It often relies upon the personal knowledge, experience and enthusiasm of individual people. So often when he or she is promoted or moves on to another position, the expertise within the agency is lost. However, though constantly changing, excellence in many forms does exist across London and is being encouraged by formal environmental policies. The purpose of the Streetscape Manual is to formally record examples of excellent practice and persuade others to adopt them. The underlying philosophy is that order is preferable to chaos.
Simplicity is better than clutter.
Style may be a matter of personal taste but quality cannot be denied. By quality we mean the enhancement of the individual character of a place. The manual will show how these urban design objectives are effected by a large number of independent, unco-ordinated agencies. It will illustrate how, whilst fulfilling their individual functions, these agencies can contribute to the improvement of the street scene across the whole of London. At this point, one cannot avoid plunging into detail.