Tayplan initiative provides outreach for the local area
Published on Thu 2 Jun 2016
Dr Deepak Gopinath, Lecturer in Town and Regional Planning, along with colleagues at the University of Dundee, TAYPLAN and PAS, has been part of an exciting initiative – ‘the Youth Camp’, that used the popular game, Minecraft as well as interactive workshops to plan the future of Dundee's waterfront.
TAYplan is one of four strategic development planning authorities each covering the city-regions for Scotland’s four largest cities. They were designated by Scottish Ministers in June 2008 and are responsible for land use planning at a strategic level. TAYplan covers the City-regions of Dundee and Perth and is a statutory partnership of Dundee City, Angus, Perth & Kinross and Fife Councils. The TAYplan boundary covers all of Dundee City, the North Part of Fife and the majority of Angus and Perth & Kinross but excludes those part covered by the Cairngorms and the Local Lomond and Trossachs National Park. PAS is an independent organisation that works across Scotland to improve public engagement in planning and delivers a range of training and education programmes,
In the Youth Camp, a model of the Dundee waterfront designed by Andrew Rennie in Perth and Kinross Council was used by secondary school students to develop their spatial awareness of place and the implications of changing that place. Seven school teams participated including Grove Academy, High School of Dundee, Kinross High School, Perth High School, Perth Grammar School, St. Paul’s RC Academy and Waid Academy. Using Dundee Waterfront as an example has helped raise the awareness of young people of the area’s largest regeneration project. The models designed by the school teams are available to view on the project website.
Dr Gopinath comments; "This has been a great experience. The school children have been full of ideas and hands-on in trying to help find solutions to existing problems. It's great for them too - finding out what strategic plans and urban development is all about"
Watch our short video outlining the project and hearing the children's thoughts.
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