21 June 2010
Harlow Renaissance was delighted to bring nearly 70 eminent architects and town planners into Harlow last week for the growth symposium “Tomorrow’s Harlow: Rethinking Gibberd’s Vision in the 21st Century.”
Professionals involved in the future of Harlow (and other new towns) along with officers working on plans for regeneration and growth in the region were brought together to discuss the principles that should govern development in new towns generally and Harlow in particular. This was done in the light of inspiration from urban extensions in the Netherlands with the key note speech coming from Han Lörzing MLA, author of VINEX: a Morphological Exploration, on lessons from Dutch new towns.
Nicholas Falk of URBED and Andrew Burns from Matrix then considered the opportunities and constraints that Harlow faces. This lead into facilitated workshop discussions - first on the general principles of Connectivity, Character and Community that should govern the town’s future growth, and then their application to the different areas which constitute the town.
Following considered debate and opinion sharing, Nicholas Falk of URBED, (a non executive director of Harlow Renaissance and Chair of the Property Advisory Group) is now undertaking an illustrated report. The report will go to all participants, local Councils and land owners. Harlow District Council will be consulting on the Issues and Options phase of the Local Development Framework in the early autumn for which Harlow Renaissance will also use the views expressed during the day to feed into their response.
Feedback from participants has been incredibly positive with the concluding remark from Han Lorzing’s presentation encapsulating much of the day’s feeling. Harlow must indeed continue to “dare to be different”.