Feedback from one of our courses.

1. COURSE FEEDBACK
▸ Module: Intro. to Urban Design
+ Placemaking (two day)
▸ Client: Logan City Council
▸ Location: Logan RSL
▸ Date: 23-24 October 2012
▸ Participants: 25
▸ Feedback participation: 19/25
(76%)
▸ Facilitator: Andrew Hammonds
▸ www.placefocus.com
Study Area - Croydon Rd, Logan Central, QLD, AUS

2. GOOD MIX OF PARTICIPANTS
▸ Internal & external to
council
▸ Planning – development
assessment & social
▸ Project management
▸ Community
development
▸ Engineering
▸ Consultancy
▸ Development industry
▸ Public and social policy
▸ Graphic design
Place Proposals developed during Training Course

3. YOU RATED US 9 OUT OF 10!
▸ The average
score for the
quality of the
program was
9 out of 10.
▸ The average
score for the
quality of the
presenter was
9 out of 10.
Village Square, Eastern Rd, Browns Plains, Brisbane, QLD, AUS

4. YOUR EVALUATION
▸ 100% of participants
said the course met or
exceeded their
expectations
▸ 100% of participants
said the course content
was good to excellent
▸ 53% said course content
was excellent
▸ 100% of participants
found the course
relevant to their job
▸ 100% of participants
would recommend the
course to others
Group Discussion - Logan City Council Course Oct 2012

5. WHAT YOU SAID – EXCELLENT COURSE
▸ “Excellent course for councillors, managers and all staff in development
assessment”
▸ “Excellent concise 2 day course” + “Brilliant presentation”
▸ “Excellent use of images and video that complimented each module.”
▸ “Andrew presented in an enthusiastic manner. There was a passion for
sharing his knowledge and experiences which was infectious.”
▸ “Extremely well presented, thank you “
▸ “Very impressive presenter.”
▸ Great presentation, its refreshing and comforting to have open
discussion about urban design and placemaking.”
▸ “The course is designed to make it easy to understand concepts
normally the domain of the planning profession, and it achieves this goal
well..”
Study Areas, Logan, QLD, AUS

6. WHAT YOU SAID: NEW IDEAS
▸ “Learned new skills”
▸ “New way of thinking for
Development Assessment”
▸ “Opened my mind to alternative
solutions”
▸ “Got some great ideas about
activating place/place design that
did not involve new building - rather
community building”
▸ “Thought provoking. Inspires you to
consider course content in future
development design.”
▸ “Very relevant; need to find ways to
make it happen more”.
Logan City Urban Design Awards, Bus Station, Mandew Street, Shailer Park, QLD, AUS

7. WHAT YOU SAID – MULTIDISCIPLINARY
▸ “Enjoyed the interaction/participation of the
students and the use of local examples and
people's experience.”
▸ “Having a diversity of professionals made for
interesting discussions”.
▸ “Great to see a balance brought into urban
design by way of the social community
perspectives”.
Empathy Map - Logan City Council Course Oct 2012

8. WHAT YOU SAID – RELEVANT
▸ “He has ensured everyone leaves with a new or
renewed passion for placemaking.”
▸ “Renewed my enthusiasm for placemaking and
ensuring positive outcomes in planning.
▸ “Very relevant to me - urban design is social
planning! People perceive social planning as
not relevant to built environment, which is very
wrong!”
▸ “The program was full of vital information for
urban design and was very beneficial to find out
where further information can be gained.”
▸ “Photos and video added interest and kept
focused, made it practical.”
▸ Great to see that local sites were used in
presentations.” Station Rd Logan Central, QLD, AUS

9. FEEDBACK GIVEN DURING THE COURSE
▸ What worked?
▸ Practical examples
▸ Video
▸ Walk after lunch
▸ Discussions at tables
▸ Examples related to our places
▸ Enthusiasm for topic
▸ Outcomes and expectation
▸ What didn’t work?
▸ Audit – too many questions
▸ Test at end
▸ Too quick at times
Village Square, Eastern Rd, Browns Plains, Brisbane, NSW, AUS

10. FEEDBACK (CONT.)
▸ What if?
▸ Invited the decision makers
▸ Apply to council - outcomes and tick off
▸ Identifying obstacles
▸ Gut feel rules
▸ More practical
▸ Exciting prospect
▸ Preaching to the converted Council developers
▸ Take time to change staff
▸ Easy to understand
▸ Helpful in decision making customer
▸ New planning scheme
Village Square, Eastern Rd, Browns Plains, Brisbane, NSW, AUS

11. WHAT YOU SAID: IMPROVEMENTS
▸ “It was difficult at times to connect the power point presentation with the
manual, some power point stuff was not in the manual.”
▸ “At times it seemed like too much was being put forward within the
timeframe provided, which meant we moved a little too fast through some
stuff.”
▸ “There was a lot to fit into 2 days, some of the short answer sessions were
too long”.
▸ “Got lots of checklists, but would have like more examples of application.”
Empathy Map - Logan City Council Course Oct 2012

12. OPPORTUNITIES
▸ “Please offer this course to
Council's Strategy and Planning
area and make it mandatory.
Councillors would also appreciate
the course.”
▸ “I would recommend the course to
strategic planners.”
▸ “I would recommend the course to
inspire developers and to keep
improving their skill set to
facilitate best practice design and
why we need this.”
▸ “DA planners are part of the
solution, not the problem, always
the planning scheme is only
Council policy document of its
vision (done well or otherwise)”. Station Rd Logan Central, QLD, AUS

13. 29 IDEAS FOR COUNCIL TO INVESTIGATE
Participants not only identified the following ideas, they volunteered to investigate
implementation within Council.
Corporate
1.Urban design protocol 'creating better places' - sign up or adoption.
2.Location and design of council buildings and facilities to deliver good urban design outcomes - leading by
example - Additional information - procurement.
3.Consider adopting Place Principles into the Corporate Plan, urban manners etc.
4.Consider where placemaking sits within the organisation – across the silos?

14. 29 IDEAS FOR COUNCIL TO INVESTIGATE
Technical
5.Complete streets integration.
6.Flexible planning scheme making changes over time rather than once every five years.
7.Location of car parks to the rear or underneath buildings.
8.Urban design audit incorporated into the development assessment process.
9.Stepping back from the detail to focus on the outcomes rather than the process - getting in early to the
design process.
10.Review development which ticks the boxes but does not deliver good places.
11.Change the front fence policy in the building code.
12.Ask developers for design changes to make places more livable but currently restricted by the process.
13.Constructive feedback to industry in appropriate ways.
14.Who benefits from streets: pedestrians v cars reclaiming the space for pedestrians - Radio Interview -
Enrique Penalosa.
15.Having processes in place to change the rules based on feedback from technical staff.

15. 29 IDEAS FOR COUNCIL TO INVESTIGATE
Systems
16.Internal urban design champions – not necessarily a senior person - Additional information -
procurement.
17.Use 242s as an opportunity to trial new planning.
18.Urban design panel to comment on significant developments or local area plans.
Place Managers
19.Place managers for key sites - Place Manage.
20.Trialling/prototyping in regards to flexible spaces - Six opportunities to improve our places through
prototyping .

16. 29 IDEAS FOR COUNCIL TO INVESTIGATE
People
21.Conversations over the phone or in person rather than through formal legislative processes.
22.Consistent language across the organisation - Development Assessment or Place Enabling?
23.Education for councillors, champions, decision makers.
24.Involve as many voices in the decision making process - Place Roles .
25.Speak to the users and not just the community - Place User.
26.Recognise that consensus is not always the key to being visionary eg the Sydney Opera House - "New
visions do not start with majority support".
Across all categories
27.Investigate alternatives within transport.
28.transport planning as a leader for placemaking being part of the solution rather than part of the problem -
Transforming NYC streets into places.

17. OUR DETAILS
▸ Placefocus: training and information on urban design and
placemaking
▸ “We are passionate about creating places for people”
▸ www.placefocus.com
▸ Andrew Hammonds (0407466615)
▸ andrew@placefocus.com
▸ Follow us on twitter, Facebook and Instagram (Placefocus)
▸ Connect on Linkedin or watch our PPT's on Slideshare
Group Discussion - Logan City Council Course Oct 2012