Urban resilience in Indore and Surat, India

Posted on: 23 September 2014
By: mackene
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Cities in Asia are some of the most vulnerable areas on earth to the impacts of climate change. At the same time rapid development makes them spaces of great innovation and vibrancy. The Asian Cities Climate Change Resilience Network (ACCCRN) is working to harness the creativity of urban centres in the region to increase their resilince to climate impacts. In this video we see how ACCCRN partner ‘Taru Leading Edge’ is developing city-level innovations to build resilience to the effects of climate change in Surat and Indore, India.

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Rebuilding Britain: Planning for a better future

Posted on: 23 September 2014
By: mackene
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This unique book asks a simple question: how can Britain organise itself, not just for survival but to build a fairer and sustainable society? The arguments refer to the high ambitions of those who pioneered the planning movement and campaigned for a clear set of progressive values, but whose drive for utopia has now been forgotten. The book takes a distinctive approach to exploring the value to society of social town planning and offers a doorway for how planning, both morally and practically, can help to meet key challenges of the 21st century. It challenges the widely held view that it’s impossible to achieve a better future by suggesting that there is real choice in how society develops and pointing to contemporary examples of utopia.

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Trends in the UK housing market 2014

Posted on: 23 September 2014
By: mackene
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This article, from the Office for National Statistics, brings together published data on the United Kingdom housing market to provide analysis and commentary regarding recent trends.

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A manifesto for a more prosperous urban Britain

Posted on: 23 September 2014
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The Centre for Cities think tank has launched its 2015 General Election ‘Urban Nation’ Manifesto, aimed at providing a practical vision for building a stronger UK national economy based on more powerful, better-resourced cities. At its heart, the Manifesto calls for the establishment of a Cities and Prosperity Act in the first year of the new Parliament, if not before, which will seek to overcome the barriers currently holding back UK cities from realising their potential. The Act would introduce a presumption in favour of devolution, and legislate to enable governance, finance, skills, housing and transport reforms, as the five most critical levers to drive growth and renewal in UK cities.

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Eco-Cities: Sharing European and Asian best practices and experiences

Posted on: 23 September 2014
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Judith Ryser, urbanist and journalist, a member of International Eco-Cities Forum Managers at University of Westminster, argues that perhaps we shouldn’t place too many hopes on the possibility of standardising the eco-city. Instead, its very lack of definition may be advantageous, since this is generative of experimentation. The essay forms part of an edited volume published by EU-Asia Dialogue.

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The Consumer Holiday Trends Report 2014

Posted on: 23 September 2014
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This report outlines the findings from ABTA’s annual research among UK consumers to better understand their holiday booking choices: what they’re booking, how they’re booking it and what they’re thinking about for the year ahead.

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Removing obstacles to brownfield developments

Posted on: 23 September 2014
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The latest Housing Foresight paper from the Campaign to Protect Rural England argues that the Government can do more to protect green spaces by facilitating house building on brownfield land.

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Living places: An urban stewardship and design guide for Northern Ireland

Posted on: 23 September 2014
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This Urban Stewardship and Design Guide aims to clearly establish the key principles behind good place making. It seeks to inform and inspire all those involved in the process of managing (stewardship) and making (design) urban places, with a view to raising standards across Northern Ireland.

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Housing in London: Addressing the supply crisis.  London, 17 September 2014

Posted on: 19 September 2014
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This event, attended by over 70 people, including local councillors, MPs, academics, and representatives from charities, consultancies, and private sector institutions, began with four thematic presentations by the project officers from LSE London: Planning, development, and land supply;  Improving renting; Alternative housing; The role of foreign money. Each presentation discussed what we ‘know’ currently about each issue, presenting the traditional story conveyed to the public by the media and political discourse. Then, each presenter discussed recent research from LSE London that reveals important lessons for each theme. Finally, an array of ‘solutions’ that have been proposed for each issue were presented for discussion and debate. Alan Benson of the GLA and Duncan Bowie of the University of Westminster kicked off the discussion portion of the evening, offering their comments on the thematic presentations and posing important questions and critiques of commonly suggested solutions. Presentations and briefings are available online.

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Is the ERDF effective in funding projects that directly promote biodiversity under the EU biodiversity strategy to 2020?

Posted on: 19 September 2014
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The main objective of the audit was to assess whether the ERDF has been effective in funding projects directly promoting biodiversity as part of the EU biodiversity strategy to 2020.

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