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England\u2019s Design Council has called on Government to establish a design quality unit for England in the pamphlet \u2018Delivering Urban Quality, Time to get Serious\u2019.<\/h3>\nEngland\u2019s Design Council has called on Government to establish a design quality unit for England in the pamphlet \u2018Delivering Urban Quality, Time to get Serious\u2019.<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n
The Design Council writes:<\/p>\n
It is time for\u00a0Government to set up a Design Quality Unit for England\u00a0to drive up the quality of urban development in England, Design Council\u2019s Chief Executive\u00a0has\u00a0announced\u00a0today (Wednesday 27 May).<\/p>\n
Sarah Weir OBE\u00a0joined\u00a0other leaders in urban design at\u00a0the launch event of\u00a0a new pamphlet\u00a0Delivering Urban Quality, Time to Get Serious<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 published by the Place Alliance on behalf of a consortium made up of\u00a0Design Council,\u00a0Academy of Urbanism, Civic Voice, CPRE, Place Alliance, Trees\u00a0and\u00a0Design Action Group and Urban Design Group.<\/p>\n Delivering Urban Quality, Time to Get Serious\u00a0makes\u00a0a clear\u00a0case for\u00a0a Design Quality Unit and\u00a0sets out options for making this happen.\u00a0It\u00a0calls on the Government to take concerted action to stop the systematic failure to deliver good quality urban development for decades, as highlighted in the\u00a0Housing Design Audit for England<\/a>, supported by Design Council, which was published earlier this year.\u00a0The new pamphlet aims to inform the Government response to the Building Better Building Beautiful Commission\u2019s (BBBBC\u2019s) important report:\u00a0Living with Beauty<\/a>\u00a0to which Design Council contributed. While the consortium has welcomed the broad thrust of analysis and advice advanced by the BBBBC, it concludes in\u00a0Delivering Urban Quality, Time to Get Serious\u00a0that it is difficult to see how the BBBBC\u2019s propositions will be delivered without a determined and very public effort by Government that also reaches out and harnesses the knowledge, enthusiasm and commitment of the sector at large.<\/p>\n The\u00a0consortium\u00a0outlines four new models for the government body, stressing that\u00a0ideally a design quality unit should work through a partnership and networked approach across the country to monitor, challenge, inspire and ultimately help to deliver real change.<\/p>\n The coronavirus pandemic has only emphasised how critical a high quality built environment is to our everyday sense of well-being, and how disadvantaged those are who suffer poor conditions inside and out, including as lack of living space, poor quality green space, environments that are not walkable, poor access to local facilities.<\/p>\n We believe living a well-designed home and neighbourhood should be a right, not a privilege. Our experience and knowledge shows that well-designed places, services and networks bring people together, promote mobility, improve health and wellbeing, stimulate the economy and enhance safety. During the midst of coronavirus, with us all confined to our homes for so much of the time, the vital need for high quality design is keenly felt. The establishment of a Design Quality Unit would be a huge step forward in ensuring that well designed developments become the norm rather than the exception.<\/p>\n Sarah Weir, Design Council’s Chief Executive<\/p>\n Design Council\u2019s involvement in this crucial publication\u00a0adds\u00a0further weight to\u00a0our\u00a0extensive work in championing the quality of the built environment.\u00a0As well as providing\u00a0ongoing independent strategic design advice and reviews for local authorities, property developers, infrastructure providers and their consultant teams, in the last\u00a018 months\u00a0we\u00a0have\u00a0also:<\/p>\n\n