Community
Community has become a byword these days for any initiative claiming to be socially responsive,wether in health, education or the physical environment. In terms of housing and the built environment, the community label seems to have emerged at the point where the great mass housing projects of the post world war two era began to falter in their promises to deliver the brave new visions of those who had created them.
The notion of,community participation in planning and neighbourhood renewal then followed.The foundation for this belief being that if people were given the opportunity to express their needs and desires,then empowerment would result.
So are these ideas and ideals still as relevent today,when our traditional patterns of settlement and social relations have changed beyond recognition, and consumerism and individualism now prevail?
Well perhaps more than ever, although it may be participation of a different type which emerges. A participation based on a cultivation of enthusiasiam for the built environment as a dynamic and vital thing,where less time is spent passively pouring over plans in church halls at consultation stage,and more spent actively engaging individuals and groups within the community with their own neighbourhoods and surroundings.
P.Gallacher