Cliff Hague

Impacts of AirBnB regulation in New York

General, News Items

New York has long been a money spinner for AirBnB. In January 2023 there were 38,500 listings. As…

Planning, Sustainable Urbanisation and the Commonwealth

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Planning a Refugee Camp

Original Blogs CliffHague.com

In 2010 the Commonwealth Association of Planners held its first Student Essay competition. The winners were Jeremiah Atho…

Kes Revisited – The welfare state and community in the late 1960s

Film Reviews, Original Blogs CliffHague.com

Ken Loach’s film, Kes, was released in 1969. What does it tell us about life in a coalfield…

Place Identity, Participation and Planning

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Regional and Local Economic Development

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Cliff is a freelance consultant, researcher, author and trainer. He was the Chair of the Cockburn Association 2016 – 2023.

He is Professor Emeritus of Planning and Spatial Development at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh.

He is a Past President of the Royal Town Planning Institute, and of the Commonwealth Association of Planners.

He is a past Chair of Built Environment Forum Scotland.

He was awarded the O.B.E. in the 2016 Birthday Honours.

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This blog was first posted on the Planning Resource website on 24 August 2012. I should have been in Abuja this week to speak at the Nigerian Institute of Town Planners conference on “Building Resilient Cities”. Due to lack of time to get a visa, I could not make it. However, I did write a…

International report says planning denies Palestinians justice

Original Blogs CliffHague.com

Planning is being used in the Israeli-occupied West Bank of Palestine to deny Palestinian communites fair opportunities for development. The practices undertaken in the name of “good planning” actually amount to a denial of administrative justice. These are important findings from an International Advisory Board of experienced planners that it was my privilege to chair. …

Stores no more? How shops are changing to meet challenges from e-retailing

News Items, Pre-2020

As e-shopping eats into the markets previously dominated by traditional shops and stores, what will the retail store of the future look like? Are the malls and the arcades a relic of the last century? What does it mean for our towns and cities? A new article on a specialist retailing website suggests that in the USA…

Building collapses in Mumbai show need for new urban planning

World View Blog-2015

Mumbai has been a powerful driver of economic growth in India over the past couple of decades. It is a mega-city with an estimated population of over 20 million. Much of the growth has taken place despite rather than because of planning. A spate of building collapses in recent weeks has prompted new debates about…

Smart cities is a strong theme in the World Urban Forum

News Items, Pre-2020

This blog was first posted in February 2018. The exhibition at the Ninth World Urban Forum highlights the Asian embrace of Smart Cities. This is my fourth World Urban Forum, and, as ever, the exhibition is worth visiting. Most of the booths are taken by national governments, some by cities or local government organisations, a…

New housing floorspace will be the area of the Netherlands by 2025

World View Blog-2015

This blog was first posted on the Planning Resource website on 17 July 2012. The next generation is going to witness a staggering amount of new urban development as the world’s economic centre of gravity shifts towards Asia. Cities in both developed and rapidly urbanising countries need professional planning if they are to prosper. Companies…

Why are national urban policies needed?

Original Blogs CliffHague.com

A wide ranging international review of national urban policies highlights the importance to national development of coordinated planning and well-functioning urban areas. Urban planning is seen as an economic imperative. “The argumentthat well-functioning urban areas can help to unleash the development potential of nations is more persuasive than the argument that urban policy is about…

A World Viewtime-line of planning over the past century: Part 2

World View Blog-2015

This second half of my World View Timeline for planning globally over the past century covers the period 1964-2013. The first part, 1914-1963, was covered in an earlier blog. It highlighted the ideas and practices that shaped 50 years of planning – from Patrick Geddes’ “Cities in Evolution” to Jane Jacobs’ “The Death and Life of…

A brand-led approach to saving town centres

ICN Blog-2015

There is much concern at present about the plight of town centres, especially in small and medium-sized towns. There are many more empty shops as the economic problems hit consumers and businesses. However, there are also structural underlying problems. The growth and convenience of large edge-of-town supermarkets and retail warehouses has badly impacted on businesses based…

Cities and Climate Change

World View Blog-2015

This blog was first posted on the Planning Resource website on 7 December 2011. We are facing a “deadly collision between urbanization and climate change”. This is the warning given in the 2011 Global Report on Human Settlements published by UN-Habitat. It comes at a time when expectation is rock bottom that governments will achieve a positive…