Built environment comment & blogs

Expert comment on town planning, urban regeneration, economic development, urban design, sustainable development & community building.

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Opinion: Make measurement meaningful for places

There are many ways of evaluating placemaking, but Chris Brown asks whether we can measure outcomes in a way that reliably differentiates successful locations from unloved ones.

Opinion: Developers should have a mission to design for health

Discussion around physical and mental health focuses on concerns like foods, drinks and social media, but we should also be looking to urban design, writes Ken Dytor.

Opinion: TfL's deal demonstrates how to do better with public land

Transport for London's partnership with private landlord Grainger is a model that could be followed outside the capital, writes Dean Clifford.

Opinion: Passing on the learning from east London

Western Sydney's councils, government departments and private sector are heading to east London to learn from the places, processes and people that have reshaped it, writes Tim Williams.

Opinion: More power to the people

The power imbalance between public sector landowners and communities works against achieving the best possible placemaking outcomes, writes Chris Brown.

Opinion: Stop talking down the high street

We need to recognise the specific challenges of individual high streets, and not assume that the national narrative is true for every place, writes Holly Lewis.

Opinion: Finding inspiration for transformation

For change agents and those involved in social transformation, lessons are to be found in history and guidance from China, writes Tim Williams.

Opinion: Taking property investment from greed to good

Impact investment - investing for a social or environmental purpose - has seen rapid growth and might start to have a positive influence on placemaking, writes Chris Brown.

Opinion: Universities have a vital role to play in local economies

Institutions must engage with businesses and their communities, as Teesside University is doing to help Tees Valley recover from the closure of the SSI steelworks, writes professor Jane Turner.

Opinion: Why some developers embrace the green agenda

February's report from the Committee on Climate Change, the independent government advisory body, came to the unsurprising conclusion that more must be done to ensure new and existing homes are fit for a warming planet and to minimise carbon emissions.

Opinion: Where the jobs are going

Increasing automation of employment has implications for city transport, housing markets and the concept of employment land, writes Tim Williams.

There's no place for bad design in placemaking

And it means councils are increasingly avoiding selling land to, or partnering with, developers. Chris Brown looks at possible solutions to this problem.

Consultant - Associate Planners | Cotswolds | MRTPI | Excellent Package Including Car Lewis Davey Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Senior / Principal Planner | Birmingham | Major projects Lewis Davey Birmingham, West Midlands
Senior Planning Enforcement Officer London Borough of Lambeth Lambeth, London (Greater)
Senior Planner | Part time or Full time | Chelmsford Lewis Davey Chelmsford, Essex
Senior Spatial Planning Officer Liverpool City Region Combined Authority Modern office location on the waterfront
Regeneration & Econmic Development Officer Carrington West Leicestershire
Principal Planning Officer (Major Applications) London Borough of Haringey Haringey, London (Greater)
Planning Officer (Enforcement) London Borough of Haringey Haringey, London (Greater)
Area Team Manager London Borough of Bexley Bexleyheath, London (Greater)
Major Applications Officer Vivid Resourcing Essex