Speaker
Description
This research provides critical insights into the origins, development and practices of university-led urban development, which has emerged in the UK in the past two decades, from a rapid expansion of HE institutions and their physical imprint, the campus. Based on a multi-disciplinary review of existing scholarship on university campuses, novel empirical research is presented from case studies in Glasgow and Newcastle, in the context of the larger national UK trends shaping cities across the country. The analysis focuses on an urban planning and design perspective, which is presented as a multi-scalar process covering the stages of purpose and visioning, master planning, and place-making. Therefore four themes structure the main narrative. First, the focus lies on each university’s guiding strategies and visioning documents, synthesising the key aims that drive university campus redevelopment, in the context of different university leadership strategies and governance styles. Second, it considers the dimension of urban planning in relation to the University’s spatial dimension, the urban campus, in the shape of (master)plans and urban design guidelines. Third, it looks at new, university-led formation of urban networks and political alliances, including the tactics used by large HE institutions to become key urban development actors in the city where they are located. Fourth, it considers the dimension of ‘place’, by reflecting on what kind of spaces the new campuses are, if they are harmoniously embedded in the urban fabric and if they offer the adequate physical ‘stage’ needed for a vibrant and inclusive campus life. The article concludes with comparing and contrasting the two projects, questioning the level of spatial innovation in campus redevelopment. It suggests the emergence of a specific type of ‘university urbanism’ that differentiates campus development from other urban practices, with significant impact for city futures. It then reflects on three future urban scenarios that are emerging when analysing university expansion within the context of current urban trends such as sustainable and green cities, place-based regeneration of declining high streets and city centres, housing pressures and austerity urbanism.
| Keywords | university urbanism, urban alliances, place-making, campus regeneration, city futures |
|---|---|
| Best Congress Paper Award | Yes |
