Urban design is about shaping cities, towns and villages to be attractive places to live and work in. This includes both how places look and how they function.
Urban design involves the design of buildings, groups of buildings and the spaces between them. It also considers how places are connected and how people move between them.
Successful urban design creates development that complements its setting whilst ensuring good design.
Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council encourages good urban design in a variety of ways, including:
- providing design advice in relation to planning applications and pre-application enquiries.
- assessing the quality of completed developments.
- providing design advice in relation to the development and regeneration of council owned land.
- helping to shape planning policy as part of the Local Development Framework, the document which will guide future development in the Borough.
- providing design advice and planning guidance on possible development sites in the form of design briefs and concept statements.
- helping to manage the North East Hampshire Architects' Panel, an independent group of architects who provide expert advice to the council on key development proposals.
Design Quality Initiative
Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council recognises that well designed places are important to ensuring a high standard of living for its residents. We have, therefore, decided to take proactive steps to ensure that high standards of design are achieved in both the rural and urban areas of the borough. We call this the Design Quality Initiative.
As a statement of our commitment to achieving the highest standards of design the council has adopted a design charter. This document sets out the core principles which will guide the work of the Design Quality Initiative.
