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:
Why civic trust is draining away
This blog was published in March 2016. Civic pride and civic trust are important for community cohesion and well-being, but are being eroded by austerity and a centralised system of planning and local government. This was a central theme of the inaugural Scottish Civic Trust Annual Lecture which I delivered in Edinburgh on 2 March.…
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…
A new world order? Commonwealth Planners report
What are the issues that planners across the globe are grappling with? This week I attended a meeting in London of the Commonwealth Association of Planners (CAP). Representatives from Africa, the Caribbean and Americas, Asia, Australasia and the Pacific, and Europe gave fascinating presentations. In the space of an hour we were given a kaleidoscope of planners’…
Heimatplanung (Homeland planning)
Ths blog was first posted in May 2018. As European countries become more inward-looking, Professor Klaus Kunzmann sees a possible opportunity for planners to rebuild the reputation of their profession. While spatial planning in Germany is gradually losing its former significance and influence, a new approach to planning is rising in the country: Heimatplanung (homeland planning). Following…
Urban Planning and Public Health in a Rapidly Urbanising World
Posted January 3, 2014 by cliffhague The celebration of the centenary of the RTPI this year, and the centenary of the International Federation for Housing and Planning in 2013 are reminders of the origins of modern urban planning, and in particular of the historic links between planning and public health. A century on, the time is…
Programmes! Programmes! Football and Life from Wartime to Lockdown
My new book looks at my life and times through the prism of football programmes. Programmes! Programmes! Football and Life from Wartime to Lockdown is a thinly autobiographical account of my generation who grew up in the aftermath of World War II. Football was central to my childhood and has remained a passion. Looking through my…
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.…
Afghanistan celebrates World Town Planning Day
This blog was posted in Novermber 2015. World Town Planning Day (8 November) was celebrated in Kabul by a national urban conference addressed by the President. Minister for Urban Development, Sadat Naderi, highlighted the Urban National Priority Programme as Afghanistan’s new framework for urban sustainability and planning according international planning standards, building upon the country’s…
Regional design: A cul-de-sac or a pathway into a new policy arena?
This first Guest Blog is contributed by Emeritus Professor Klaus Kunzmann from the Technical University of Dortmund. He is an Honourary Member of the RTPI and internationally renowned for his contributions to planning education, research and practice. His blog probes the idea of “regional design”. In times of market-led neo-liberal policies regional planning has lost…