Arcadia Revisited

Developing methods to promote democratisation of strategic planning with support from Genius Loci and Arts Council England.

Arcadia Revisited aims to explore the ‘essence’ of Jaywick – the social, cultural, historical and environmental elements that contribute to a sense of place. Drawing on the ancient Greek concept of ‘arcadia’ as an idyllic vision of the wilderness, Arcadia Revisited looks again at the original utopian vision that led to the creation of holiday communities such as Jaywick. David Cotterrell and Alex Murdin worked with the people of Jaywick to develop a creative project which investigates what this arcadia vision means today and what it could mean in the future.

Having spent time learning how to use the same software used in aviation simulators, David will be using this immersive environment software to develop interactive maps of Jaywick where local people are invited and encouraged to contribute their views, memories, photos, voices and other information. For the first time this information will be made available to professionals at Essex and Tendring Councils and aims to form a two way communication. 

This is a cross-disciplinary project. The resulting partnerships will be established through creative participation, as well as the resulting new approaches that could inform future practice in the redevelopment of coastal areas. It will also develop a methodology for analysis and visioning for future developments taking into account the valuable social and physical heritage of an area.

Despite the established consultation processes within planning, there still remains a perceptual divide between external consultants and ‘local residents’ understanding of place, value and community. This project will not resolve this issue, but it may serve to create prototype mechanisms to re-evaluate the existing hierarchies of information and raise questions about the historic weaknesses in transparent communication between those who are designing landscape and those who live within it.

The project was developed as a component of Essex County Council's Genius Locii programme.