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Constructing an Image: The Urban Village Concept in the UK

Cardiff University, UK, franklinbj{at}cardiff.ac.uk

Malcolm Tait

Sheffield University, UK

The concept of the urban village was first promoted by the Urban Villages Group in the late 1980s as a means to achieve more human scale, mixed-use and well-designed places. The term urban village has since entered the planning discourse, and a number of developments known as urban villages have appeared across the country. This article draws on ongoing research into the phenomenon of the urban village, and focuses on the origins, definitions, and meanings given to the term in the literature, in interviews with key players, in planning documentation and in the professional press. It appears that the urban village concept is variously interpreted and applied depending on the context in which it is used, and on the knowledge, role and interests of the individual reflecting on the term. The article will attempt to unravel the significance of this, while also drawing some conclusions about how concepts frame, and are framed by, prevailing discourses.

Key Words: discourse • text • urban village

Planning Theory, Vol. 1, No. 3, 250-272 (2002)
DOI: 10.1177/147309520200100304


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