Public consultation is a central plank in the government’s strategy for sustainable communities. Urban regeneration is not only about renewing the built environment, it is also about rejuvenating neighbourhoods and this means harnessing public enthusiasm and support. But there is currently a huge amount of public consultation about urban development and regeneration in the UK but little effective engagement with people.

CAR's approach to successful consultation has three key ingredients:

Meaningful: it asks questions that make sense and tackle issues that people care about.
Informed: people are given an overview to help them understand the issues.
influencial: peopleneed to believe that their answers will make a difference.

CAR has extensive experience in involving people in the design and planning process. Our approach is to use opinion to inform development strategies and to provide clear guidelines for the writing of the design brief. CAR has also developed a range of tools that involve stakeholders and members of the public in thinking strategically about the issues involved in urban growth and regeneration.

Projects/Publications

• Urban Futures A comparative study of growth and decline: neighbourhood renewal in Burnley and Luton for Building Futures. Client: RIBA/CABE, 2005. [Download (PDF, 2.1Mb) »]
• Urban Futures Game A scenario-based game for visualising neighbourhood change, 2005. Client: RIBA/CABE, 2005. [Read more »] [Download (PDF, 532Kb) »]
• Housing Futures – Informed Public Opinion Public views of development options in the South East. Client: Joseph Rowntree Foundation, 2004. [Download Findings (PDF, 70Kb) »] [Download Report (PDF, 1.8Mb) »]
• Cambridge Futures 2 What transport for Cambridge? Client: Cambridge Futures, 2004. [Read more »] [Download (PDF, 206Kb) »]
• Cambridge Futures 1 What development options for Cambridge? Client: Cambridge Futures, 1999. [Read more »] [Download (PDF, 467Kb) »]
• Cities of Innovation Shaping places for high-tech. Client: Cambridge-MIT Institute, 2003.
• Retrofit Incorporating user behaviour preferences in the design of controls: experience of two Retrofit for the Future projects. Retrofit 2012 Conference, University of Salford, 24-26 January, 2012. [Download (PDF, 241Kb) »

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