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:
Participation?
How to have your say in the planning system. A scandal has broken out over a controversial decision by the English planning minister. As has been widely reported in the UK, the Minister, Robert Jenrick, overturned the recommendations of the independent Planning Inspector and awarded a consent for a £1billion 1,500-apartment, 44-storey development in London.…
Habitat III – The New Urban Agenda
The zero draft of the New Urban Agenda, the declaration that the governments of the world will sign up to in October 2016, gives a prominent role to more proactive and inclusive urban and regional planning. The draft document makes a ringing early statement: “We commit to a paradigm shift in the way we plan,…
Article in ‘A Week in Palestine’ November 2015
This article, based on the work of our International Advisory Group to UN-Habitat, appeared in the magazine A Week in Palestine, November 2015, pp.18-22 http://thisweekinpalestine.com/international-experts-call-for-fundamental-changes-in-israels-approach-to-planning-and-development-in-area-c/
Smart China
In his Guest Blog, Klaus Kunzmann reports from China of the pressures to make “smart cities”. Thrilled by the promises of the big data corporations in Silicon America and the success of Alibaba, China’s e-shopping giant, Chinese cities are eager to become smart. Listening to advice from clever international and local business consultants they accept,…
New housing and regeneration practices for difficult times
Guest blogger, the distinguished Hungarian researcher and consultant, Iván Tosics, reflects on radical alternatives to address today’s urban challenges. This Guest Blog is contributed by Iván Tosics, an internationally renowned housing and planning expert. The photo above shows new housing for refugees in Freiburg, Germany. I have the feeling that our normal life is melting down. Leandro Erlich,…
Hyperlocal Blogs & how they help to create an Ambient Brand
The fact that you are reading this blog suggests that you are used to getting information from the internet. In turn, I get a buzz from knowing that there are readers out there in, and maybe even beyond, “Innovation Circle Land”, who take the time to read what I write and, hopefully, get new ideas. Even…
Building collapses in Mumbai show need for new urban planning
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…
What’s new about the New Urban Agenda?
This blog was first posted in February 2018. South Africa is engaging fully with the New Urban Agenda, and posing some fundamental questions about what it means to be a planner in today’s world. Confession: I only went into one session at the World Urban Forum today. Lest it seems that I was skipping classes,…
How businesses using Airbnb are reducing affordable housing in Montreal
“I studied the laws surrounding Airbnb all over the world. None are perfect. ” David Wachsmuth. Laws are almost irrelevant if you do not have access to Airbnb data to implement them ” says David Wachsmuth. Associate Professor in Urban Planning, McGill University. Despite legislation seeking to limit and control online short-term rentals, Montreal has five…
Force Majeure movie review: Explosions in a landscape
The film Force Majeure focuses on the tensions within a marriage, but it also depicts the tensions between people and the natural environment. The original Swedish title of Ruben Östlund’s internationally acclaimed film Force Majeure is Turist, which is “Tourist”. The pivotal drama in the film is the moment early on when an avalanche of snow threatens to bury the winter…