The word on the street: demystifying the language of urbanism

Ten thoughts on the language of urbanism

1. Success in planning, urban design and regeneration depends on professionals making themselves understood by politicians, by the public, and by one another. Perhaps more than any other language, the specialist languages of urbanism are heard by many people who only dimly understand what they are hearing, and spoken by some who find themselves using words and phrases they barely understand. People complain about it, but little is done to help us communicate better, and hence to build better.
2. What does creating better places depend on? Design sense? Political commitment? New ethical values? Yes, but clear thought and effective communication on these are impossible if we are ensnared by the misuse of our language.
3. ‘Engineers have always baffled us with numbers. Planners do the same with words.’ Colin Davies
4. ‘We desperately need to demystify and express ourselves in very simple, direct terms.’ Peter Roberts, chairman, Academy for Sustainable Communities
5. ‘There are 10 central concepts of urbanism: at any one time at least one term relating to each of the concepts will be in fashion. Whenever a term goes out of fashion, at least one more relating to the same concept will come in to fashion to replace it.’
   Cowan’s Law of the Language of Urbanism
6. Terms come and go: renewal, regeneration, renaissance; urban village, brownfield, greenfield. People are expected to respond to new concepts without knowing the ideas and the history behind them, as if the principles of sustainability (for example) were either simple or new.
7. Every language evolves through a constant battle between economy and intelligibility.
8. The job of a dictionary is to explain how words are used, not to specify how they should be used.
9. Understanding how language works is a more immediate priority than understanding the vocabulary of urbanism.
10. The Dictionary of Urbanism and the Urbanwords website (www.urbanwords.info) have focused attention on our specialist language. The next step is to develop a national strategy through which we can work together to use language more effectively.

“Conversations on Future Lifestyles”: Talk it Through, Make it Happen.

Rethinking Cities Ltd. host “Conversations on Future Lifestyles”, a series of thought-provoking, inspiring and creative discussions on lifestyles and their impact on urban living. Such a Conversation is an opportunity to meet fellow professionals, to share opinions, and contribute to interesting debates on topical issues. Collective problem solving. A briefing paper is distributed to participants one week before the conversation and a guest speaker is invited to introduce the topic.

Conversations take place early in an evening, at a convenient central London location, approximately once a quarter, and last for between 50 and 90 minutes. They are hosted by an experienced facilitator, and participation is limited to ten people, ensuring intimacy and an opportunity for everyone to have a chance to contribute.

“Wise people like Raban (author of Soft City) learn things  about cities and communicate them, but then are more or less forgotten.  Revisiting them is a real service, and the Conversation was very stimulating,  to me at least. The Homes & Communities Academy should fund you to hold hundreds of Conversations, as an alternative to reinventing the wheel.” Rob Cowan, former Director of the Urban Design Group

For each Conversation, a briefing paper is written by the person introducing the topic.