RTPI membership survey 2013

Posted on: 6 March 2014
By: mackene
No Comments »
Filed under: News

The Royal Town Planning Institute has published key results from its 2013 membership survey and has set-out how the Institute is responding to the views of members.

Read more online

Sochi 2014: Infrastructure, growth, redevelopment

Posted on: 6 March 2014
By: mackene
No Comments »
Filed under: News

This paper from JLL looks at the costs of the games in more detail and put these costs into a comparative perspective against the costs of previous winter games, specifically Vancouver and Turin. It considers the infrastructure that has been built and looks at the layout of both the so-called Mountain and Coastal Clusters that host the games’ sporting venues. The paper also takes a focused look at the crucial issue of hotel infrastructure before considering the legacy of the games as a whole.​

Read more online

Planning Practice Guidance

Posted on: 6 March 2014
By: mackene
No Comments »
Filed under: News

The Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) has launched a planning practice guidance web-based resource. This was accompanied by a Written Ministerial Statement which includes a list of the previous planning practice guidance documents cancelled when this site was launched. For the first time, planning practice guidance is now available entirely online in a usable and accessible way. Important information for any user of the planning system previously only published in separate documents can now be found quickly and simply. You can link easily between the National Planning Policy Framework and relevant planning practice guidance, as well as between different categories of guidance. Planning practice guidance will be updated as needed and you can sign up for email alerts on any changes, or view these revisions on the site.

Find out more online

The Somerset Levels and Moors Flood Action Plan: A 20 year plan for a sustainable future

Posted on: 6 March 2014
By: mackene
No Comments »
Filed under: News

This Plan sets out targets and aims to prevent the same level of flooding hitting Somerset’s levels and moors that has been suffered in 2014.

Read more online

Spatial analysis of green infrastructure in Europe

Posted on: 6 March 2014
By: mackene
No Comments »
Filed under: News

Healthy natural areas often fulfil important yet unseen functions, from preventing floods to filtering air. A new report from the European Environment Agency (EEA) proposes a method for mapping this ‘green infrastructure’. The report maps a network of natural and semi-natural spaces and other environmental features in Europe with a good capacity to deliver  ‘ecosystem services’. These include air filtration, erosion protection, regulating water flow, coastal protection, pollination, maintaining soil structure, water purification, and carbon storage. The report also identifies key habitats for large forest-dwelling mammals and the analysis of connectivity among them. The objective of this report is to propose a feasible and replicable methodology for use by different entities and at varying scales, when identifying Green Infrastructure (GI) elements. The proposed methodology will help those policymakers and practitioners define a landscape GI network to identify areas where key habitats can be reconnected and the overall ecological quality of the area improved.

Read more online

Insolvency in construction contracts

Posted on: 6 March 2014
By: mackene
No Comments »
Filed under: News

The construction industry has seen more than its fair share of insolvency in recent years. The contributory factors, making this industry more prone than any other, are a combination of its working on very low profit margins and reliance on so many different contributors in a chain. The author of this article argues that understanding insolvency and what to do to minimise its impact before the event is worthy of closer inspection.

Read more online

The ideas and values behind 1947 UK planning system and how planning has changed since

Posted on: 6 March 2014
By: mackene
No Comments »
Filed under: News

The author of this article argues that in order to understand the ideas and values that influenced the establishment of the 1947 UK Planning system, it is necessary to consider the period preceding the Second World War, and in particular the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The article contains a list of references.

Read more online

Nations and the wealth of cities: A new phase in public policy

Posted on: 6 March 2014
By: mackene
No Comments »
Filed under: News

This report from the Centre for London aims to address the challenges for national governments that result from globalising cities. It uses the example of the UK as a locus for a new suite of city oriented national policies and initiatives that seek to marry local leadership with national frameworks in a global system.

Read more online

Urban Design Collective

Posted on: 6 March 2014
By: mackene
No Comments »
Filed under: News

Urban Design Collective (UDC) is a non-profit organization that works as a collaborative platform for professionals from the fields of Architecture, Urban Design/ Planning to promote livable and sustainable cities through community engagement.

Find out more online

National Biodiversity Climate Change Vulnerability Model

Posted on: 6 March 2014
By: mackene
No Comments »
Filed under: News

Natural England has developed a new map-based modelling approach to help assess the vulnerability of priority habitats to climate change. The Model indicates the relative vulnerability of priority habitats in different geographical areas and helps guide interventions which can increase their resilience. The report on the model demonstrates how the model will inform the development of national and local adaptation strategies for biodiversity, and help prioritise the actions to be taken as part of these strategies.

Find out more online