Layer 5. Context survey – local authority design governance practices
The final layer of analysis explores wider public aspirations and practices on design quality as an important context against which to evaluate preferences.
If Layers 1 to 3 focussed on personal perceptions and Layer 4 looked beyond to anticipated wider community views, the final layer looks further afield to perceptions about public sector priorities and responses to aesthetic quality concerns. Together with the Layer 1 baseline questions, this non-visual survey layer provides critical background for interpreting responses from the visual layers, in this case focussing on the institutional and governance context in which design decisions are made.
Step 1: Actions taken by the public sector
Begin with a simple question to identify local responses to securing aesthetic quality and perceptions of them. For example, by asking “What, if anything, is your local authority doing to achieve a beautiful built environment?”
Step 2: Vary data collection with the audience
Depending on the audience, it is reasonable to assume very different levels of background knowledge:
• When surveying local councillors or planning officers – as was done for Urban Beauty, knowing the unknowable – participants can be offered a pre-defined list of potential design governance tools and be instructed to select any that apply, with results presented as a percentage of respondents selecting each approach.
• When surveying the public, it will be better to replace the list with an open question given respondents are likely to have limited knowledge of local planning and other processes but will have general knowledge and a clear perception of what is going on. Results can be analysed qualitatively alongside the final question.
Step 3: Ask about barriers to achieving design quality
Finally, explore the barriers to delivering a beautiful environment, asking “What challenges does the council face in achieving a well-designed built environment?”. Such a question can help to capture perceived obstacles within governance, policy, and practice, although it is important that it appears at the end of the survey sequence, as placing it earlier might prime respondents to think negatively and unduly influence responses to earlier questions.
Step 4: Analyse responses qualitatively
Collect responses in an open text box and analyse them using qualitative methods by coding responses, grouping similar ideas together and thereby identifying recurring themes. The specific barriers identified are likely to vary strongly between locations, depending on local governance structures, development pressures and priorities. In Beauty, knowing the unknowable responses clustered into five main themes.
Step 5: Use governance insights to inform the wider analysis
The findings from these final questions can be used to interpret results from the earlier preference-based layers, thereby assisting in the identification of appropriate policy and practice responses. Among other factors, this might include how to better communicate ambitions and shape a more effective range of urban design governance responses.