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:
WUF10 – Disasters waiting to happen
This is my third blog from the 10th World Urban Forum in Abu Dhabi in February 2020. Today has not been a disaster! Far from it, there have been some really good stories to hear at the World Urban Forum. But I want to put the theme of disasters at the heart of this blog.…
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…
The Stern report 2006: an economic case for action on climate change
The Stern Report in 2006 seemed to signal a shift in attitudes to climate change. The article imagines a discussion between a Treasury mandarin and a businessman. Would this case convince Donald Trump or big business today? This article was first published in Planning on 1 December 2006, and is reproduced by kind permission of…
Brexit – Why and what next?
Why has Brexit happened and what happens next? I am writing a few hours after the result was declared and before all the detailed analysis that will surely follow. But in some respects that does not matter – indeed, one of the themes of the referendum campaign was that “facts” from “experts” were not to…
Is Airbnb a threat to historic cities and towns?
This item was written in 2018 about a report on the impact of Airbnb and similar platforms. It calls for tighter regulation. In parts of Edinburgh, the proliferation of Airbnb and its imitators is having a detrimental impact on local amenity and community cohesion, says a new report by Edinburgh’s Civic Trust, the Cockburn Association.…
Rio +20 – Time to create a Storyline
This blog was first posted on the Planning Resource website on 22 September 2011. Next year will see the twentieth anniversary of the landmark UN “Earth Summit” that was held in Rio de Janeiro. Will the 2012 “Rio +20” summit in Brazil next June become a new landmark or an epitaph for environmentalist dreams? What strategy should…
Stockholm My Love – the redemptive potential of a city
This review was first posted in 2017. A new film reflects on Stockholm’s modernist architecture and public spaces, showing how experiencing places can contribute to wellbeing. The cinema has made icons of some cities. The global reach of Hollywood means that we are all familiar with the streets and suburbs of Los Angeles or the…
ESPON 2013 Applied Research Sounding Boards
ESPON 2013 is an applied research programme partly funded by the European Regional Development Fund and partly by the 28 EU member states, plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. Its research has built an evidence base to support policy development for territorial cohesion and development. ESPON appoints two experts to sit on the Sounding Board…
UK Launch of “Leading Change” book
A conference at the University of Birmingham on 22 March, 2018 on “Planning Challenges in the Commonwealth” was the venue for the UK launch of the book “Leading Change” My co-authored book, “Leading Change: Delivering the New Urban Agenda through Urban and Territorial Planning” had its UK launch at the conference “Think Planning – Think…
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…