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:
China’s New-Style Urban Policy
This blog was first posted in July 2019. Urban Transformation and “New Style” Urbanisation in China was the theme of a major conference hosted by the University of Glasgow. In 2014 China launched its New-Style Urbanisation Plan (NUP). The Plan gave a new emphasis to environment and to the quality of urban development, and better…
Planning and politics
This first appeared in Planning on 29 November 2002 and is reproduced by kind permission of Haymarket Publications.
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…
Rural to urban migration in a different culture
This blog was first published on 27 February 2012, on the Innovation Circle network website. Happy New Year – the Chinese Year of the Dragon! Every Chinese New Year 130 million people in the world’s most populous country head back home to their villages for family celebrations. It is the world’s largest human migration and…
Civic concern in Edinburgh over World Heritage Site
This item was posted in 2017. The proposals for the hotel at the Royal High School were refused plannng permission and the refusal was upheld at appeal. Citizens in Edinburgh are voicing concerns at the way the capital city’s built environment and greenspaces are being managed. A staggering 3,188 objections have been lodged in opposition…
Best ways to enhance Edinburgh
I gave the Cockburn Association annual lecture in Edinburgh on 27 October 2016. I have now written it up and you can read it. The Cockburn Association was formed in 1875 and can claim to be the oldest civic association in the world. It is a pleasure and an honour for me to be its Chair and…
EU INTERREG projects
The INTERREG programmes aim to improve the effectiveness of regional policies and instruments within Europe. It promotes international cooperation and exchange of know-how between partners engaged in the making and delivery of policies and actions for regional and local development. Cliff has worked as an external expert on a number of INTERREG projects.
Reviving town centres
Look at your town centre as a network of gardens, a promenade, a stage and be prepared to be outrageous. This was the advice given by Julian Dobson to meeting of the Scottish Towns Partnership in Edinburgh. He stressed the need to challenge the existing narratives about town centres which are too often about decline and narrowly…