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:
“This project will be a good one!”
This blog was first posted in February 2015. Young Eyes is a new IC project. It looks to me like it will be a good one. I was at the kick-off meeting in a cold and misty Warsaw in January. All the partners were there – Jelgava and Rauna from Latvia, our Polish friends from…
BREXIT – A blow to the European planning community
This blog was first pubished in 2016. Klaus Kunzmann, distinguished professor of spatial planning at the Technical University of Dortmund, gives his reaction to Brexit and ponders what it means for planning and planners. England (though not Scotland) has voted for Brexit. It will take months until those who voted against Europe will realize that…
Covid 19 in rapidly urbanising countries
UN Habitat has published its response to the serious problems posed by the pandemic in Africa, Asia-Pacific and Latin America and the Arabic countries. Over 95% of Covid 19 cases are in urban areas. There are 1 billion people living in informal settlements, and 2.4 billion people lack adequate access to safe water and sanitation.…
Local food networks and the Greek bailout
The spatial impacts of the bailout deals forced on Greece have yet to be fully assessed. However, the early indications are that they will have negative impacts on small and medium sized enterprises which are so important in small towns and rural regions, and also on local food networks. One of the requirements of the…
Urbanism, exclusion and change in South Asia
The changes taking place in South Asian cities are th focus of a major conference in Lahore next year, for which proposals for paper are now invited. The organisers make the point that much urban research has focused on Europe and North America, while the dramatic urbanisation of South Asia has received much less attention.…
Time tested principles for successful place-making
How do you create attractive and environmentally sustainable places? A new, updated edition of a major text provides powerful lessons and evidence. The first edition of Randall Arendt’s Rural by Design was published 20 years ago, and became a classic resource for a generation of planners and urbanists in North America. The new edition is even better, and has…
Delhi – Colonial Planning, Slums and Gated Communities
This blog was first posted in October 2019. Inside the slums and gated communities the opportunities and obstacles to sustainable and inclusive urban development can be seen. Spending a few days in Delhi as part of the Sustainable, Healthy and Learning Cities and Neighbourhoods project has given me insights into the way urbanisation is taking place in…
World Urban Forum 9
The ninth World Urban Forum opens on 7 February 2018, and I am here in Kuala Lumpur and will be reporting on it on this website and on other social media. The World Urban Forum (WUF) is held every other year, and in a different city each time. Hosted by UN-Habitat, it brings together representatives…
Dr. Keith Thomas – An appreciation
The death was recently announced of Dr. Keith Thomas who for many years taught students of planning at Oxford Brookes University. The death was recently announced of Dr. Keith Thomas who for many years taught students of planning at Oxford Brookes University. Before moving to Oxford in the mid-1970s, Keith was a Senior Lecturer in…
Healthy cities
America’s obesity crisis is creating a new concern to make healthy cities, though the rhetoric outstrips the plans. A recent blog on a health website says that more than half of U.S. adults don’t meet the recommended daily requirements for aerobic exercise or physical activity. It makes the case for better planning and design to…