Controlling urban design—part 2: Realizing the potential

Part 1 of this article argued that an appropriate investment in the necessary tools with which to control design is required before effective control through the planning system can be achieved. A four‐part framework for control was proposed to achieve this, incorporating: an overriding concern for urban design over architecture; the use of urban design theory to underpin policy and guidance; recognition of the value and utility of thoroughgoing area appraisal; and, based on the above, the adoption of a comprehensive hierarchy of design policies and guidance by national and local government. In Part 2 the framework is illustrated and the argument further developed by reference to current British planning practice in Glasgow, Birmingham and Manchester. The analysis focuses in large part on Scotland's largest city—Glasgow, and in particular on Glasgow's city centre, where problems of decline, traffic domination and past public authority complacency are being addressed through an investment in, and ...