Understanding Place

It is only through this partnership with place that humans experience intimacy and responsibility to the world, creating meaningful roles for themselves. First recognise that places are alive - they have patterns of flows and exchanges. Regensis (2016) identified the following distinctive place patterns: • Patterns of Nestedness - a neighbourhood within a city, within a watershed. They are dynamically interdependent. Understanding these patterns is key to becoming regenerative because it is the systems within which it is nested that it will regenerate. • Patterns of Interaction - living systems are sustained by the processes of interaction among diverse forces. • Essence Patterns - the essence is the true nature or distinctive character that makes something what it is. You must understand the essence of place to create interventions that resonate with it - essences, identities, characters, purposes and spirit. There are distinctive core patterns that organise the dynamics of a place and are the source of its essence, influencing the complex relationships that produce activity, growth and evolution. Essence can be defined through stories of place, songs and poetry: historical, contemporary and emergent. Indigenous tribes have transferred the cultural patterns embedded within a place, which can reveal deep human connection.

The key is not only to recognise these patterns but to work with them, enhancing them where possible by creating the type of environments where energy and flows can come together to generate greater value and meaning for citizens. Thus, there should be some form of exchange value created from this coming together - greater learning or understanding of the environment or cultural heritage, economic exchanges or sharing of resources.

Considering Complexity

When recognising patterns in places it is useful to consider the concept of bounded rationality which recognises that we can only really gain a partial understanding of the complex processes of systems that are unfolding in any given place. The deeper the understanding of a place, the more powerful the partnership; however, this will only be pieces of the jigsaw and therefore designers must recognise that decisions are based upon heuristics. Ecological Rationality is helpful in highlighting that place strategies are effective when they fit well with the environment. Ecological rationality encourages researchers to study how cognitive processes and environmental structures interact. Rather than seeking perfect solutions, ecological rationality suggests adapting interventions based on feedback from the environment. This iterative approach aligns well with complex place-based challenges, where the true impacts of prototypes are hard to predict. Nested Rationality recognises that life takes place through dynamic exchange across boundaries of interconnected interrelations systems. This is what creates diversity, and therefore any consideration of optimising place potential needs to consider where these opportunities exist, either within or around its geographic boundaries.

Utilising Assets

Places have distinct geographic and cultural advantage, which they can call on to serve a particular niche or purpose. Bruce Katz in his book 'The New Localism' refers to "What a place makes or how it contributes to global production and innovation becomes the relevant frame of reference as the conversation shifts from placemaking to creating economic value........ renewed economic relevance entails investment in those sectors of the economy for which a place has shown economic advantages." (Katz 2012). Or, more simply put, what are the existing place patterns which can be leveraged to create a unique value proposition to serve a city or wider region. Katz uses the case study of Detroit which pivoted from car making to Robotics as an example of how a city can utilise its inherent skills and capabilities, regenerating and repurposing redundant ecosystems around a new economic purpose.

A great example of a city district capturing the unique inherent value of a communities by simply putting them together within an environment that allowed for agglomeration was Corridor Manchester Innovation District. Manchester is widely considered as the birthplace of the industrial revolution and innovation has shaped the entrepreneurial DNA of the city and its people. The unique collaboration of the hospital, universities, the city leaders and the private sector, supported by historical spatial/relational advantages led to a powerful force of economic exchange and value creation worth £3 billion in Gross Value Added (GVA) annually and accounting for 20% of the city's economic output. The challenge for Planit, through our work within the corridor, was to create the types of city environments which facilitated innovation, collaboration and exchange value, whether that be the formulation of a new city square at the mixed use development of 'Circle Square', the redesign of an urban highway to form a new linear city park (Brunswick Park) or the creation of student start-up/ exhibition space within Hatch village, that also served to activate a dead area of the city underneath the Mancunian Way flyover.

All Saints Park - Transitional and resting spaces

Interrelational Boundaries

All places need to consider the interrelationships with natural and cultural catchment areas or bioregions. Bioregionalism came from the writer Peter Berg and ecologist Raymond Dasman, through the Planet Drum Foundation which looked to bring social change that would result in communities protecting their environment at the local level. "Bioregions are geographic areas having common characteristics of soil, watersheds, climate and native plants and animals that exist within the whole planetary biosphere as unique and intrinsic parts." 161 - Peter Berg. Bioregional networks of cooperating communities can create regional self-reliance, which in turn cooperate with national networks around transport and communication infrastructure. Thus, the bioregion becomes the scale from which to respond to the climate and societal crisis, raising planetary awareness through interconnected global networks of information and cultural exchange, and facilitating trade regulations supporting local production and consumption. This also needs decentralised power structures and infrastructure to empower communities of a region, supported by participatory democracy. This bioregional cooperation is the optimum scale for synergies to occur. The bioregion can become the scale of economic exchange and leverage. At this level, communities can become self-reliant by cooperating at the regional level to meet their most essential needs. This relationship is bonded around a bioregional uniqueness.

Envisioning A New Purpose

In terms of applying the principle of creating leverage with a place, this suggests utilising the assets to move a place to a new possible future but done in a way where maximum impact can be achieved with the least effort. To do this, the idea of a new possible future must be first envisioned by the community, but in a way which works with the natural energy, resource flows and patterns of a place. Through the process of visioning and doing, a place can integrate human need with the living systems of the site and surroundings - marrying the 'Story of Place' with aspirations for the future, exploring opportunities within environmental limits. This process of finding a new purpose for a place should not be limited to simply resolving specific issues or problems given that many of the issues are a result of systemic causes. The leverage which this principle is seeking is the type that can create systemic change within and beyond its geographic boundaries.

Sheffield Neighbourhood Frameworks - A flexible framework for delivering city regeneration

A Loose and Adaptable Place Framework

A place then needs to translate these patterns into design guidelines and place frameworks. Christopher Alexander in his work on pattern languages identifies a transferable process for how to engage with each unique place—observing its successful patterns, articulating them clearly, and using them as generative guides for contextually appropriate interventions. Kalvin Campbell in his work 'Massive Small Change' (2018) argues for development regulations that reflect site-specific localised urban design conditions. Urban interventions should harness and direct community energy in positive ways to address local problems. Urban typologies which reflect typological vernacular can become leverage points within the community. Some examples include: streetcorner buildings, new urban housing typologies, small public space interventions and local enterprise hubs. These pieces of urban acupuncture become the focus of generative models for community prototype projects which can resolve local issues and redistribute wealth within the local economy. They can feed back information to the overall place framework allowing for strategic adjustments to supporting infrastructure.

Conclusion

Utilising the unique patterns of energy and resource flow within a place can create a powerful leverage point for change. Places have characteristics which emerge from interconnected relationships between communities and natural systems leading to a unique place potential to generate exchange value. The challenge is to capture the patterns and potential a vision that defines a new purpose which can contribute to the wider level - town, city or region. Indeed, the bioregional level becomes the largest place-specific opportunity for contribution to support a more flourishing planet. Codifying the typological uniqueness of a place can support interventions that bring the energy of communities and nature together on the ground, feedback will inform the higher-level vision and any necessary pivots to its delivery.