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Placemaking Resource


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Expert comment on town planning, urban regeneration, economic development, urban design, sustainable development & community building.
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Opinion: Maximising the benefits of culture to city regeneration
The Capital of Culture programme brought placemaking gains to Liverpool, but there's a question over how cities raise their game on an international platform in future, asks Hannah Martin.

Opinion: Housebuilding deals fall short of original intent
In March, the government trumpeted a series of deals with groups of local authorities designed to increase housebuilding in places as diverse as the West Midlands, Greater Manchester and Oxfordshire.

Opinion: Big city council leaders needed to build great cities
Events in east London's Newham and in Western Sydney highlight the importance of quality councils with capacity and focus, writes Tim Williams.

Radical approach may be required to boost build-out rates, by Joey Gardiner
Earlier this month, Prime Minister Theresa May lambasted 'unscrupulous' developers, calling on them to 'do their duty for Britain' by building more quickly.

Opinion: How to fund a growing city
In Australia and in the UK, there's a need to harvest some of the uplift in property values that are created by public investments in civic amenity and connectivity, writes Tim Williams.

Opinion: Does urban transport policy need to get hip?
Transport policy for our cities could be failing to keep up with the more urban-centred ways of working in the new digital economy, says Jonathan Bray.

Opinion: Boost for small builders has to be worth trying
The supposed collapse of the UK's small housebuilding sector has long been lamented as one of the principal contributory factors to the housing crisis. Thirty years ago, four in ten new homes were built by small and medium-sized (SME) builders, according the Home Builders Federation. Now it is barely one in ten. Moreover, since the 2008 financial crisis, one in three SME housebuilders has shut up shop.

Opinion: Tackling the obese city crisis
We need to design walkability and health back into Greater Sydney and other cities if we are to address the rise in obesity and type 2 diabetes, writes Tim Williams.

Opinion: Make social value count for communities
The Social Value Act has played a critical role in raising understanding of the importance of social value, but now it's time to aim higher, argues Kevin O'Connor.

Opinion: Changing attitudes to placemaking
Commercial developers have taken on board the benefits of placemaking, but housebuilders and some local authorities still have a lot to learn, writes Chris Brown.

Opinion: The opportunities of new garden communities
Councillors are already looking at the potential of the garden towns and communities planned for Essex, writes Michael Hardware.

Opinion: Encourage the public sector back into housebuilding
Allowing councils to develop public housing does not mean a return to the past. We can learn the lessons and look to other models, says Tim Williams.

- Senior Planning Officer (2 posts) North Norfolk District Council Cromer, Norfolk
- Town Planner – London (Retail specialism) Jon Taylor Associates Central London
- Planning Manager Macdonald & Co London (Central), London (Greater)
- Planning Director - Established and successful Planning Consultancy Deverell Smith London (Central), London (Greater)
- Principal Planning Officer - West London - £40-£50/hour - Home Working Vivid Resourcing West London
- Interim Planning Policy Manager Park Avenue Recruitment Ltd Berkshire
- Senior Town Planner – Colchester Jon Taylor Associates Colchester, Essex
- Principal Policy Planner Park Avenue Recruitment Ltd Hertfordshire
- Regeneration Support Officer Sefton Council Bootle, Merseyside
- Strategic Lead – Regeneration & Development Sefton Council Bootle, Merseyside