Evaluating the governance of design in the built environment - the CABE experiment and beyond

从创立到消亡，CABE引领了一场全国性的运动，要求在建筑环境中进行更好的设计。它是一个独特的组织(在世界范围内)，充分了解它的工作和影响将具有国际意义。然而，这项提议走得更远。它旨在将CABE的经验作为一种手段来阐明一些基本问题，这些问题涉及设计作为公共政策工具的作用、性质和合法性，以及国家未来是否、如何以及在多大程度上应该参与到这种关注中来。将追踪四条关键的调查路线：o工具箱-CABE代表了一种尝试，通过“积极的政府”，解决人们认为的(尽管有争议的)市场未能认识到好的设计的重要性。但是，在没有任何法定权力的情况下，CABE可以被视为设计方面的“大卫”，而不是房地产市场的“巨人”。尽管如此，CABE能够部署一系列潜在的强大工具来实现其预期目标，包括：证据、宣传、信息共享、指导、改进工具、援助、监测、说服、联盟建设、教育和评估。每个工具都包含一系列复杂的努力，确定这些工具的相对重要性、挑战和影响将为设计治理过程的有效性以及这一领域的公共政策和投资未来应集中在哪里提供宝贵的激励。o转变治理-CABE的工作基于这样一种信念，即通过理解设计过程，可能会得出通用原则，以优化参与者的表现。CABE本身也被嵌入到更广泛的政治和治理趋势中，表明对设计治理的评估需要置于对这一更广泛背景的理解中。今天，随着这一背景的转变，对设计治理最近事件的理解将有助于揭示公共政策领域中潜在的未来模式，该领域将通过较低级别的政府、直接由社区提供，并不那么直接地由中心引导。o政治背景--当代通过公共政策解决设计问题的努力始于90年代中期。这一“设计议程”在新工党执政期间蓬勃发展，而在2010年大选的准备阶段，保守党再次致力于实现同样的目标，尽管不是CABE。了解这段历史，参与者的动机和围绕设计的政治共识，以及它是否适合不断发展的城市政策格局，对于了解未来设计议程的潜在和可能的轨迹，以及如何保持相关性，设计治理的实践将需要与其一起发展至关重要。o设计问题-随着CABE的角色、影响和规模的增长，批评也在增加；强调这一领域公共政策的挑战性，以及设计在关键方面与许多“大笔”政策的不同之处。今天，随着城市政策转向地方主义议程，设计可能会越来越重要，尽管现在没有强大的国家声音来协助这一进程。评估建筑环境中设计的独特公共政策特征和问题，以及最近如何解决(或不解决)这些问题，对于理解在紧缩和地方主义时代如何处理设计，以及理解未来此类干预的更广泛的道德/社会案例将是至关重要的。本文提出了一种归纳研究方法，从实践的细节转向设计治理的广泛理论。在CABE倒闭前保护证据的一个完整的泵启动阶段的基础上，现在提出了一个分四个阶段的多维影响分析：分析框架；组织审问；第一手意见；以及影响和遗产分析。

From its creation to its demise, CABE fronted a national drive for better design in the built environment. It was a unique organisation (worldwide) and a full understanding of its work and impact will be of international significance. This proposal, however, goes much further. It aims to use the experience of CABE as a means to illuminate some fundamental questions about the role, nature and legitimacy of design as a public policy tool and whether, how and to what degree the state should engage in such concerns in the future. Four key lines of enquiry will be traced:o The toolbox - CABE represented an attempt, through 'active government', to address a perceived (although contested) failure of the market to recognise the importance of good design. But, given the absence of any statutory powers, CABE could be seen as the 'David' of design against the 'Goliath' of the property market. Despite this, CABE was able to deploy a range of potentially powerful tools to achieve its desired ends, including: evidence, publicity, information sharing, guidance, improvement tools, assistance, monitoring, persuading, coalition building, education, and evaluation. Each tool encompasses a complex set of endeavours and determining the relative significance, challenges and impact of such tools will provide valuable incites into the effectiveness of design governance processes and to where public policy and investment in this area should be focused in the future.o Shifting governance - CABE's work was situated within a belief that by understanding the processes of design, generic principles might be derived to optimise the performance of players. CABE itself was also embedded within wider political and governance trends, demonstrating how evaluation of design governance needs to be situated within an understanding of this wider context. Today, as this context shifts, an understanding of recent episodes of design governance will throw light on potential future models in an area of public policy to be delivered across lower tiers of government, directly by communities, and with a less direct steer from the centre.o Political context - The contemporary effort to address questions of design through public policy began in the mid-90s. This 'design agenda' prospered throughout the New Labour years, whilst in the run-up to the 2010 election the Conservatives re-committed themselves to the same goals, although not to CABE. Understanding this history, the motivations of those involved and the political consensus surrounding design, as well as it's fit within the evolving urban policy landscape will be critical to understanding the potential and likely trajectory of the design agenda in the future and how, to stay relevant, the practice of design governance will need to evolve with it.o Design problematics - As the role, influence and size of CABE grew, so did criticisms; underlining the challenging nature of public policy in this area, and how design is different from many 'big ticket' policy remits in critical ways. Today, as urban policy moves to a localism agenda, design is likely to come increasingly to the fore, although now without a strong national voice to assist in the process. Evaluating the unique public policy characteristics and problematics of design in the built environment and how they have been addressed (or not) in the recent past will be critical to understanding how design might be addressed in the age of austerity and localism as well as to understanding the wider moral / societal case for such intervention in the future.An inductive research methodology is proposed that journeys from the specifics of practice to a broad theory of design governance. Building on a completed pump-priming phase that safeguarded evidence prior to CABE's demise, a multi-dimensional impact analysis is now proposed in four stages: analytical framework; organisational interrogation; first-hand opinions; and impact & legacy analysis.