Community Studies.

The Young Foundation brings together insights, innovation and entrepreneurship to meet social needs. The Young Foundation works across the UK and internationally – through research, influencing policy, and creating new organisations, often with imaginative uses of new technology.

We continue to build neighbourhoods that fail to thrive as flourishing communities

This is an urban and a rural issue: more in common than often believed

Success and failure are both complex and subjective.

Where are the people?

200 years+ of planned new communities

We believe we can learn from both the mistakes, and the hopes, of the past.

Putting people at the heart of placemaking

•  Our

Our organisational heritage

Future communities consortium: learning from past mistakes

The first question: what is a community?

An alternative view: what makes a community? •  Physical boundaries to promote geographical

identity •  Local myths & stories •  Visible leadership •  Strong social relationships, networks & bonds •  Opportunities for informal, spontaneous social

encounters •  Rituals and rhythms •  Shared belief systems, garden cities, new towns,

eco-cities

Working in Bicester: with Cherwell council and the developer of exemplar stage – A2Dominion - to build social sustainability into the ambitious new development, 20,000 homes over 20 years.

Two workshops plus many conversations Our findings… Legacy of past and Importance of history Acceptance of inevitability of further development Wish for meaningful consultation and dialogue Strong perceptions that infrastructure had not kept pace with growth Wish for ‘one Bicester’ and to get away from ‘Tesco Town’ label.

Bicester: locations of growth

Bicester Community Asset

March 2012

Grassroots Bicester

Bicester Local History Society

Langford Women’s Institute

Bicester Round TableCommunity Organisations

Oxfordshire Community & Voluntary Action

Bicester Rotary Club

1

2

3

4

North Bicester Surgery

Community Facillities

Montgomery House Surgery

Bicester North Rail

Bicester Town Rail

Bicester Hive (Bicester Garrison)

Langford Medical Practice

Bicester Library

Child First (Day Care)

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

Emmanuel Church

St Edburg’s C of E Church

Parish of the Immaculate Conception

Bicester Methodist Church

Religious Organisations

1

2

3

4

Heyford Park RA (Upper Heyford)

Bure Park RA

Bicester Parkland RA

Langford Village RA

ResidentsAssociations

1

2

1st Bicester Scout Group

2507 (Bicester) Squadon ATC

Bicester Courtyard Youth Arts Centre

Bicester Youth Council

7th Bicester Scout Group

Youth Organisations

1

2

3

Banburyshire Community Transport Assoc.

Cherwell Crime Partnership: Bicester

Bicester Chamber of Commerce (Banbury)

Bicester Link Point (Cherwell DC)

Bicester Town Council

Statutory Organisations

Bicester Resource & Wellbeing Centre

Bicester Vision

1

2

3

Cherwell Volunteer Bureau (Cherwell DC)

Cherwell District Council (Banbury)

Bicester Village

Bicester Farmers Market

Bicester Market

Garth Park

Chesterton Golf Club

Places of Interest

1

2

3

4

5

West Bicester Community Centre

Langford Village Community Centre

Southwold Community Centre

Bicester East Community Centre

1

2

3

4

Community Centres

Kings Meadow Primary School

Bicester Community College

Glory Farm Primary School

Bardwell Community Special School

The Cooper Secondary School

Longfields Primary School

St Edburgs C of E Primary School

St Mary’s RC Primary School

Southwold County Primary School

Bure Park Primary School

Langford Village Primary School

Brookside Primary School1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

10

9

11

12

Schools

Stagecoach Bicester (Theatrical arts)

Bicester Concert Band

Bicester Choral & Operative Society

Sport &Leisure

Organisations

Bicester Leisure Centre

Bicester Green Gym

1

2

3

4

5

Assets located in Bicester Assets located outside Bicesteror non-physical assets

What can be done?

Reviewing the evidence “… where these facilities were already in place when people began to arrive, the community came together and networks were formed more easily” CLG New Towns Review

“ … most mixing across social groups takes places between children. It is these contacts … that provide opportunities to meet and form relationships.” CIH/JRF 2005

“ … planning for hard infrastructure alone would never build a community … it would only be done by a matrix of formal and informal opportunities or supported activities.” Cambridgeshire PCT (2007)

A framework for social sustainability

The Young Foundation/Social Life Social Sustainability Framework, 2011

Plaque to commemorate the site of former Arkwright Town

New Arkwright, Derbyshire

• HafenCity, Hamburg

• 

Hafen City, Hamburg: sociologist appointed as “go-between” - intermediary for early residents and developer

What does this mean for Cherwell?

Locations of growth in Banbury

My questions for you

1.  How can you understand community dynamics better and work with them?

2.  If residents don’t want consultation meetings and leaflets, what are the other options?

3.  If consulting communities reveals profound opposition to housebuilding, what can you do to build support for new developments?

social-life.co nicola.bacon@social-life.co saffron.woodcraft@social-life.co