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:
Smart Cities, governance and urban transport
This item was first posted in 2017. How can cities in the rapidly urbanising world benefit from Smart City approaches to urban management? I am just back from my second visit to Luanda, the capital of Angola. I was running a workshop there that was wrapping up a Smart Cities project that is part of…
Leading Change: Delivering the New Urban Agenda through Urban and Territorial Planning
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Craft-led small town regeneration
Probably the outstanding example of small town regeneration in Scotland is West Kilbride. It is a coastal town about 45 kilometers from Glasgow. It has a population of just under 5,000 inhabitants. Although it has quite an affluent population, decline had set in by the mid-1990s, when about half of the retail properties on the town’s…
Territorial Dynamics in Europe: regions integrating Land and Sea
Territorial Dynamics in Europe: regions integrating Land and Sea, ESPON Territorial Observation No.8 (2013) https://www.espon.eu/topics-policy/publications/territorial-observations/territorial-dynamics-europe-regions-integrating Co-author.
Why the CV19 pandemic is a planning issue
The global pandemic raises some important questions about the links between public health and planning. With whole countries shut down and a soaring death toll, there are signs that it will not be long before a debate about the trade offs between health and economies becomes heated. At the moment, the professional body in the…
Delhi – Colonial Planning, Slums and Gated Communities
This blog was first posted in October 2019. Inside the slums and gated communities the opportunities and obstacles to sustainable and inclusive urban development can be seen. Spending a few days in Delhi as part of the Sustainable, Healthy and Learning Cities and Neighbourhoods project has given me insights into the way urbanisation is taking place in…
Local economic development lessons from US
Working together to achieve a common vision for change is a key requirement for urban economic regeneration, argues a new report based on research in 4 US cities. The report is published by the UK-based Centre for Local Economic Strategies. The research looked at Cleveland, Pittsburg, Philadelphia and Providence, all cities that have faced major economic challenges…
Amsterdam, Formation of AESOP and a trip to a Planning Committee
My “Diary” article in 1987 records the formation of the Association of European Schools of Planning, AND of the Scottish Torquay United Supporters Club (which has not proved as long-lasting). The article was first published in Planning on 11 December 1987 and is reproduced with the kind permission of the editor. To see more of my old…
Greece and the EU’s aim of Territorial Cohesion
As European leaders vent their anger at the Greeks and threaten (once again) to perform the next act in a protracted tragedy, what became of territorial cohesion? This may sound an esoteric question, but it goes to the heart of the future of the EU. An accident waitng to happen To explore where we stand…
Zlin – Conserving a classic of functionalism
Zlin is an outstanding example of a town inspired by 20th century functionalist architecture. This classic company town was a product of the Bata shoe company, its “home town” that the company then mimicked across the continents. It survived Communism, and now a finely balanced conflict is taking place between conservation and consumer capitalism. The…