Regeneration Through Good Design Conference

The regeneration of Salford was the hot topic at the recent ‘Regeneration Through Good Design’ conference at The Lowry Arts & Enertainment Centre, Salford Quays, hosted by Urban Vision on Tuesday 20 March 2007.

The conference bought together public and private sector property professionals and some of the UK’s most experienced design practitioners to discuss and debate topics including; creating sustainable communities through good design, dynamic design solutions and exemplar urban design. However, it was the regeneration of Salford that took centre-stage.

Richard Dinsdale, Director of Design for Urban Vision, commented: “It was great to see so many different view points and an open and healthy debate. The Conference was designed to bring practitioners together to trade knowledge and ideas and the feedback showed that we certainly did that. The Lowry was the ideal location as it is the perfect example of effective local and sustainable regeneration.”

Speakers at the conference included Richard Wynne from Urban Vision, Chris Farrow of the Central Salford Urban Regeneration Company, Paul Welshman of the Centre for Virtual Environments, Ana Alos, Toni Rodriguez and Javier Ferrandez of L'Hospitalet (having travelled all the way from Barcelona), Emma Appleton of CABE and key note speakers Barbara Spicer and Malcolm Sykes of Salford City Council.

The recent revival of Salford and its exciting plans for future growth were hotly debated. Guest to the conference, Dan Hargreaves of solicitors Pinsent Masons, commented: “The conference provided a very interesting insight into the regeneration of Salford. There were excellent speakers and good choice of subjects.”

Delegates travelled from all over the UK, including local authorities, Urban Regeneration Companies and organisations represented included AMEC, Contour Housing, Miller Regeneration, Countryside Properties and Pinsent Masons.

Presentations from the various event speakers can be found below: