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Review of local authorities’ role in housing supply
Posted on: 30 January 2014
By: mackene
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The Government has launched a review into the role that local authorities can play in housing supply. The aim of the review is to: explore the role that local authorities could play in increasing the supply of housing; consider whether councils are playing a proactive role in building homes for local people; and examine how they are using their new freedoms under Housing Revenue Account self-financing to increase housebuilding. A report will be presented to Government by the end of 2014.
10 failed utopian cities that influenced the future
Posted on: 30 January 2014
By: mackene
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Some of the most famous cities in history were never built. These 10 Utopian cities may have been failures, but they expressed our ideas about what the future of human civilization could look like. And many ideas contained in them continue to influence us today.
Efficient roofs for efficient buildings: Building blocks for energy efficient cities in India
Posted on: 30 January 2014
By: mackene
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The author of this blog works on climate change focusing on cities and energy efficiency in India.
Planning positively through partnership
Posted on: 30 January 2014
By: mackene
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The planning system is vital for shaping the future growth of our society. Where it works well, it is one of the best tools that we have to unlock economic growth and to deliver the homes and jobs that are needed in our towns and cities. However, for this to happen developers, councils and local communities must work together to create effective partnerships, and do this as early as they can in the planning process, before the planning application is submitted. This publication brings together case studies that highlight the huge breadth of effective partnership working that is now taking place, from small residential sites to large inner-city regeneration schemes.
10 commitments for effective pre-application engagement
Posted on: 30 January 2014
By: mackene
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Pre-application engagement should lead to high quality and appropriate development schemes being granted planning permission more quickly. Early, collaborative discussions between developers, public sector agencies and the communities affected by a new development can help to shape better quality, more accepted schemes and ensure improved outcomes for the community. Representatives of all those groups most involved in these discussions have come together to agree a set of commitments that all the sponsors have committed to. These commitments set out the positive spirit that should be embodied in pre-application engagement and the arrangements that should make early exchanging information and advice better value for all.
COBie and beyond
Posted on: 30 January 2014
By: mackene
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COBie stands for Construction Operations Building Information Exchange, and is concerned with the organisation and structuring of information. This is information that is essential not only to the design and construction of a built asset, but also its operation and maintenance. Gathering this information at the end of the job, which is common practice, is expensive since most of the information has to be recreated from information created earlier. The COBie approach is to enter the information data as it is produced during design, construction and commissioning. So, for example, designers provide floor, space and equipment layouts and contractors provide make, model and serial numbers of installed equipment. It is the formal process that helps organise information about new and existing facilities.
Towards a sustainable and just city region? Looking at Berlin, London and Paris. Berlin, 29 November 2013
Posted on: 30 January 2014
By: mackene
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This is the third seminar of the Regional Studies Association’s Research Network on Government Metropolitan Regions within a Localist Agenda. Berlin is currently in the process of developing a new spatial development strategy, the Stadtentwicklungskonzept 2030 (StEK 2030). Other plans and policies to shape the growing metropolitan region are also well under way, such as the new housing strategy and a new strategy of how to deal with municipal real estate. Many of these policies have been influenced by civil society stakeholders who demand a more sustainable development of the city, both in terms of climate change and socially. Extensive public participation processes have been launched to come up with development strategies, which will be perceived as ‘just’ while at the same time supporting Berlin’s economic growth. The conference discussed the proposed strategies and participatory approaches and whether they are as ‘just’ and ‘sustainable’ as promised. It will look at similar proposals in London and Paris and explore what these new approaches mean regarding current debates on governance, localism or sustainable urban development. Presentations and a report of the event are available online.
Tourism statistics: nights spent at tourist accommodation establishments
Posted on: 29 January 2014
By: mackene
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This article focuses on the short-term evolutions in the nights spent at tourist accommodation establishments in the European Union (EU). October 2013 data are compared with October 2012. In addition – and to smoothen fluctuations – data from January 2013 to October 2013 are compared with the same period of the previous year. Furthermore, the article includes estimates for the year-to-year evolution of the total number of nights spent at tourist accommodation establishments for the entire year 2013.
Construction Skills Network: Blueprint for construction 2014-2018
Posted on: 29 January 2014
By: mackene
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The Construction Industry Training Board’s latest Construction Skills Network (CSN) forecasts that the industry will need to recruit 182,000 new entrants over the next five years, but most of these will be just to replace those leaving. However, by 2018 employment levels will still be 196,000 below the peak. The CSN is forecasting 2% growth this year, and 2.2% average growth for the next five years. This is a more optimistic outlook than this time last year, when CITB’s economists were predicting construction output to grow by less than 1% a year over the five years to 2017. The CSN also gives regional and sub-sector breakdowns in its forecasts to 2018.
Smart cities: Reflections on efforts to standardize a new concept
Posted on: 29 January 2014
By: mackene
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The British Standards Institution is due to publish a Smart Cities ‘PAS’ (Publicly Available Specification) in the very near future. Simon Joss, one of the International Eco-Cities Forum Managers at University of Westminster was a member of the Steering Group in charge of drafting and reviewing the PAS 180. He has written a short blog piece on the experience, reflecting on some of the challenges involved.
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