New principles for placemaking in Wales which guide planners to think about ‘whole places’ rather than just single developments or land use in isolation have been welcomed by RTPI Cymru.
The principles are outlined in the Placemaking Wales Charter, launched earlier today by Minister for Housing and Local Government Julie James MS at RTPI Cymru’s Welsh Planner Live 2020.
The Charter, led by the Welsh Government and the Design Commission for Wales, outlines six principles that cover the range of considerations that contribute to establishing and maintaining good places – people and community, public realm, movement, location, mix of uses and identity.
The Charter has been developed in collaboration with the Placemaking Wales Partnership. RTPI is one of more than 25 members of the Partnership which represents organisations and professions working across the built and natural environment sectors.
Launching the Charter, Julie James said: “For almost a year now, the Partnership has been formulating the Charter which contains six principles that each organisation that signs the charter are committed to either promoting or demonstrating through their work.
“Placemaking requires an integrated approach to development which ensures that communities have all the services that they need within easy reach and that the development is of high design quality.
“It requires people involved in the planning system to think of places and wellbeing holistically rather than in isolation and this requires effective engagement from planning authorities, communities and the development industry.”
Director of RTPI Cymru Roisin Willmott FRTPI said: “The RTPI is very pleased to be a signatory to the Charter which commits the organisation to support placemaking in all relevant areas of its work. Planners are at the heart of making people-focused, active and distinctive places and we welcome the cross-disciplinary approach the Charter promotes.”
RTPI Cymru’s Welsh Planner Live 2020 is a week-long series of webinars looking at how planning and planners can take climate action. For more information, visit https://www.rtpi.org.uk/welshplannerlive
