Newcastle City Futures Exhibition

In autumn 2013, a group of people at Newcastle University’s School of Architecture Planning and Landscape decided to initiate an innovative city-wide participatory method in Newcastle and Gateshead. Their inspiration was partly urban planning museums and design centres in many cities overseas, not least in China where most cities house grandiose urban planning museums and galleries, and partly to assess whether urban change could be communicated through more visual means such as models, photography and film. Utilising these techniques was not knew in the UK: at the start of the modern planning movement in the first half of the 20^th century the planning exhibition had been a well regarded method but had fallen out of favour in the post-war era.

It was decided that the Newcastle experiment would not form part of any formal planning or Core Strategy consultation methods, nor would it be owned by the city council, or any one group of professional planners, architects or developers. Rather, it would led by the University and be forged from a partnership of public, private, community and voluntary groups in the city, and combine story telling, imagery, exhibition, and interactive events and be housed in a city centre location neutral to any one organisation. Ambitiously, the University team set a goal to organise and create the exhibition and event series in late spring, early summer, in the RTPI centenary year, just six months after the initial decision to progress. It would be named “Newcastle City Futures”, occur between 23 May and 10 June 2014, would be free to enter, open seven days a week between 10.30 and 16.30, and incorporate a different event every evening. It would be financed by Newcastle University through its engagement activities but would rely on material, support and goodwill provided by partner organisations. The main partners comprised: RTPI; RIBA; Farrells; Tyne and Wear Museums; Newcastle City Council; Newcastle Science City; Newcastle Libraries; Nexus (metro); Newcastle Airport; Ryder Architecture; Byker Lives; Archive for Change; and Amber Collective.

Originally conceived as a small exhibition celebrating architectural and planning achievements in Newcastle upon Tyne since 1945, the event became a much larger exhibition as a backdrop to a rich programme of events over a three week period and took place in the Grade I listed Guildhall, located in a prominent location on the Quayside adjacent to the iconic Tyne Bridge. The more historic artefacts on display in the exhibition were intended to act as a prompt to discussions, debates, launches, essentially what the organisers called a ‘big city conversation’, jointly hosted by the University and the University’s partners, which aimed to engage different communities in discussion about the city’s change and renewal. The depictions of the recent past would serve as a prompt for imaginations about the future: How has the city changed physically since 1945? How have we viewed the city’s future at different times? What has been built and unbuilt, and why? And what sort of city do we want to see develop over the next 50 years? The exhibition would not shy away from the more comprehensive and often-criticised 1960s planning solutions enacted by the then city council leader T. Dan Smith and chief planner Sir Wilf Burns but rather celebrate them, which in themselves were identified as neglected (perhaps even airbrushed) stories in Newcastle’s history. Critically, the exhibition and events would dispense with planning syntax, the legislative and policy ‘planning-speak’, in order to open up discussions with all sections of society, regardless of age, and thereby create a common language for all. Posters were designed advertising the exhibition depicting monochrome photos of instantly-recognisable places in the city beneath the colourful Newcastle City Futures name and logo, under the leading question, ‘What would you do?’

The exhibition was multi-media and comprised: exhibition boards with explanatory text and personal stories; historic films; oral histories from community members; an extensive photographic collection of many unseen pictures of the city between 1950 and 2000; city models showing change and built and unbuilt developments over time; and exhibition and models of significant future proposed developments. It was structured broadly around three themes: past, present and future. The focus was on the city, both Newcastle and Gateshead on either side of the River Tyne, rather than differentiated by administrative boundaries. Among the prominent developments included were: the planning of housing including the Byker Estate, community life in Shields Road, the conservation of Grainger Town, the building of Eldon Square shopping centre, the pedestrianisation of the city centre, redevelopment of St James’ Park, the Central Motorway construction, the transformation of the international airport, the building of the Metro, and the creation of the regenerated Quayside. Several ‘radical’ development proposals of the past that were never built were also included to depict the uncertainty of change, including the subterranean urban motorway, the ‘Tyne Deck’ construction over the river, a new Newcastle FC/Sunderland AFC joint stadium, and the High Level Bridge museum.

The exhibition was further arranged into a number of key areas, which often related to geographical points in the city. Material from the past, present and future was then displayed within each area. In this way, a chronological narrative, with associations of fixed and inevitable progress, was disrupted in favour of multiple changes ‘read’ in context. Rather than view developments in the city’s history as ‘set in stone’, the exhibition took care to present change as the result of deliberate and, at times, controversial decisions, changing circumstances and new ideas, and so hoped to encourage debate and enable fresh ways of thinking.

Equally important was the sourcing of material from a variety of partners, including internationally recognised museums, galleries and archives, community groups and individual members of the public. For example, the exhibition included the original architects’ model of the infamous brutal ‘Trinity Square’ development of 1967 (also known as the ‘Get Carter’ car park after the 1971 film that featured it as a location), promoting people to contemplate on the new development on now on the site and viewable through from the exhibition building windows on the opposite side of the Tyne. An old street sign was displayed from one of the demolished terraced streets in old Byker, contrasting with the now-celebrated Ralph Erskine 1970s public housing scheme on the site. A 25 minute film from 1980 showing the planning, design, construction and opening of the Tyne and Wear Metro was screened on a loop and attracted significant interest. And an original iron manhole cover from the 1960s Killingworth Estate (long since demolished) that uniquely displayed the plan of the housing layout, installed at the time of construction to assist residents to navigate their way through their new ‘alien’ surroundings, caused a flurry of media attention; many older residents of Killingworth when visiting the exhibition could remember these in place. All these may seem like unorthodox planning exhibits, but in presenting these materials as equally valuable contributions to a wider discussion, the exhibition made space for place memory prompts, allowing multiple ‘voices’ and perspectives, that residents and others could relate to. Short archive film clips showing Newcastle’s communities in the 1950s and 1960s were played on monitors, and historic sound recordings of residents of Byker talking about their old and new housing could be listened to on Ipods.

More interactive elements sought to capture the public’s views. A large oblique aerial photograph of the city was mounted on a pin board under the heading ‘What would you protect?’ and prompted visitors to identify buildings and places they liked by marking them with coloured pins. Postcards written by visitors could also be pinned alongside the photograph identifying possible future projects and new developments. Issues raised by this process included calls to fully pedestrianize Grey Street, the introduction of cycle lanes, the extension of the Metro, a new southern entrance to the railway station, and the provision of affordable housing in the city centre. A family area was designated in one corner of the exhibition and free events for children run at the weekend targeted to different age groups, allowing the creation of new kids’ visions of their city, a musical city soundscape initiative for teenagers, and map making activities. Plus there was Lego, playmats and drawing opportunities for those wanting to pursue less formalized fun. Children’s imaginations were allowed to run riot, and among the ideas generated were plans for a Cat Hospital and an Ice Cream Skyscraper!

The project provided a fantastic context to explore planning as a long-term design process, and significantly demonstrate the role of exhibition design as a means of presenting resonant physical artifacts and historical imagery to fuel discussion about future planned propositions. Addressing this strategic brief meant seriously considering the nature of the exhibition, and the position of the city and citizen within the exhibition as a potential urban room.

Staging an urban exhibition from scratch did not only involve decisions about the theme and content. Careful thought had to be given over to form and layout. The exhibition was envisaged as a room within a room, formed by modular display standards with trapezium form that defined a straight, walled outer space associated with debate and circulation, and a quieter inner space with gently sloping sides. Beyond practical considerations such as stability and relative ease of fabrication the simple geometric form devised for the stands offered symbolic social opportunities across different experiential scales. For example, it was imagined a scenario where visitors would come and display their own material they had generated alongside formally presented pieces and so the stands were detailed with a simple lipped edge offering use as an easel. At the scale of exhibition assembly the geometric form of the stands offered opportunities to enhance the prominence of models by presenting them on stands that had seemingly toppled into the centre of the exhibition. This was intended as a playful gesture within the quiet economy of the exhibition and had the effect of framing models within the exhibition wall, and visually positioning past and future proposals for the city against views of the Quayside provided though large windows. This self-conscious act of permeability, framing the models and aerial photography against views of current urban context, was part of an exploration of the Newcastle City Future concept that signposted past and present developments and experiences to support the reimagining of future urban development. Arguably, this was most relevant to the presentation of Farrells’ ‘Geordie Ramblas’ scheme of 2004 that proposed new pedestrian routes through Newcastle city centre from the Town Moor to Gateshead’s Quayside.

Considering the exhibition as a potential extension to the evolving broader conversation had implications for the selection of finishing materials for the stands. More expensive, high-gloss materials such as tubular steel and laminate were rejected to avoid presenting the exhibition as fait accompli or as definitive body of work to remain unchallenged. Instead, a relatively inexpensive, well-detailed, plywood was selected for its warm, tactile qualities which provided a welcoming, accessible backdrop to an exhibition designed to be largely barrier free. This material selection was considered alongside graphic design considerations that demanded an open, image-driven format and the avoidance of self-consciously, dense scholarly text. Material selection, graphic design and a simple, unifying geometric form provided a visual coherence between exhibits from different eras, by different authors and embodying different attitudes to urban planning and city shaping.

At an early stage, the team decided to make it more than just an exhibition, with the designation of a partners’ space within the Guildhall, dubbed the ‘City Forum’, to allow partner organisations to present their plans and strategies for the future of Newcastle upon Tyne and Gateshead. This involved constructing a stage area, creating seats for 70 people, and setting up audio-visual equipment where none had existed previously. This gave the initiative much more of a contemporary feel with the platform allowing for the staging of presentations, films and panel debates, on Newcastle past present and future, and allowed audiences to engage directly with experts, officials, community and business leaders.

After six month of preparing the marketing, assembling material, partnering organisations, hiring a venue, appointing a curator, commissioning designers, and fabricating bespoke display stands, Newcastle City Futures was officially opened by the late Professor Sir Peter Hall on 23 May, and ran until 10 June 2014 when it was closed by Nick Forbes, the Leader of Newcastle City Council. Over 19 days, there were 2,400 visitors and 24 free events at the Guildhall, linking up 22 different partners across the city. It was a resounding success, forging new links between individuals and organisations and paving the way for future discussions about what the city could become.

Newcastle City Futures heard about long term expansion plans for both the Metro and the airport, considered the position of refugees in the city, debated how to develop an age friendly city, looked at ways to develop further smart city initiatives, gave opportunities for discussion of economic growth and new architecture in the region, promoted sustainable transport options, and discussed the long term plan for the Science Central site. It was risky asking partners to reveal their plans in innovative public facing talks and presentations that most of them had not experienced before, but they rose to the challenge. Two new films about Newcastle were also screened. There were visits from both school groups and from business leaders who used the space to sell investment opportunities in the city. Partners and public agreed that it had been worthwhile.

The team were a bit apprehensive about whether Newcastle City Futures would capture the public’s imagination when they set out. Partner organisations, particularly professional planners and developers, expected the public to unleash a torrent of abuse about change; transport operators expected complaints about ticket prices and service reliability. But in the event there was no negativity, at least stated in public, and only two negative comments were posted on the display board during the entire three weeks. This positive attitude – ‘we want to think about change and we want a part in your plans’ – surprised everyone since it jarred with perhaps anecdotal views about the public’s role in planning. Large numbers of people really wanted to engage with both the private and public sectors to talk about what they would like to see in Newcastle, making positive, constructive and thoughtful comments on the development of the city. And although the physical exhibition closed on 10 June, this was the start of a new conversation that took all these ideas forward in a partnership process. Its’ legacy is a sense of pride, engagement and optimism going forward.

At face value this appeared to be an exhibition on planning and architecture, and it could be read as such. But for the team it was always a unique method and process of demonstrating two things: that planners can initiate and engage with diverse urban communities in relevant, multiple and exciting ways using multimedia; and how social scientists can act as brokers between science, engineering, social science and the arts, and between the university and public, private, community and voluntary sectors. The civic university is only effective when it has social entrepreneurs that take risks at initiating pioneering attempts to showcase the talents of the academy in ways that have not been achieved before. This was not only a first for Newcastle; it was a first for a Russell Group university.

One of the most interesting – and challenging – aspects of the Newcastle City Futures exhibition and events series was bringing so many individuals and organisations together in one programme by making connections with partners and inviting them to contribute in some way to the venture; either by loaning exhibits for inclusion, or by hosting an event.

The partners were generally enthused by the idea of participating and willingly loaned material. Others contributed through ‘donating’ their skills, such as partners Home Group who loaned us their designers to work on fabrication, or Amber Film and Photography Collective, who gave up their time to take part in a special screening of one of their documentaries, ‘T Dan Smith: A Funny Thing Happened to Utopia’, and hosted a lively debate afterwards. The critical mass that was achieved by ensuring that the programme was as inclusive and diverse as time and space allowed for multiple voices to be heard throughout the exhibition and gave smaller organisations and community groups equal footing with large private sector partners.

The exhibition was progressed in parallel with but separate to Terry Farrell’s design review and his recommendation for the creation of Urban Rooms. Newcastle City Futures exhibition and event series may be considered a prototype for considering how planners, developers and community groups may choose to use historic and present proposals to redefine future propositions for the immediate, shared environment. Reflecting on the process of exhibition design and curation alongside the emerging debate around implementation of Farrell’s recommendations and the apparent success of the Newcastle project has revealed what perhaps the planning community implicitly knows: the successful planner will be a good presenter, able to draw out the essence of a proposal and its design principles to inform community participation or support developer design iteration. This project has provided an opportunity to demonstrate the role of the planner as a positive city leader with multiple roles: curator, designer, urban historian, promoter and city visionary.

Newcastle City Futures already has a legacy: the design dimensions of planning will be explored further through the curriculum of Newcastle University’s Urban Room project within the newly established joint architecture and urban planning undergraduate programme. The Newcastle City Futures project provides an invaluable precedent both spatially and socially, and the project provides a real opportunity to produce new graduates conscious of the role of planning, architecture, urban studies and community participation in the long-term planning and creation of tomorrow’s places. Further work is currently being undertaken on ‘Newcastle Foresight’, a BIS-funded initiative as part of the Foresight Future of Cities project intended to consider the future of the city over the next 50 years and involved representatives of 50 different organisations in the city. Plans are in progress to continue children’s and youth participation in planning, working with schools and Planning Aid. And a series of formal ongoing dialogues are being created to allow service providers to interact with citizens on long term solutions to problems. Newcastle City Futures will continue.

Planners and developers are constantly involved in the process of presenting images but often forget the immense opportunities that multimedia platforms could perform to engage the public who often want to respond, as was witnessed in Newcastle, positively. The skills associated with designing and staging a planning exhibition were an integral feature of modern town planning in the first half of the 20^th century; it is time that the city-wide exhibition is returned as an extension to community consultation and civic engagement; perhaps then urban localism will become truly meaningful.