Urban design leadership: part 1, the styles of leadership

Abstract

This paper, in two parts, explores the styles and application of urban design leadership as a dimension of urban design governance. Part 1 explores the literature on leadership and its relation to urban design. It discusses the relation of urban design leadership to places and situations, first connecting through the fundamentally integrative nature of the activity – vertically, horizontally, and temporally – and second influencing across professional, sectorial, and power contexts. It then conceptualises a typology of leadership – autocratic, paternalistic, democratic, laissez-faire, transactional, transformational, and absent – and considers how these leadership styles, none of which are absolute, influence the process and outcomes of urban design. The paper concludes with a framework for understanding urban design leadership that can be applied to the varied practices of urban design globally. Part 2 tests and illustrates this through its application to the roles and practices of Public Architects across Europe.