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Ethan Kent and Renee Espiau - Thursday 29 October 2009
Transforming Garden Place: Project for Public Spaces (PPS) is an internationally renowned organisation whose efforts have transformed public spaces around the world. PPS Vice President Ethan Kent and Senior Associate Renee Espiau have been invited by Hamilton Mayor Bob Simcock and will give a presentation on the qualities of great squares and the benefits that they generate. As part of this presentation, PPS will facilitate a conversation about how to transform Garden Place from an underperforming space to an economic asset for public and private benefit.
Phil Jones - 11 September 2009
Phil outlined the global picture on place making before he looked at our national situation and Hamilton's own plans. Phil Jones has extensive experience in the planning and design of highway and other infrastructure, with particular expertise in traffic analysis and transport planning.
He is part of the team that produced Manual for Streets for the UK’s Department for Transport, the comprehensive guide to the design of urban, residential and lightly trafficked streets. Phil is also part of the CABE (Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment) Space Enabling Panel, which provides direct advice to public sector organisations to help them deliver excellence in public realm projects, with particular emphasis on designing street networks and masterplanning.
Involved in the development of Home Zones in the UK since 1999, and the lead author of the IHIE (Institute of Highway Incorporated Engineers) Home Zone Design Guidelines, Phil continues to chair the IHIE working group, which is responsible for www.homezones.org.uk and is involved in ongoing research into the use of Home Zones by disabled and elderly people.
Jonathon Smales - 24 August 2009
If sustainability is starting to sound like a tired out catch phrase, lend Jonathon Smales you ear. The fourth speaker in Council’s free public series on shaping Hamilton intelligently, sustainably and creatively, Jonathon takes sustainability to a whole new level- reflecting on the need to do everything a wee bit, well…differently.
Most recently as the group chief executive for UK-based Beyond Green, Jonathon has been involved in developing Manchester City Council’s climate change Call to Action, a sustainability strategy for the 2012 Olympics, and urban regeneration plans in cities including London, Newcastle and Dublin. Beyond Green also runs programmes for organisational and personal behaviour change, with projects including greening the English football Premier League and a sustainability strategy for Audi, as well as books and television programmes about sustainable living.
David Engwicht - 9 July 2009
David spoke in Hamilton about his experiences as Place Maker for Wodonga, a rural city in Victoria, Australia where he was charged with turning a run down main street into the vibrant heart of the city. David shared his unique and ground-breaking approach which integrated urban psychology, social programmes, economic development and urban design. He argued that many urban revitalisation programmes fail because they do not take into account urban psychology. He discussed the design principles of shared space and some of the common pitfalls.
David Engwicht is author of four books on transport and urban design, his latest being Mental Speed Bumps: the smarter way to tame traffic. David is perhaps best known as the inventor of the Walking School Bus which has been adopted world-wide. He is considered one of the world’s most innovative thinkers about cities, traffic, urban design, community development and place making. David is a writer, sculptor and street philosopher.
Daniel Moylan - 8 April 2009
Councillor Daniel Moylan is Deputy Leader of the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea and Deputy Chairman of Transport for London (TfL). Daniel is also the Co-chair of Urban Design London; a group dedicated to improving urban design practice in London's public realm. This presentation was an ideal opportunity to meet with the most influential design champion in London and to learn from his experience in creating ground breaking public realm projects while working in the political arena.
Clr. Moylan is a pioneer for a new approach to public space design in the UK. He has put theory into practice in the Royal Borough - the transformation of Kensington High Street has garnered multiple awards while ambitious schemes for Exhibition Road have just been approved to go ahead. Cr Moylan told how the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea reviewed and planned their public spaces and streets. He also gave us his vision for Transport in London in his new role as well as providing us with some possible insights on city governance and structures.
Paul Bedford - 7 August 2008
This timely visit from one of Canada’s leading planners provided an insight into the role of bureaucracy as a creative agent of change. As Chief Planner at the City of Toronto, Paul made the brave decision to give the city’s Official Plan an overhaul, thereby creating a new and visionary document for the city.
Paul talked about the review process itself, and how the results have helped Toronto address common issues such as public transport, population growth, sustainability and urban design. A Fellow of the Canadian Institute of Planners, Paul has more than 35 years of experience in urban planning and city building. He has been integral to the development of Toronto’s groundbreaking new Official Plan, and gained unanimous council approval of the city’s Central Waterfront Principles Plan.
Paul has now retired from Toronto City Council and has been appointed as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Toronto and at Ryerson University Planning School. He also serves on multiple public boards, and writes a regular column for the Ontario Planning Journal.
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