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The Regional and Urban Design Committee (RUDC) aims to improve the quality of the regional and urban environment by promoting excellence in design, planning, and public policy in the built environment. This will be achieved through its member and public education, in concert with allied community and professional groups. Join us!

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The Universal Experience of Livable Cities

By Bruce A. Race FAIA posted 07-08-2013 06:20 PM

  

In Welsh, ddinas livable means “livable city”. Cardiff, Wales is a capital city for governance and sports that is at the center of a well-planned region. Cardiff is livable, international, ethnically and culturally diverse, and economically vibrant. It is the smallest and youngest European capital and it is a very ddinas livable.

Cardiff has 360,000 people tightly bound around a walkable animated historic city center. It has less than half the population and over four times the density of Indianapolis. The national stadium dominates the city’s modest skyline. It is also a sports capital with rugby, soccer, and cricket stadiums used by professional teams and clubs.
 

This summer I am supervising Cardiff University’s urban design graduate students. As with Ball State University’s graduate population, it is a diverse and international group. They bring a global perspective and are asking interesting questions regarding the future of cities.

Many of the students’ thesis projects are focused on urban issues facing their own communities. Their research and thesis topics reflect the universal experience of cities. They want to create safe and interesting public spaces and streets; design waterfront districts that are woven into their city; redesign brownfield sites as healthy neighborhoods; make youth and family-friendly neighborhoods; leverage the value of transit access; and revitalize downtown districts. These are same topics our students are pursuing in Indianapolis but for cities in China, India, Greece, the Middle East, Thailand, Portugal, and the UK.

Cities have universal functions and characteristics. Demographer Joel Kotkin defines cities as places that are sacred, safe, and busy. The historian Spiro Kostof identifies common characteristics of cities. Kostof describes how cities are energized and crowded places with buildings and people. They have a countryside context and exist as clusters of cities and towns. Cities have physical circumstances and resources, such as rivers, influencing their placement. There is a physical monumental framework.

Indianapolis certainly meets Kotkin’s and Kostof’s universal definitions of a city. However, we often do not acknowledge the importance of these necessary universal elements of great cities. Some are under our control, such as reinforcing and celebrating what is left of our fantastic “monumental framework”.  Others are more difficult to manage, such as working towards a well planned, mobile, and economically connected region.

 A good professor is always a student. There are four lessons to be learned from Cardiff.

Historic preservation and contemporary architecture. There is something inspiring about a place that honors its past with contemporary architecture that is urbane and contextual. Cardiff has Roman ruins, Medieval Castles, the great Norman Llandaff Cathedral, and beautiful turn of the century commercial structures and neighborhoods. Most buildings are from Cardiff’s period as the busiest port in the world due to the export of coal. New buildings are designed to inspire and still fit into a city that feels Old World and Modern at the same time.

Active streets. The density and quality of street retailing is impressive. There are large contemporary malls and wonderful historic arcades. Somehow, their designs do not suck the life out of the streets because they are part of the district, not just an inward-facing project. The city residents and visitors come together on The Hayes, Queens Street and St. Mary Street. They are sacred, safe and busy with churches, major shopping centers, storefront shops, restaurants, and cafes.

“Cynllun rhanbarthol” means regional plan in Welsh. After WWII, the UK developed regional plans. The city’s relationship with the countryside is protected because regional planning preserved farmland and steered shopping and entertainment to the regional centers. In Cardiff, this pattern is reinforced by a robust multi-modal transportation system connected by a safe and comfortable walking environment. It is a great city to walk in. The towns that orbit the capital are great places to walk too.

Taking the long view–low carbon cities. The Welsh government and Cardiff residents make sustainable planning and lifestyle choices. There is a focus on energy efficiency, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Also historically dependent on coal, Wales and Cardiff are innovators in development of building and energy technologies leveraging their local universities’ expertise. Cardiff is a “dinas gynaliadwy”–a sustainable city.

Cardiff and Indy have two key things in common. Both are capitals and have made a commitment to amateur and professional sports. They have historic assets and are at the center of regional economies. Neighborhoods adjacent to downtown are undergoing a transformation energized by young people with a new entrepreneurial spirit. And both cities are learning laboratories for young visitors, not just urban design students.

I see our university students, and students from around the world, moving to cities to benefit from their economic and social advantages. They are redefining the future ddinas livable that captures the past and expresses a hopeful future.

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Comments

09-12-2013 09:14 AM

Thanks for allowing us to tour Cardiff a bit. In comparing Cardiff and Indianapolis one cannot stress enough the different views that the two countries hold regarding property rights, planning and government. The neat organisation of land use in tight clusters surrounded by countryside, typical in Europe, requires strict land use laws which we don't have in the US. The resulting spread of things all over the landscape here with de-densified urban cores and the landscaped marred with shopping strips and malls has been called "sprawl" and is bankrupting our cities and towns, requires cars for everything and makes us unhealthy. Thanks again for sharing that the Welsh Capital is not just a quaint throw back to the past but a vibrant place with long view plans for a low carbon future.