Amsterdam as a conference destination key figures 2011

Posted on: 1 July 2011
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This document provides information about Amsterdam and the development of the meetings sector between the years 2009 and 2010.

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Tackling housing market volatility in the UK

Posted on: 1 July 2011
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The Joseph Rowntree Foundation has published a report which contains the conclusions of the Foundation’s Housing Market Taskforce. It argues that urgent action is needed now before another boom and bust cycle takes hold. The report examines: how improving housing supply can limit volatility in the long run; how using credit controls and reforming taxation could limit volatility in the short run; how promoting financial capability among borrowers and responsible lending could be combined with an improved safety net to limit mortgage arrears and repossessions; and the possibilities for developing alternatives to home-ownership.

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Self-help housing: Supporting locally driven housing solutions

Posted on: 1 July 2011
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Self-help housing involves local community groups bringing empty properties back into use. This report is based on a consultation that the Building and Social Housing Foundation (BSHF) co-ordinated  and research led by Professor David Mullins at the Third Sector Research Centre. The consultation brought together representatives from groups undertaking self-help housing, academia, trade bodies, think tanks and government departments. As well as providing an additional source of housing from empty properties, self-help housing can create work and training opportunities, build local communities and support neighbourhood regeneration. This report offers recommendations, for central government, charitable trusts, local authorities and others, which would help self help housing to play a greater role in the UK.

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Forever blowing bubbles? Housing’s role in the UK economy

Posted on: 1 July 2011
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The report investigates housing market bubbles and proposes reforms to prevent them from occurring in the future.

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New affordable homes: What, where and whom have Registered Providers being building between 1989-2009?

Posted on: 1 July 2011
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This report provides detailed retrospective analysis of the new homes built by Registered Providers in England over the period 1989 to 2009. The research, funded jointly by the Tenant Services Authority and the Homes and Communities Agency, was carried out by a team drawn from the Universities of Sheffield and Cambridge and the London School of Economics. The research used a wide range of data to investigate in detail what new homes were built by England’s Registered Providers, where these were located and who rented or bought them. In particular, the research: looked in detail at the types and sizes of new homes that were constructed and how these changed over time; mapped where all these homes were built at the postcode level across the whole of England and linked this to new analyses of social deprivation and tenure mix; and used anonymous data on tenants analysed who were being allocated these new homes or who bought new low cost homes, including the social, economic and demographic characteristics of the households that moved into them. Appendices to the report are also available online.

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Manual of European Environmental Policy

Posted on: 1 July 2011
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The Institute for European Environmental Policy (IEEP) and Earthscan have published a renewed Manual of European Environmental Policy. The new and comprehensive source on EU environmental policy is published online by Earthscan and written by an interdisciplinary team of experts from the IEEP. It will also be available later in print form. The Manual provides: the quickest and most efficient way to access analysis of over 500 Directives, Decisions and Regulations and archived environmental policy from 1992 onwards; direct links to referenced legal texts, policy proposals and cases from the European Court of Justice; bi-monthly updates to current legislation, together with details and analysis of any new legislation within eight weeks of release by the EC Commission; interactive features allowing you to cross-reference key terms, save entries, email them, and share with your social network; and advanced search options for quick results. A subscription is required to access the Manual.

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Managing green spaces: Seven ingredients for success

Posted on: 1 July 2011
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This report from CABE examines how the organisation and structuring of parks and green space services affects their performance. It brings together evidence to assist green space managers, corporate decision-makers and advisors in deciding the future of services. It sets out seven ‘ingredients for success.’ It also outlines the resources that green space managers can draw on to describe the critical services that green space provides to local communities.

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The contribution of trees, woods and forests to quality of life: communities, place-making and regeneration

Posted on: 1 July 2011
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The Forestry Commission has published the findings of research which explores the social and community benefits that can potentially be realised through the accessible provision of green space, including woods and trees. There are two aspects to this research, a review and an inventory. Place-making and communities: a review of concepts, indicators, policy and practice explores the UK government (including forestry-related) usage and definitions of terms or concepts related to the social and community benefits that can potentially be realised through accessible provision of green space, including woods and trees. It also also explores current indicators that are used to measure achievement of these concepts, and highlights potential gaps in terms of appropriate indicators and future research requirements. The inventory of social evidence and practical programmes relating to trees, woods, forests and urban/peri-urban regeneration, place-making and place-shaping identifies key evidence themes and evidence gaps and also identifies urban regeneration, place-shaping and making programmes in Great Britain in which trees have played the fundamental role.

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Sustainable urban neighbourhoods

Posted on: 1 July 2011
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The Joseph Rowntree Foundation has published a summary of the work of the Sustainable Urban Neighbourhoods Network (SUNN) which is considering whether it is possible to meet the nation’s growing need for affordable new homes while adapting to change and meeting environmental needs. Focusing on ‘urban extensions’ to existing towns and cities, this summary draws on case studies to provide recommendations about the best way for Britain’s house builders and developers to create sustainable new communities. It highlights the need to focus on strategic spatial planning, better urban design and leaner construction, and recommends areas to be considered, including options for creative finance that address high land costs and reduce construction costs, the relationship between transport engineering and creating public spaces in new communities, long-term stewardship models and localism and the role of parish councils.

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Steps to healthy planning: Proposals for action

Posted on: 1 July 2011
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A new report looking at the link between the space around us and our health has been published by the Spatial Planning and Health Group. It proposes twelve action points for how town planning can improve public health.

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