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:
The global initiative for resource efficient cities
One of the positive outcomes to emerge from the Rio+20 summit last year was the UN Environment Programme’s Global Initiative for Resource Efficient Cities (GI-REC) In trying to plot a way towards sustainable urban development it aims to reduce pollution and infrastructure costs while improving efficiency in cities across the world. The GI-REC will work with local…
A public services watershed
This first appeared in Planning on 16 January 2004 and is reproduced by kind permission of Planning Resource.
Susiya – A Palestinian village facing demolition
On a cold and blustery Sunday morning in February I visited Susiya, a Palestinian village in the hills outside Hebron. Today I heard that the homes of the villagers are likely to be demolished. The plan they presented to secure the future of their properties and the right to develop has been ruled to lack…
New UN goals should change the agenda for planners
The 2015-2030 Sustainable Development Goals to be adopted by governments at the United Nations next week pose a direct challenge and opportunity for planning and other built environment professionals. Your government is about to sign a commitment that from now until 2030 they will work to”Make cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable”. This is the…
No cars bridge boosts transit oriented development
A new bridge in Portland, Oregon carries pedestrians, cyclists, buses, trams and light rail metro – but no cars or trucks. The Tilikum Crossing over the Willamette River opened on 12 September 2015. Perhaps not surprisingly, it is in Portland, Oregon, one of the most environmentally conscious cities in the USA. In connecting and extending the public…
The future of our urban parks and greenspaces
The value of parks needs to be rethought in the light of the Covid-19 pandemic. “People are now beginning to see the value of parks.” This was a central message from New York City Parks Convenor Mitchell Silver, during our public conversation on Zoom on 25 June 2020, as part of the Cockburn Association campaign…
Plan Verde – Mexico City’s Climate Change Strategy
This blog was first posted on the Planning Resource website on 20 February 2012. In June the Rio +20 UN Conference on Sustainable Development will be held. Few will place much confidence in the capacity of national governments to drive forward an inclusive and environmental agenda for the world, as happened at Rio in 1992. Rather, the…
2021 Awards for Planning in the Commonwealth
Calling all planners in the Commonwealth! The awards are administered by the Commonwealth Association of Planners. They have been running since 2018 and have attracted some impressive examples of the work of planners. The first winner was the Bay of Plenty Regional Policy Statement in New Zealand. The project showed how risk in relation to natural hazards had…
The Civic Use of Heritage Assets
My blog published on the website of the Built Environment Forum Scotland on 1 December 2015 arges that the “hollowing out” of local government has seriously diminished the capacity to cherish the historic environment as a civic asset.Click here to read the blog. The blog discusses a particularly controversial development proposal in Edinburgh’s World Heritage Site. Click here…
How to tackle the challenge of place branding?
Place brand management is the theme of an article in the current issue of Town and Country Planning, the excellent little magazine produced by the Town and Country Planning Association. Its authors, Sonya Hanna and Jennifer Rowley, stress the need to involve stakeholders in the process. This means not just local residents, but also visitors and businesses. They…