New Urbanism is a holistic approach to
healthy transformative community change. It challenges all development
conventions, including codes, transportation standards, and finance
mechanisms. It also challenges peoples’ perceptions regarding
growth, for example, “density done right can make things
better.” Early on, New Urbanists recognized that success
required that everyone affected by the outcome be included in
the planning effort from the beginning.
The
Ecole des Beaux
Arts "charrette"
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The answer is the Charrette. The Charrette
is a multi-day planning process during which an interdisciplinary
professional design team creates a complete and buildable smart
growth plan that reflects the input of all stakeholders who are
involved by engaging them in a series of feedback loops. The term
“Charrette” is derived from a French word meaning
"cart" and refers to the final intense work effort expended
by art and architecture students to meet a project deadline. At
the École des Beaux Arts in Paris during the 19th century,
proctors circulated with carts to collect final drawings, and
students would jump on the charrette with their work and frantically
put finishing touches on their drawings. This intense burst of
activity is similar to the atmosphere of the Charrette process
described in this article.
Charrettes offer much more than just a quick fix. The result of
the modern-day Charrette is lasting, transformative change. After
a Charrette, people have been heard to say: "I have been
a transportation engineer for 20 years and until today I never
knew why the fire department needs 20 feet of street clearance,"
or "Now I understand why alleys are so important," or
"This is the most creative experience I have had since college,"
and "I may not agree with the entire proposal, but my concerns
were listened to and considered; I like how I was treated."
Achieving such results requires a carefully planned and orchestrated
process that starts well before the actual Charrette and continues
long after it.
The term "charrette" is overused and often misused.
While the NCI Charrette refers specifically to a comprehensive,
intensive development plan to bring transformative change to a
neighborhood, some people use the word to refer to a single debate
or Saturday afternoon meeting over the fate of a neighborhood.
The following nine strategies are what differentiate an authentic
Charrette from other planning processes.
1. Work collaboratively
A charrette creates a long-lived plan based on each individual’s
unique contributions. The charrette plan is envisioned and authored
by all who participate. Having contributed to it, participants
are in a position to both understand and support its rationale.
This includes anyone who might build, use, sell, approve or attempt
to block the project. Local citizens, officials, and approval
board representatives meet and work with the design team throughout
the Charrette to create a plan that incorporates their ideas and
concerns. The Charrette process gives the plan mutual authorship
and a vision shared by all participants. This approach is initially
more work, but, in the long run, it will save time in rework and
most certainly produce a higher quality product with a greater
chance of implementation.
2. Design cross-functionally
All design work must be done concurrently by a cross-functional
team, which usually includes architects, planners, engineers,
economists, market experts, public staff, and citizens. This results
in decisions that are measurable and realistic every step of the
way. This cross-functional team working together from the beginning
further assures elimination of rework because the design work
is continually reflecting the wisdom of each specialty.
During the Charrette, the collaboration of the design and development
disciplines also help to produce a set of finished documents that
address all aspects and phases of a project. Detailed designs
are undertaken individually or in small groups. At other times,
larger caucuses occur, and often there are simultaneous meetings.
Periodically everyone gets together for a briefing, discussion
or presentation.
3. Use design to achieve a shared
vision and create holistic solutions
Design is a powerful tool for establishing a shared vision. Drawings
help illustrate the complexity of the problem and can be used
to resolve conflict by proposing previously unexplored solutions
that represent win/win outcomes. The charrette design team specializes
in capturing ideas quickly in drawings that help educate and focus
the discussion. One of the most important ground rules used throughout
the Charrette is “talk with your pen.” This applies
not only to designers but to all Charrette participants.
4. Work in detail
Lasting agreement is based on a fully informed dialog. True buy-in
can only be achieved by designing in detail. This way, critical
issues are brought to the surface and addressed. This can only
be accomplished by looking at the details (building types, block
sizes, and public space) and the big picture (site circulation,
transit, land use, and major public amenities), concurrently.
Studies at these two scales also inform each other and reduce
the likelihood that a fatal flaw will be overlooked in the plan.
5. Constrain work schedules
The Charrette is purposely designed to apply reasonable pressure
through a series of deadlines. This time compression facilitates
creative problem-solving by accelerating decision-making and reducing
unconstructive negotiation tactics. Having a little less time
than is comfortable to complete a task forces people to abandon
their usual working patterns and “think outside of the box.”
6. Communicate in short feedback
loops
Regular stakeholder input and reviews quickly build trust in the
process and foster true understanding and support of the product.
A feedback loop happens when a design is proposed, reviewed, changed,
and re-presented for further review. The shorter this cycle, the
greater the level of influence and buy-in by the reviewing parties.
In conventional planning processes, the design team presents plans
to the community and input is gathered through various methods
such as surveys, or small discussion groups. The designers then
retreat to their office and return weeks later with a revised
plan. Often during these weeks, some degree of misunderstanding
occurs in the community. People who attended the meeting come
away with different understandings. People who don't like to speak
in public speak to others in the parking lot afterwards. The result
is often a crystallization of opinions against the plan that send
the design team back to step one. In a Charrette, the participants
are told to come back the next evening to review the changes.
Any misunderstandings are resolved quickly before they have had
a chance to crystallize. With conventional planning methods the
design and feedback cycle can last up to four to six weeks. The
Charrette shortens it to 24 hours.
During the day, and often late into the night, the Charrette studio
is a forum for ideas with the unique advantage of this immediate
feedback. At the same time that someone is designing a street,
another is locating a tree, and an engineer is determining the
effects on drainage. Questions about design problems are answered
on the spot. Most importantly, simultaneous brainstorming and
negotiation during a Charrette can change minds and encourage
unique solutions to problems. The number and variety of solutions
and ideas generated and considered is far greater than those under
conventional planning methods. A better product results from this
creative effort.
7. Work for at least four to seven
consecutive days
Four days is required to accommodate three feedback loops, scheduled
at least a day apart. Three loops are the minimum required to
facilitate a change in participants’ perceptions and positions.
Only simple projects with little controversy should be attempted
in four days. More complicated projects typically take seven days.
8. Work on site
Working on site fosters participant understanding of local values
and traditions, and provides the necessary easy access to stakeholders
and information. The design team sets up a charrette studio either
in the neighborhood or on or near the site. The studio is a temporary
office and community meeting space that serves as the headquarters
for the process. Close proximity to the site is important to make
it easy for people to participate and for the design team to have
quick access to the site. Charrette studios have been located
in empty main street storefronts, community centers, high schools,
and armories.
9. Produce a buildable plan
The Charrette differs from visioning workshops in its expressed
goal to create a buildable plan. This means that every decision
point must be fully informed, especially by the legal, financial
and engineering disciplines. The success of a community’s
work to plan and build together hinges on the implementation tools
such as codes and regulating plans. Plans that sit on the shelf
contribute only to citizen apathy.
The Charrette is the central element of a larger comprehensive
process called Dynamic Planning. There are three phases in Dynamic
Planning: Research, Education and Charrette Preparation; The Charrette;
and Implementation. The most common cause for project failure
is not a poorly-run Charrette; it is usually due to incomplete
preparation, and/or inadequate follow-through during the implementation
phase. The following steps detail the Charrette process:
Phase One: Research, Education and
Charrette Preparation
Pre-Charrette
Site
Tour and Analysis
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The first task is to ensure that the entire
project team develops the best project process. The project team
holds a one-day meeting to design the Charrette process and reach
agreement on desired outcomes of the Charrette, a list of key
stakeholders, outreach plans, schedules, roles and responsibilities,
and the preparation plan for the Charrette. The first public meeting
is planned and scheduled. The underlying mission is to ensure
that all the right information and all the right people are at
the Charrette.
During the Charrette, the team needs to be confident that it has
all the resources necessary to make accurate design and strategy
decisions. To ensure this, all relevant base data is collected
and analyzed, participants are educated about the project, the
process, and their role in it, and input is gathered from stakeholders
prior to the Charrette. A kick-off public meeting is held to introduce
the project and to ask citizens for their opinions on the base
data, their interest in the project, and their needs. It is essential
that all participants be treated with respect. People should leave
the meeting wanting to come back. They should feel that their
participation is critical and will make the project better.
Some initial development concepts are often sketched and tested
in-house, prior to the Charrette, for purposes of determining
a range of feasible options, exposing areas requiring further
research, and to allow the designers to “get their hands
dirty” with the project so that they can work more efficiently
during the Charrette.
Phase Two: The Charrette, "The
best plans are made by many hands"
The Design Studio
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The design team establishes a full working
studio on or near the site, complete with drafting equipment,
supplies, computers, copiers, and fax machines. Design, engineering,
production, marketing, sales, and all levels of project management
are assembled for approximately one week. The first day features
tours of the site followed by a team meeting and meetings with
key individuals. In the evening a public meeting is held featuring
a lecture on the Principles of Town Planning followed by an open
public discussion. As the charrette continues over subsequent
days, the design team works to synthesize and refine the themes
that emerge. This synthesis takes place through a series of design
testing feedback sessions with stakeholders. There are scheduled
meetings with special interest groups, such as neighborhood associations
and business owners, and there is a public, mid-course “pin-up”
session. This pin-up session is the event at which the designers
take their drawings right off their desks and pin them up on a
wall for peer review. It is in these sessions where the creative
interaction between various interests occurs. In fact, these sessions
can often become quite heated as the detailed alternatives are
debated. Frequently, it is during these discussions that solutions
emerge.
This cycle of design and review continues over the course of the
Charrette. A high-energy, productive atmosphere is created in
the studio by this type of interaction. Designers often work late
into the night, joined by interested citizens, engaging in spirited
debates about the merits and problems of various alternatives.
The Charrette catches people who usually slip through the cracks.
The day and night meetings accommodate people's various schedules.
Over the three days, word gets out to those who may not have heard
of the event, and they start showing up.
On one or more evenings there is an open public review of the
day's work, resembling a traditional architectural "pin-up."
These sessions provide the powerful short feedback loops that
are crucial to the success of the Charrette. Because all stakeholders
are present, everyone's perspective is heard and the perceptions
of problems change. Participants learn that the project is more
complex than they first thought, and that there are other needs
that must be accommodated. People should feel that their concerns
are legitimate and have been addressed in the plan. Since it is
not uncommon for more than 60% of the participants to come to
every session, they see the evolving rationale behind each decision.
The Final Public
Presentation
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The Charrette ends with a public presentation.
The design team presents all elements of the project including
master plans, building designs, economic and transportation impacts
and strategy, and an implementation action plan. Everything needed
to move the project forward into implementation is addressed at
a sufficient level of detail. For those who have followed the
Charrette from the first evening, the impact is dramatic. The
atmosphere reminds many of college design studios where weary
students present their set of finished drawings. Many of the presentations
end with a round of applause from the local participants who appreciate
the sincere work from the design team, who have lived in their
town for a week. Some presentations have been held in conjunction
with city council meetings. At one memorable Charrette held in
Stuart, Florida, the council voted to accept the Charrette recommendations
on the spot.
Phase Three: Implementation
After the Charrette, it is important to quickly review the work,
make any necessary adjustments and get back to the public for
a last look. The longer this period lasts, the greater the risk
of failure. To the greatest extent possible, critical stakeholders
should be kept in the loop by being involved in the testing for
market, financial, physical, and political feasibility. Within
no more than 45 days following the Charrette, a final public review
is held, sometimes on two consecutive evenings with a design teamwork
session in between. This can help to catch those who missed the
Charrette. The two meetings also allow people who felt left out
of the Charrette the opportunity to see their concerns addressed
before the final plan is adopted. On the first evening, the revised
Charrette plan is presented and comments are recorded. The next
day the planning team makes any necessary changes to reflect the
new input and they present the plan one more time at a public
meeting on the second night. The team can then proceed to make
final revisions and submit a final plan.
Bus Tours
Get all interested parties and key stakeholders on a bus and visit
places that can serve as models for the project. These tours can
be invaluable in getting a shared set of visual references for
the Charrette. For example, when the discussion turns to something
as specialized, yet critical, as curb radii, referring to that
particular corner in Leesburg can quickly bring clarity to the
problem.
Crowd Control
How do you handle an unpredictable flow of people visiting the
studio and get anything done? A core production team needs to
be working continuously. Therefore, it is crucial to have a person
dedicated to greeting visitors. Information is delivered to the
design team from the greeter and those attending meetings with
stakeholders.
The Charrette Gallery
One way to involve a large number of visitors is to establish
a gallery of ongoing work at the entrance area of the Charrette
studio. When visitors arrive they are greeted and shown the ongoing
work without disturbing the design team. The greeter explains
the work and records their ideas. Of course, anyone with an important
role, such as adjacent landowners or political representatives
may need to work with a designer, but generally these people are
involved through scheduled meetings
