Regeneration with care in mind

We are building a conversation around the ten principles of a caring place. In this blog Ian Brooke, Deputy Director at Edinburgh’s Voluntary Organisation Council (EVOC), shares his thoughts on care in the community.

Bringing together thoughts around physical space and the idea of a ‘caring third sector’ might seem an unusual relationship. Certainly my first go-to thought processes lead me to the predictable connections between third sector and people.

But of course physical space plus people equals town and cities and communities. So perhaps as a triangle of interconnectivity of these three themes there is after all, a natural synergy, and they are not distant from one another.

What might regeneration in the sense of revitalisation and injection of social capital actually look like? How might we guide policy and action on the ground to provide that element ‘of caring’? How do we create the physical space, not for blocks of flats or a multiplex, but for communities to care for one another and for themselves? I am drawn to think about a couple of areas of traditional philanthropic and benevolent activity: caring for people and civic amenity.

Buildings as third sector operational bases are nothing new and are a big draw on funds both as a capital cost and as ongoing revenue liabilities. Care homes are an example where caring activity within the space is an essential service. Build or convert a shiny compliant building, and there is an automatic community to be cared-for, often by a charity providing operational services.

Good use of our places

But do planners consider a care home not only in its physical sense but in the sense that this becomes a good use of town centre land, with good transport for staff, relatives and for the people inside to venture out safely?

We are seeing more and more progressive care home operators seeing their residents become more integrated into the local community, and communities using the space within the care home.

The design of physical space and streets around a care home should be influenced by the residents’ needs. That makes for good shared space, fully accessible and safe for everyone.

Bringing people together

There are well designed and interconnected sheltered housing complexes that bring together people with support needs in their own homes. This is another example of a good use of regenerated land in town centres. Older people need to get to the shops for a new pair of shoes or a hair appointment too!

Dementia-friendly communities

The dementia-friendly communities movement brings something similar from the angle of people: be they people with dementia, their carers, the third sector, and the local community and businesses.

Knowing that the local newsagent has been trained in dementia awareness is a big step towards inclusivity and understanding. They welcome older people with often misunderstood needs. The bus driver takes more time to load the vehicle and takes a moment to care if they have been made ‘dementia aware’.

Turning to civic amenity, ‘friends of parks’ groups and the growing ‘adopt a street’ idea are both good opportunities for informal volunteering. Both require people to care of their local environment. But they also ask people to bring with them an added element of knowledge and awareness of the needs of other local people.

Residents become aware of dropped kerbs and lack of lighting by the bushes alongside the playpark. They may even start to think radically about reusing space traditionally zoned for parking or through-traffic to better meet their needs and aspirations.

Further activity-based inclusion for people who ‘care’ could include getting involved in landscaping, allotments and planting. And who knows? As well as building physical places, we could manage to build communities too.

Image credit: Christopher on Unsplash