The Bartlett School
of Planning
UCL Participatory Planning Project.
Designing a more inclusive Bloomsbury.
The Project.
Designing a more inclusive Bloomsbury.
We are a group of UCL postgraduates from the Bartlett School of Planning undertaking a project that aims to explore the extent to which UCL Bloomsbury, as a ‘public’ space, is inclusive to all. We want to investigate how the university public space could be improved specifically for those who aren’t the targeted users of the space.
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Please browse our website and if you have a spare 5 minutes please feel free to answer the questions under the 'Share Your Views' tab. No matter who you are and what your relationship to UCL and Bloomsbury is, we would love to hear from you.
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Thank you!
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Around UCL.
What others have told us about the space.
“The benefits of (inclusive) design disappear very quickly as soon as a security guard asks “can I help you?”
“Without inclusive or community engagement, design is a very sterile exercise”
“(The design of the space) has to impose some kind of status of the university, it is not supposed to be an ‘everyday’ ‘welcoming’ space.”
“(We need to think about) the synergies between the public and university realm, opportunities where you can put things which would be of benefit to both - like the farmers market”
“There’s poor connectivity, poor way-finding and lack of functionality from the point of view of the university, it doesn’t really pull all the public spaces together and the disparate functions of the university at all.”
“Public space is an extension of the university and should be used for anything that goes on at the university: for relaxation, for teaching, for exhibitions - everything that the university does should be represented.”
“The way I see these (public) spaces is just to create faster lanes to get through the university.”
“There doesn’t seem to be a management strategy for the space.”
“Architecture and design is the least important mechanism in opening up a space, it’s more about how you manage the activities in the space.”
“We need a landscape strategy that sees the spaces between the buildings are as important as the buildings themselves.”
“There are very few actual public spaces in UCL.”
"The transient nature of the student/residential community means that the nature of the services which are attracted are very different...It comes back to the university having a relationship with a global community, not to its immediate residential community.”
“I believe in considering the value of the entire city as a learning resource where there is engagement and an active exchange of ideas between the city's various institutions and their urban context
“I know that I said that this area (main quad) is intimidating, but I do find it as powerful. The sense of power comes from the building itself, and it being a prestigious university. I feel a connection and a sense of belonging to this university.”
“Maybe the whole street could be like Exhibition Road, where we start to recognise the diverse nature of the buildings on either side to unite the disparate buildings around.”
Use the interactive map to explore Bloomsbury.