Urban design leadership: Part 2, the case of public architects

Abstract This paper, in two parts, explores the styles and application of urban design leadership as a dimension of urban design governance. This second part takes the theoretical framework for understanding urban design leadership developed in Part 1 and applies the theory to the varied practices of public architects across Europe. Based on interviews with protagonists involved in the delivery of these roles, the paper teases out how these functions can be understood in terms of leadership. Ultimately, urban design leadership is not a simple thing that should be replicated according to a standard formula from place to place. Instead, as the case of public architects demonstrates, in different ways that relate to opportunities provided by local governance and political traditions, such roles demonstrate the value of urban design as a form of design leadership at the urban scale. Their analysis also demonstrates the value of the framework advanced in Part 1, which proves to be a robust means to interrogate forms and episodes of urban design leadership. It provides a starting point for a research agenda that is ripe for further investigation.