Give us the tools …

The course uses the stuff to teach people the principles of urban design so they are better prepared for consultation on housing developments – these days, getting residents involved in development is often a condition of funding but it is difficult for them to take part in the complex discussions if they are unfamiliar with the basics. The course is run by the Glass House, a body set up by the Architecture Foundation and Trafford Hall, home of the National Tenants' Resource Centre, to offer advice, support and training.

Day one
It is a fine autumn day as I arrive at the listed Georgian country house near Chester that is to be the base for the three-day course. With its 6 ha of beautiful grounds, it is quite a change of scenery for the 25 housing estate residents from around the UK who are to take the course with me. Providing access to architectural beauty is part of the Glass House's approach.

Each group of residents faces different circumstances, but all are entering a phase of regeneration and development. Many feel the course will help them to stop decisions being made without their agreement. One tells me: "We have a definite sense of community and don't take kindly to people telling us what we need and want."

They have a range of expectations: two tenants from Dollis Valley in Hertfordshire want to know how they can connect their flats with nearby shops by reorganising the street layout; a group from Gallions in south-east London complains that no one will take responsibility for maintaining the public areas of their estate; and residents of Northam Housing Association in Southampton want to learn how to create a "home zone", an area where design features help to slow down the traffic.

Each day begins with a group giving a four-minute presentation on their area. Then Charlie Baker of design consultancy Urbed – which guided the redevelopment of Hulme in Manchester, the course's primary case study – gives a talk on how street layout, open space and building design can enhance neighbourhood vitality and safety. Culs-de-sac – what he calls "communities of 10 people who don't get on" – come in for criticism, as do modernist housing estates designed by architects who reject traditional street patterns, deciding that "hundreds of years of experience are wrong".

Day two
The next day begins with a study visit to newly developed residential streets in and around Manchester. The first stop is Longsight, to see a recently created home zone where bollards and street furniture have been used to slow down the progress of traffic through a residential street, reclaiming the space for pedestrians. Then it's on to Hulme, just outside the city centre. Originally one of the most densely populated areas of Manchester, its streets of back-to-back terraced houses were demolished in the 1960s to make way for the Crescents, a block of flats that quickly became notorious and was demolished in the 1990s. Recent housing developments – many undertaken by the Guinness Trust – have returned to the pre-1960s street layout, although the density is much lower.

We have a definite sense of community and don’t take kindly to people telling us what we need and want

Housing Association tenant

Back to base for the afternoon, there's an inspirational slide show of contemporary architecture and a smattering of urban design theory, tackling issues such as density and defensible space.

Day three
On the final day of the course, residents concentrate on developing new street plans and land use strategies for their own areas. They spent much of day one using maps to work out the layout of roads, open spaces and buildings in their areas. Now, working with Plasticine, coloured paper and pipe cleaners, each scheme gradually comes to life in three, albeit tiny, dimensions.

There's no shortage of ideas. Tenants from Northam come up with ambitious plans for a small area of green space surrounded by housing, a sports pitch and a boulevard. Following the visit to Longsight's home zone, they come to the conclusion that Southampton council's proposal for a similar solution would only work if it was funded properly: adding bollards to the street without proper planting and long-term maintenance would be inadequate. The residents from south-east London, meanwhile, add roads to their estate to create a more traditional street pattern. They also decide that a doctors' surgery, a sports centre and a cafe would make their area function as a community.

At the end of the day, everyone goes away with a list of three actions to take the following week, fact sheets of inspiring design examples and a certificate. The whole event has also been filmed, so residents can pass on what they have learned.

Of course, it is unlikely that any of the schemes in the areas in which the course participants live will be built exactly as the residents envisaged in their Plasticine creations, but the lessons they learned will be invaluable when it comes to evaluating the work of professionals acting on their behalf.

At the end of the course, the group from Dollis Valley, an area to be redeveloped shortly in partnership with one of three housing associations, are sure the course will help them select the right body for the job.