Bridging the design / finance divide: adding ‘design strings’ to the finance of urban development

Abstract

Professional, policy and conceptual divides continue to throw up barriers to a shared understanding between the domains of urban design and development finance. Drawing on cross-Europe analysis, this paper explores the relationship between mechanisms of finance and tools of urban design governance, asking how they can work together to enhance urban quality. Practices were conceptualized and compared and those that combined tools were identified and evaluated. The results fed into an evolving typology of urban design governance and helped to establish clear principles for the effective combination of finance and design: adding ‘design strings’ to the finance of urban development.