Billed as the first complete guide to the process of creating successful sustainable places, the new Urban Design Compendium 2 is officially approved by the UK’s two most powerful regeneration agencies - soon to become one - the Housing Corporation and English Partnerships.

Launched last week, with its own supporting interactive web version, the new urban design bible is presented as the successor to the seven year-old Urban Design Compendium, but with an emphasis on project deliver. Accordingly the steps to success are concerned more with design management than detailed design solutions; the five key steps are entitled commitment and leadership, integrated approach, adding value, working collaboratively, and legacy and management.

UDC2 also identifies the main barriers to good urban design, presenting a range of exemplar schemes as examples of how to overcome them.

The new guide can also be read as a supporting document to the Corporation’s new Design and Quality standards which will apply to all schemes in its forthcoming 2008-11 investment programme.

‘The first Urban Design Compendium transformed our understanding of what constitutes good urban design,’ said Trevor Beattie, English Partnerships’ Director of Corporate Strategy. ‘Seven years and 25,000 copies later we need the same transformation in our approach to delivery. Urban Design Compendium 2 is the first complete guide to the process of creating successful sustainable places. It is a practical manual for project delivery and its impact will be measured in the quality of places it inspires.

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Source: RIBA Practice Bulletin No. 415 (27 September 2007)