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:
Planning for Growth – Innovation
This blog was first posted on the Planning Resource website on 28 September 2011. There is a clear message that comes from the modern literature about competitiveness. In a knowledge economy, competitiveness is closely tied to innovation. However, innovation is not a linear process from men in white coats in laboratories through to a commercially…
Women’s Safety in India
The death of the 23-year old physiotherapy student after she was gang raped on a New Delhi bus has commanded headlines around the world. This appalling and tragic event has focused attention on the failures of the Indian authorities, and Indian society more generally, to tackle long standing problems of sexual assault and harassment. The…
Do you want fries with that?
This first appeared in Planning on 31 May 2002 and is reproduced by kind permission of Planning Resource.
Growth and the commercialisation of public space in Edinburgh
This item was first posted in November 2019. A major controversy has developed in Edinburgh over a huge development that was allowed to go ahead in the World Heritage Site without planning permission. The London-based event organisers Underbelly have a contract with Edinburgh’s city council who are paying them a reported £800,000 to stage a…
Informal development, planning and sustainable urbanisation
The third report on The State of African Cities , published in 2014, shows how informal development is a key force in the continent’s urbanisation, yet also poses major dilemmas. The report’s sub-title “Re-imagining sustainable urban transitions” suggests both the need to come up with new answers, but also the elusiveness of solutions. Anybody interested in Africa,…
Urban growth in Ghana – opportunity or great danger?
Ghana’s urban population has grown from 4 million to 14 million in 30 years. This has underpinned economic growth, which has on average increased by 5.7% a year since 1984. Can this continue, or is the urban future bleak? A new report by the World Bank says that urbanisation has reduced urban and rural poverty and enabled…
Ravages of Hurricane Sandy – Planning for disasters
Hurricane Sandy was the largest tropical storm ever recorded in the Atlantic, covering an area 900 miles across, with 150km per hour winds bringing torrential rain. We have all been stunned by the impact that it has had on the Eastern Seaboard of the USA. Without in any way belittling this, it is important to…
Science and Urban Climate Change
This blog was first posted in 2018. A paper in a leading scientific journal calls for much greater engagement of scientists in urban policy and practice. Politicians look for short term fixes. The public has no appetite for “experts”. Many practising planners and other built environment professionals disdain academics and say they don’t have time…
1972: The End of an Era?
This blog was first posted on the Planning Resource website on 24 April 2012. This week Planning magazine celebrates its 40th birthday. At this critical juncture, the point where mid-life crisis is supposed to kick in with a vengeance, I thought that I should look back to where I was in 1972, while still taking…
Values or illusions? Planners in difficult times
Seek the truth, speak the truth, defend the truth, live in truth. In my presentation to the closing session of the Association of European Schools of Planning annual congress, I drew on traditional Czech ideals to shape some messages for planners and planning educators. This blog provides an extended version of what I said. In…