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Basildon Town Centre

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64-481: Basildon Town Centre is a planned town centre developed during the creation of the town of Basildon , Essex , in the 1950s. The architect Sir Basil Spence worked on its design. Basildon was one of England's first post WW2 new towns : it was officially named a new town in 1949, under the New Towns Act , with the first house constructed in 1951. A large illuminated sign stood next to the railway line stating "This

128-412: A "rapid decline" by developers CZWG £1bn regeneration proposals were announced by Basildon Council in 2012. The proposals include the creation of a cinema, the creation of between 1,500 and 2,000 homes, a 150-room hotel and a college for up to 2,000 students. So far the only development given planning permission is the building of the new South Essex College campus on current site of Basildon market, which

192-468: A Bear cease trading earlier in the year. Basildon bus station was opened on its current site Southernhay in 1958 although it only was a double parallel island arrangement and South Walk shops had not yet been developed. In 1966 a new "saw tooth" arrangement was added fronting onto the South Walk shops. With the completion of Eastgate in 1985, the bus station had a new closed-in weatherproof fascia added which

256-567: A bingo hall, and in 1985 this was converted fully to a bingo hall and is now home to Gala Bingo . Since the 1990s Basildon Bowl has been located in Northgate House on High Pavement. From 1961 to 1998 a nightclub (last known as Racquels) was based on Market Pavement in Blenheim House (this was a Rileys snooker club until Dec 2014), while between 1971 and 1988 Sweeneys Discothèque was at High Pavement (now Palmers Solicitors). The only nightclub in

320-465: A framework for urban planning decision-making. Another debate within the urban planning field is about who is included and excluded in the urban planning decision-making process. Most urban planning processes use a top-down approach which fails to include the residents of the places where urban planners and city officials are working. Sherry Arnstein 's "ladder of citizen participation" is often used by many urban planners and city governments to determine

384-633: A full-time community licence for the area to broadcast for five years from 25 September 2010 on 97.8FM, and provides media and broadcasting training for the community from its Eastgate home. The most recent development to the Town Centre was the Westgate development (officially known as the Westgate Park Shopping Centre) which was built during 1998–1999. Westgate is an open air development of 10 large units and with parking on multiple levels. This

448-514: A major refurbishment including new lighting, bigger parking spaces, new tarmac and a new paint scheme. The centre has over 2000 car parking spaces, a third of the town centre's 6000 spaces. Eastgate anchor stores are now Debenhams (opened 2005) and Asda (opened 2002). Eastgate owners, Infrared Capital Partners, announced in November 2014 that they planned to redevelop the Galleries and upper levels of

512-442: Is Brooke House, a 14-storey residential tower block that fronts the west side of the town centre's East Square. Dating from 1962, it was designed by Sir Basil Spence and Anthony B Davies, with Ove Arup and Partners as the structural engineers. It has a 1960s Brutalist design, elevated on 8 massive V-shaped concrete pylons. The building was chosen to have a residential function, as opposed to commercial office space, to retain life in

576-458: Is East Square, a sunken open-air public plaza accessed from Brooke House by a monumental staircase and a curved ramp. The east side of the square was formerly fronted by Freedom House, containing shops on two levels, and the north side by the Post Office building, a 5-storey structure. Formerly on the wall of Freedom House is the oldest piece of public sculpture in the new town: installed in 1957, it

640-455: Is a technical and political process that is focused on the development and design of land use and the built environment, including air, water, and the infrastructure passing into and out of urban areas , such as transportation , communications , and distribution networks , and their accessibility . Traditionally, urban planning followed a top-down approach in master planning the physical layout of human settlements . The primary concern

704-408: Is a wire and aluminium relief by the sculptor A. J. Poole titled "Man Aspires". The whole ensemble was designed to create a formal setting for Brooke House, and had a similar Brutalist design, though softened by other architectural features. Freedom House and the Post Office building were demolished in 2019 to make way for a new Cinema. The Town Centre extends from East Square towards the southwest. Down

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768-538: Is an interdisciplinary field that includes civil engineering , architecture , human geography , politics , social science and design sciences . Practitioners of urban planning are concerned with research and analysis, strategic thinking, engineering architecture, urban design , public consultation , policy recommendations, implementation and management. It is closely related to the field of urban design and some urban planners provide designs for streets, parks, buildings and other urban areas. Urban planners work with

832-459: Is evidence of urban planning and designed communities dating back to the Mesopotamian , Indus Valley , Minoan , and Egyptian civilizations in the third millennium BCE . Archaeologists studying the ruins of cities in these areas find paved streets that were laid out at right angles in a grid pattern. The idea of a planned out urban area evolved as different civilizations adopted it. Beginning in

896-530: Is one of a number of notable Basildon works of contemporary art. The Mother and Child statue in the Town Square was created by Maurice Lambert and is Grade II listed. It was commissioned in 1959 to symbolise the growth of Basildon as a New Town. Above the Bus Station, just outside Eastgate, is a 315 ft (96 m) x 13 ft (4.0 m) mosaic of 16,000 individual tiles created by the artist John Gordon in

960-517: Is owned by InfraRed Capital Partners. Today Eastgate pulls in over 1 million visitors a month. Eastgate has undergone a number of facelifts since 1985. Its most recent substantial refurbishment was in 2007, at a cost of more than £10m, which included the opening of new toilets and baby care facilities, and replacing lifts, lighting, escalators, floors and fascias, plus a completely redesigned Food Terrace area with expanded seating for around 50% more covers. In 2012 Eastgate's multi story car park underwent

1024-409: Is still in place today. Since 1990 a taxi rank has been operational with the bus station. Basildon railway station is on the c2c line and opened in 1974. It was refurbished in both the 1990s and 2000s. The town centre currently has 10 operational car parks that can hold more than 6000 cars. All car parks charge fees Monday to Saturday but, as at November 2015, parking on Sunday is free. Located on

1088-634: Is the Geographic Information System (GIS) that is used to create a model of the existing planning and then to project future impacts on the society, economy and environment. Building codes and other regulations dovetail with urban planning by governing how cities are constructed and used from the individual level. Enforcement methodologies include governmental zoning , planning permissions , and building codes , as well as private easements and restrictive covenants . With recent advances in information and communication technologies and

1152-416: Is the body of scientific concepts, definitions, behavioral relationships, and assumptions that define the body of knowledge of urban planning. There are eight procedural theories of planning that remain the principal theories of planning procedure today: the rational-comprehensive approach, the incremental approach, the transactive approach, the communicative approach, the advocacy approach, the equity approach,

1216-506: Is the site of Basildon Town Centre" from 1956, with the first shops in Basildon Town Centre opening to the public in 1958. Initially only the Town Square (south side), Market Square & Pavement and half of East Walk were opened with several business based in portacabins (Barclays Bank for one). By 1959 the north side of Town Square was opened along with South Walk, followed by the second phase of East Walk in 1961. Block S which closed

1280-402: Is unnecessary, or even harmful, as it market efficiency allows for effective land use. A pluralist strain of political thinking argues in a similar vein that the government should not intrude in the political competition between different interest groups which decides how land is used. The traditional justification for urban planning has in response been that the planner does to the city what

1344-544: The Enlightenment period , several European rulers ambitiously attempted to redesign capital cities. During the Second French Empire , Baron Georges-Eugène Haussmann , under the direction of Napoleon III , redesigned the city of Paris into a more modern capital, with long, straight, wide boulevards. Planning and architecture went through a paradigm shift at the turn of the 20th century. The industrialized cities of

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1408-491: The Internet of Things , an increasing number of cities are adopting technologies such as crowdsorced mobile phone sensing and machine learning to collect data and extract useful information to help make informed urban planning decisions. An urban planner is a professional who works in the field of urban planning for the purpose of optimizing the effectiveness of a community's land use and infrastructure. They formulate plans for

1472-490: The London, Tilbury and Southend Railway was opened between East Horndon and Pitsea on 1 June 1888 and allowed trains between London and Southend to avoid the longer route via Tilbury, significantly reducing journey times. Laindon station opened with the new line in 1888 and Pitsea, originally opened in 1855, became a junction station . Basildon was designated a new town on 4 January 1949. Laindon and Pitsea stations fell within

1536-497: The housing crisis in parts of the world. Basildon railway station Basildon railway station is on the London, Tilbury and Southend line , serving the town of Basildon , Essex. It is 24 miles 26 chains (39.1 km) down the main line from London Fenchurch Street and is situated between Laindon to the west and Pitsea to the east. Its three-letter station code is BSO. The station and all its trains are currently operated by c2c . The "Pitsea direct" line of

1600-549: The water supply , identifying transportation patterns, recognizing food supply demands, allocating healthcare and social services, and analyzing the impact of land use. In order to predict how cities will develop and estimate the effects of their interventions, planners use various models. These models can be used to indicate relationships and patterns in demographic, geographic, and economic data. They might deal with short-term issues such as how people move through cities, or long-term issues such as land use and growth. One such model

1664-479: The 1960s. On a wall of Freedom House in East Walk is the oldest piece of public sculpture in the new town: installed in 1957, it is a wire and aluminium relief by the sculptor A. J. Poole titled "Man Aspires". Slightly further away from the shopping centre stands St. Martin's Bell Tower, a glass tower, unveiled by Queen Elizabeth II on 12 March 1999. In December 2003 and December 2004 a radio station, Eastgate FM,

1728-511: The 19th century grew at a tremendous rate. The evils of urban life for the working poor were becoming increasingly evident as a matter of public concern. The laissez-faire style of government management of the economy, in fashion for most of the Victorian era , was starting to give way to a New Liberalism that championed intervention on the part of the poor and disadvantaged. Around 1900, theorists began developing urban planning models to mitigate

1792-454: The 8th century BCE, Greek city states primarily used orthogonal (or grid-like) plans. Hippodamus of Miletus (498–408 BC), the ancient Greek architect and urban planner, is considered to be "the father of European urban planning", and the namesake of the "Hippodamian plan" (grid plan) of city layout. The ancient Romans also used orthogonal plans for their cities. City planning in the Roman world

1856-593: The ICON building but would transfer in September 2014 into Churchgate House. However this never materialized and the college, still based at Churchgate House, announced in January 2017 that they would be closing from September 2017. There were attempts to sell Trafford House a building that was used by Ford Motor Company up until 2005 but which has been vacant for almost a decade. Developers were given planning permission in 2014 to turn

1920-758: The Multiple Nuclei Model among others. Participatory planning is an urban planning approach that involves the entire community in the planning process. Participatory planning in the United States emerged during the 1960s and 1970s. Technical aspects of urban planning involve the application of scientific, technical processes, considerations and features that are involved in planning for land use , urban design , natural resources , transportation , and infrastructure . Urban planning includes techniques such as: predicting population growth , zoning , geographic mapping and analysis, analyzing park space, surveying

1984-418: The United States. The United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs predicted in 2018 that around 2.5 billion more people occupy urban areas by 2050 according to population elements of global migration. New planning theories have adopted non-traditional concepts such as Blue Zones and Innovation Districts to incorporate geographic areas within the city that allow for novel business development and

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2048-422: The building into flats, which opened in 2015. Another vacant building, The Aviva Building, has been vacant since 2008 when the insurance company laid off staff. Proposals to turn this building into flats were rejected in 2013, and it has since been reduced in height by several stories rather than being demolished completely. The town centre was formerly home to numerous leisure facilities but this has dwindled since

2112-530: The cognate fields of civil engineering, landscape architecture , architecture, and public administration to achieve strategic, policy and sustainability goals. Early urban planners were often members of these cognate fields though today, urban planning is a separate, independent professional discipline. The discipline of urban planning is the broader category that includes different sub-fields such as land-use planning , zoning , economic development , environmental planning , and transportation planning . Creating

2176-545: The coming of the Renaissance many new cities were enlarged with newly planned extensions. From the 15th century on, much more is recorded of urban design and the people that were involved. In this period, theoretical treatises on architecture and urban planning start to appear in which theoretical questions around planning the main lines, ensuring plans meet the needs of the given population and so forth are addressed and designs of towns and cities are described and depicted. During

2240-453: The consequences of the industrial age , by providing citizens, especially factory workers, with healthier environments. The following century would therefore be globally dominated by a central planning approach to urban planning, not representing an increment in the overall quality of the urban realm. At the beginning of the 20th century, urban planning began to be recognized as a separate profession. The Town and Country Planning Association

2304-425: The council offices. Westgate, listed above, was developed onto the former council office site. In the town square, the 1960s town clock was removed, as was the escalators up to High Pavement (replaced initially by a temporary staircase, now a permanent structure containing stairs and lifts). Also removed was part of Keay House, what is now called Southgate House, which had jutted out into the Town Square. The town square

2368-469: The degree of inclusivity or exclusivity of their urban planning. One main source of engagement between city officials and residents are city council meetings that are open to the residents and that welcome public comments. Additionally, in US there are some federal requirements for citizen participation in government-funded infrastructure projects. Participatory urban planning has been criticized for contributing to

2432-482: The delivery bay) onto which Eastgate phase 1 was built. Phase 2 of development was started in 1982 by J Laing and was completed in 1985 on the site of the Southernhay car park. The centre was officially opened to much acclaim by Prince Edward, with the anchor store being Allders department store. The original owner of Eastgate was Norwich Union who moved into offices on the site shortly after it opened. Today, Eastgate

2496-553: The development and management of urban and suburban areas. They typically analyze land use compatibility as well as economic, environmental, and social trends. In developing any plan for a community (whether commercial, residential, agricultural, natural or recreational), urban planners must consider a wide array of issues including sustainability , existing and potential pollution , transport including potential congestion , crime , land values, economic development, social equity, zoning codes, and other legislation. The importance of

2560-485: The early 21st century, Jane Jacobs 's writings on legal and political perspectives to emphasize the interests of residents, businesses and communities effectively influenced urban planners to take into broader consideration of resident experiences and needs while planning. Urban planning answers questions about how people will live, work, and play in a given area and thus, guides orderly development in urban, suburban and rural areas . Although predominantly concerned with

2624-400: The engineer or architect does to the home, that is, make it more amenable to the needs and preferences of its inhabitants. The widely adopted consensus-building model of planning, which seeks to accommodate different preferences within the community has been criticized for being based upon, rather than challenging, the power structures of the community. Instead, agonism has been proposed as

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2688-664: The ground floor of Eastgate is a plaque commemorating the opening with a time capsule. A copy of the Evening Echo of the day it opened is thought to be inside. On the Upper level of Eastgate is the Cats Cradle Pussiwillow III Clock. It was created by Rowland Emett in 1981. and was originally placed outside what is now ASDA on the Lower Mall of the shopping centre. It was officially unveiled by Michael Bentine . The clock

2752-448: The ideas of modernism in urban planning led to higher crime rates and social problems. In the second half of the 20th century, urban planners gradually shifted their focus to individualism and diversity in urban centers. Urban planners studying the effects of increasing congestion in urban areas began to address the externalities, the negative impacts caused by induced demand from larger highway systems in western countries such as in

2816-501: The mid-1970s, shopping and commercial facilities had not kept pace with an expanding population and increased visitors. A decision was therefore taken by Basildon Development Corporation to dedicate more space to better shopping facilities to give Basildon added status as a major town centre for retailers leading to the building of the Eastgate Centre. During the 1980s Eastgate Basildon (formerly Eastgate International Shopping Centre)

2880-549: The middle of this zone runs a rectangular raised pool. Within the pool is a bronze sculpture and fountain, titled "Mother and Child", by the sculptor Maurice Lambert and dating from 1959. Sections of Basildon Town Centre, including Brooke House and the raised pool, are Grade II listed . 51°34′12″N 0°27′18″E  /  51.570°N 0.455°E  / 51.570; 0.455 Urban planning Urban planning , also known as town planning , city planning , regional planning , or rural planning in specific contexts,

2944-410: The new town boundary, albeit on the periphery. As was the case at other new towns, it took many years to deliver a railway station. Basildon station was opened by British Rail on 25 November 1974. In September 2022, the down (towards Southend) platform was partially closed, preventing 12-carriage trains from calling at the station in that direction. The station has two platforms, both located on

3008-468: The opening of Festival Leisure Park . In 1971, ABC opened a two screen cinema, but this closed in 1999 and has been converted into a unit for the British Heart Foundation and Flats. In 2018 work started by Demolishing Freedom House to make way for a multi screen Empire cinema. In 1962 its first bowling alley opened on Southernhay, but this was cut in half in 1975 when part of it was converted to

3072-812: The planning of settlements and communities, urban planners are also responsible for planning the efficient transportation of goods, resources, people, and waste; the distribution of basic necessities such as water and electricity; a sense of inclusion and opportunity for people of all kinds, culture and needs; economic growth or business development; improving health and conserving areas of natural environmental significance that actively contributes to reduction in CO 2 emissions as well as protecting heritage structures and built environments. Since most urban planning teams consist of highly educated individuals that work for city governments, recent debates focus on how to involve more community members in city planning processes. Urban planning

3136-879: The plans requires a thorough understanding of penal codes and zonal codes of planning. Another important aspect of urban planning is that the range of urban planning projects include the large-scale master planning of empty sites or Greenfield projects as well as small-scale interventions and refurbishments of existing structures, buildings and public spaces. Pierre Charles L'Enfant in Washington, D.C., Daniel Burnham in Chicago, Lúcio Costa in Brasília and Georges-Eugene Haussmann in Paris planned cities from scratch, and Robert Moses and Le Corbusier refurbished and transformed cities and neighborhoods to meet their ideas of urban planning. There

3200-476: The prioritization of infrastructure that would assist with improving the quality of life of citizens by extending their potential lifespan. Planning practices have incorporated policy changes to help address anthropogenic (human caused) climate change . London began to charge a congestion charge for cars trying to access already crowded places in the city. Cities nowadays stress the importance of public transit and cycling by adopting such policies. Planning theory

3264-652: The radical approach, and the humanist or phenomenological approach. Some other conceptual planning theories include Ebenezer Howard 's The Three Magnets theory that he envisioned for the future of British settlement, also his Garden Cities , the Concentric Model Zone also called the Burgess Model by sociologist Ernest Burgess , the Radburn Superblock that encourages pedestrian movement, the Sector Model and

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3328-479: The shopping centre into a £15 million 15 screen cinema with a scheduled completion date of 2017. However this has now been cancelled as the council had announced its own plans for a cinema complex in the town centre. On the 22nd of November 2021 InfraRed the company that owns Eastgate Shopping centre entered in to administration due to the Coronavirus pandemic saw its high-profile shops like Topshop, Debenhams and Build

3392-441: The town centre after the shops had closed. Shops were positioned to the rear of the building, with Brooke House acting as a covered forecourt. It was conceived as a structure to define Basildon's urban status and to act as marker to identify the Town Centre's location within a largely low-rise settlement set in a flat landscape. It was named after the then Minister of Housing and Local Government, Henry Brooke MP. East of Brooke House

3456-457: The town centre is now Colors, a gay focused nightclub above the Beehive Pub. There is another pub in the Town Centre; The Edge (formerly The Highway and subsequently The New Yorker). The Edge hosts live and unsigned music nights, arranged by Hippy Joe Hymas of Hayseed Dixie . There had formerly been public houses on High Pavement and Fodderwick. The largest structure in the new town's town centre

3520-602: The urban planner is increasing in the 21st century, as modern society begins to face issues of increased population growth, climate change and unsustainable development. An urban planner could be considered a green collar professional. Some researchers suggest that urban planners, globally, work in different " planning cultures ", adapted to their cities and cultures. However, professionals have identified skills, abilities, and basic knowledge sets that are common to urban planners across regional and national boundaries. The school of neoclassical economics argues that planning

3584-586: The west end of Town Square was completed in 1971. By 1971 Basildon Town Centre comprised 70 acres (280,000 m) and 205 stores of all sizes totalling 1,100,000 sq ft (100,000 m) of retail space. It was one of the largest pedestrian precincts in Britain, with entertainment and leisure facilities, an open-air market, car parking for 5,000 vehicles and bus and railway stations. Its anchor stores were London Co-operative Society , Taylors department store, Littlewoods and Marks & Spencer . However, by

3648-457: Was built in two phases. At the time it was the largest indoor shopping centre in Europe and brought 2,000 jobs to the area. Eastgate Shopping Centre was opened in stages between 1980 and 1985. The first phase opened in 1980 with the first store to open being SavaCentre . The first phase included the shop units on the former road Nether Priors (units 1-5 the original structures can be seen at the rear in

3712-480: Was built on the site of Basildon Council's former temporary residence, which they had moved out of in the 1990s into the newly constructed Basildon Centre, and the site of the original Towngate Theatre (formerly The Arts Centre closed 1988). It had originally been planned to be called the Fodderwick Shopping Park. In the 1990s Basildon Council planned a regeneration of the Town Square and the former home of

3776-524: Was developed for military defense and public convenience. The spread of the Roman Empire subsequently spread the ideas of urban planning. As the Roman Empire declined, these ideas slowly disappeared. However, many cities in Europe still held onto the planned Roman city center. Cities in Europe from the 9th to 14th centuries, often grew organically and sometimes chaotically. But in the following centuries with

3840-565: Was due to open in 2015–16, but ended up opening in January 2021. Basildon Market was earmarked to move to St Martin's Square, with work starting in July 2016. However delays meant the market did not open until October 2018. The council have also purchase Freedom House and bits of East Walk as part of the regeneration plans for a new cinema, with work starting in 2019. In 2013, SEEVIC announced that they would be opening New Campus Basildon Studio School, which would be temporarily housed in their facility in

3904-617: Was founded in 1899 and the first academic course in Great Britain on urban planning was offered by the University of Liverpool in 1909. In the 1920s, the ideas of modernism and uniformity began to surface in urban planning, and lasted until the 1970s. In 1933, Le Corbusier presented the Radiant City, a city that grows up in the form of towers, as a solution to the problem of pollution and over-crowding. But many planners started to believe that

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3968-527: Was launched on a 28-day restricted-service licence (RSL). The station broadcast during the run up to Christmas. This station was organised by Brentwood community radio station Phoenix FM and was unrelated to future community radio projects in Basildon. Since 2007 Eastgate has sponsored and hosted Gateway 97.8 (formally Gateway FM) which broadcasts from a shop studio unit in the Upper Galleries. Gateway won

4032-399: Was re-paved and the building of two retail pavilions, now operated by Toni & Guy and Costa , were completed in 1998. The late 2000s downturn in the global economy negatively impacted on Basildon Town Centre and a 2013 survey found 31 empty retail units with retailers including KFC, McDonald's Pizza Hut, Adams and Peacocks leaving the Town Centre. As a result of a period characterized as

4096-431: Was the public welfare , which included considerations of efficiency, sanitation , protection and use of the environment, as well as effects of the master plans on the social and economic activities. Over time, urban planning has adopted a focus on the social and environmental bottom lines that focus on planning as a tool to improve the health and well-being of people, maintaining sustainability standards. Similarly, in

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