Charrettes
By: J. David Chapman/June 6, 2019
Developers must consider the impact of their projects on the community. Prudent developers go a step further and actually allow the community to participate in the design. One tool used by city planners and developers is called a design charrette. This tool is even more important to those receiving monies from banks, government organizations in the way of tax increment finance, or opportunity zone tax relief projects.
The term “charrette” is derived from the French word for “little cart.” In Paris during the 19th century, professors at the Ecole de Beaux Arts circulated with little carts to collect final drawings from their students. Students would jump on the charrette to put finishing touches on their presentations minutes before the deadline.
Today, a charrette is an intensive planning session where citizens, designers, architects, developers and real estate professionals collaborate on a vison for the development. It is a forum for ideas and offers the unique advantage of giving immediate feedback to the designers.
Blair Humphreys used this collaborative technique to design the future site of the Wheeler District using community input to identify desired amenities. According to Humphreys, the charrette was essential and several key elements of the master plan came from the process. They are using the historic terminal building from the old airport as a focal point and the historic lines of the runway. People who attended the weeklong charrette can go there today and feel as though they were a part of the process and hold a vested interest in the project.
The team of design experts and consultants set up a full working office space for participants complete with computers, printers, drafting equipment and supplies. Formal and informal meetings are held throughout the event and updates to the plan are presented periodically.
Goals for the process include giving stakeholders a voice in the vision, giving the design team a set of finished documents that address all aspects of the design, avoiding delays encountered with conventional planning methods, and producing a more efficient and cost-effective collaborative process. The key is getting members of the community to show up and voice their opinion. It is also important to have the correct decision-makers there to inform participants of the possibilities. After all, the purpose of the charette is to give all the participants enough information to make good decisions during the planning process to make a successful development.
J. David Chapman is an associate professor of finance and real estate at the University of Central Oklahoma (jchapman7@uco.edu).