Design Governance ─ The CABE Experiment

Reshaping Design Governance is a thorough introduction to, and in-depth analysis of the work of the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE) and its programmes, practices and influence. Authored by leading experts in the fields of urban design and planning, it is designed specifically for design practitioners and those in related fields of public policy and urban governance.

CABE fronted a national drive in England for better design in the built environment and was an attempt to address questions of design through systematic government action. The commission campaigned for, researched and prescribed solutions to the delivery of better architectural, urban and public space design.

Through in depth analysis of the commission, Reshaping Design Governance:

• Tells the story of CABE, from its policy beginnings through its successes and failures

• Unpacks CABE’s extensive toolbox, its methods and processes

• Re-evaluates design governance as an arm and aspiration of public policy

Reshaping Design Governance illuminates larger, fundamental questions about the role, nature and legitimacy of design as a public policy tool, and asks whether, how and to what degree the state should engage in such concerns. Itis a must-have purchase for professionals in design, public policy and urban governance fields.

Matthew Carmona is a Professor of Planning & Urban Design at UCL’s Bartlett School of Planning. His research has focused on urban design, processes of design governance and on the design and management of public space. He is an architect and planner and Chair of the Place Alliance.

Claudio de Magalhaes is a Reader of Urban Regeneration and Management at UCL’s Bartlett School of Planning. His interests have been in planning and the governance of the built environment, the provision and governance of public space, property development processes and urban regeneration policy.

Lucy Natarajan is an experienced researcher at UCL’s Bartlett School of Planning where she did her PhD. Her core areas of focus are urban policy, knowledge in decision-making, public participation, spatial strategy, and new technologies of governing. She is an experienced facilitator, with a track record of managing collaborative work.