Impacts of AirBnB regulation in New York
New York has long been a money spinner for AirBnB. In January 2023 there were 38,500 listings. As…
Planning a Refugee Camp
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
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.
Books
Some articles fromall categories:
Community and film: Akenfield and Byker
Three contrasting films prompt important questions about the nature of communities, past and present, rural and urban. The word “community” is often invoked by planners and architects, but all too often with disregard for the realities. This week I have been to see three films that explore what communities are and how they function, while also…
A Tale of Two Cities: Fellini’s Roma and Davies’ Liverpool
Like many planners I am a fan of the movies, and especially fascinated by films where place is central to the narrative. Over the weekend I was lucky enough to see not one, but two films about cities. They have a lot of similarities but also many differences. They areFellini’s Roma and Terence Davies’ reflections on…
How to save town centres
In smaller towns across the UK and many other countries, the town centres are struggling. Julian Dobson, has a barrowful of ideas of what to do about it. His book How to Save Our Town Centres is the best starting point I know for those who want to combine analysis with action. It is well researched, well-informed and…
Athens – report from the frontline
This item was first posted in May 2018. The impacts of austerity in Greece have dropped out of the headlines, but not gone away. In a vivid account of conditions in his adopted city, Belgian planner Frank d’Hondt reviews the fate of Greeks forced to suffer to repay debts to big banks. Greek unemployment remains…
Saving Town Centres – experience from The Netherlands
This blog was first posted in 2017. A new study looks at what the Dutch have been doing to revitalise the centres of medium-sized towns. The plight of town centres, particularly in medium-sized towns, across Europe and North America, has been a concern to planners and local politiicans for a generation. In England, the Portas Report (2011)…
Trump, planning and cities
A guest blog by Klaus Kunzmann, first posted in 2016, reflected on the likely impact of Trump’s victory and prompted me to respond with some more ideas. Klaus Kunzmann has pointed to the potentially negative impacts on planning arising from Donald Trump’s ascendency to the US presidency. It is difficult to disagree with his dystopian prognosis. An…
Elites treat the poor as disposable citizens – CV19 in India
Dispatch from Delhi on the CV19 crisis in India’s cities. “The COVID-19 pandemic is deepening the existing ruthless and exclusionary practices in India’s big cities, where elites treat the poor as ‘disposable citizens’ clearly evident when we see thousands of poor migrants being stranded in the middle of nowhere, whereas the upper-class people continue to…
Temporary use of vacant spaces and buildings
Whether it’s an old church or the shell of a derelict factory, a gap site or an under-used parking lot, vacant land and buildings are a headache for planners and regeneration professionals. The impacts of vacany stretch beyond the site, creating a sense of decline and blighting neighbourhoods. Yet these left overs can be the…
Development and planning in Cyprus
Last week in Cyprus, I was able to get some insights into the development challenges facing this part of Europe. In a snapshot, Mediterranean islands like Cyprus were early cradles of urbanisation and often have a rich archaeological legacy. They were poor agricultural areas until mass tourism began in the 1970s. The boom saw the…
Unfilled posts and poorly targeted employment initiatives
My column in Planning in 1987, has a contemporary feel in 2020 as issues of mass unemployment and Council cuts come to the fore once again. A Director of Planning post left unfilled to save money. Doing away with planning. Why I gave up on RTPI Council. The interplay of place and class in labour markets. This…