Town and Country Planning articles from September 2004

Town and Country Planning archives from September 2004

25 years ago.(t&cp back bites)
September 1, 2004... THE region has become the right--indeed the only--possible framework for the overall planning of urban growth and change. Having scrapped the regional economic planning councils Mr Heseltine ought surely to discover that he needs to find...

10 years ago.(t&cp back bites)
September 1, 2004... SINCE there is no single, ideal settlement form, it would seem worth while experimenting with a wide variety of forms, from which the suburban form should not be excluded... Experience in the operation of housing policies in the UK teaches us...

5 years ago.(t&cp back bites)
September 1, 2004... I RECOGNISE in the Urban Task Force report more than a trace of 'design determinism'. Much as I savour good design and would like to share the report's pious belief that it is 'essential for successful social, economic and environmental...

Context: news digest, July/August 2004.(context)
September 1, 2004... * 6.7 Transport: Transport Secretary Alistair Darling publishes M6: Giving Motorists a Choice, a consultation document on developing a tolled dual-lane expressway, as an alternative to widening the existing M6 by one lane each way. The...

Taking it on--towards sustainable development.
September 1, 2004... * Taking It On: Developing UK Sustainable Development Strategy Together. Consultation Paper. Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Scottish Executive, Welsh Assembly Government, and the Northern Ireland Administration. Apr. 2004....

Key sustainable communities ingredient in prospect, says TCPA.
September 1, 2004... THE TCPA HAS WELCOMED the Government's commitment to taking forward the Sustainable Buildings Task Group report recommendation to set up a 'Code for Sustainable Building'. The new code, given the green light in the Deputy Prime Minister's...

Biodiversity by Design.
September 1, 2004... A NEW DESIGN GUIDE exploring the opportunities for increased biodiversity in our towns and cities is being launched by the TCPA in September. Written for the TCPA by URBED, with input from the Association of Local Government Ecologists and...

Tom Osborn--an appreciation.
September 1, 2004... MY BROTHER TOM was the second baby born in Welwyn Garden City. The girl-child who pipped him at the post did not remain in the district, so he was the pioneer native who grew up in the fledgling town. It was a heritage of which he was proud. In...

Still a need for new new towns.(People & Ideas)
September 1, 2004... I DELIGHT, once a month, in reading in the public library the previous issue of the monthly Prospect, a handsomely produced journal of solid articles on the background to current topics. Its preliminary pages are devoted to sharp little news...

Crossrail--regeneration train has left the station.(Planning World)
September 1, 2004... EVERYONE, I suppose, has occasionally had the notion that either they've gone completely mad or the entire world around them has gone stark staring bankers. That's happened to me with London's Crossrail. I must seek medical advice, or go...

Gummer's law.(Off the Fence)
September 1, 2004... JOHN GUMMER, a Vice-President of the TCPA, was the longest-serving Secretary of State in the late-lamented Department of the Environment. He takes responsibility for the pivotal change in the first revision of PPG13: Transport, which asserted...

Criteria-based planning policies--the way forward for PPS7: David Alexander takes a critical look through the first approved planning policy statement, on sustainable development in rural areas.(rural policy)
September 1, 2004... FOLLOWING the consultation draft issued in September 2003, (1) to which 573 responses were made, initial media responses to the final, approved version of Planning Policy Statement 7 (PPS7): Sustainable Development in Rural Areas (2) have...

Cross-border sub-regions--London's Western Wedge.(sub-regional planning)
September 1, 2004... The crucial economic region on the west side of London, spanning the London and South East region borders, faces constraints on further growth and development which need to be addressed through sub-regional planning, and the 'Western Wedge'...

Can the planning system meet the needs of disabled people? Rob Imrie looks at how existing national legislation and planning policy guidance address the needs of disabled people, and argues that, although it is not perfect, the current system provides much scope for ensuring that good access becomes integral to all aspects of the development process.(inclusive environments)
September 1, 2004... 'The Government is fully committed to an inclusive society in which nobody is disadvantaged. An important part of delivering this commitment is breaking down unnecessary physical barriers and exclusions imposed on disabled people by poor design...

Making cities friendly to older people: now that there are more older people than children under 16 in the UK population, what does this mean for the way we plan towns and cities? Rose Gilroy looks at the findings of a working group set up by older people in Newcastle-upon-Tyne to sound out the older generation's views on how city design can promote health and well-being.(inclusive environments)
September 1, 2004... WE ALL KNOW that we are in the midst of demographic change characterised by longer lives and smaller families. We know that there are more older people in the UK than children under 16. Have we got beyond the statistics, though, to consider...

Retail crime and urban regeneration: Peter Jones, David Hillier, Daphne Comfort, and Paul Cozens look at the growing problem of retail crime, its impact on the viability of retail centres and regeneration schemes, and the partnership initiatives aimed at reducing retail crime levels.(reatailing and regeneration)
September 1, 2004... ESTIMATES OF THE COSTS of retail crime in the UK in 2002-2003 vary from 1.7 billion [pounds sterling] (1) to 4.6billion [pounds sterling] (2). Disparate though these figures are, both are massive but as much crime goes both unreported and...

Landscape--a big idea with a big future: the time is ripe for landscape to be adopted as the big idea in sustainable spatial planning and land and resource management, say Val Kirby and Andrew Wharton, and landscape characterisation is set to be a key tool in the visioning, planning, and sustainable development of communities and landscapes.(landscape)
September 1, 2004... LANDSCAPE is an evocative and emotive, complex, and powerful idea that is at the forefront of thinking about the Government's agenda for modernising rural delivery. It will underpin much of the work of the proposed integrated land management...

Rewarding community involvement: Colin C. Williams makes a case for using the New Deal and tax credits to reward community representatives on regeneration programmes.(participation)
September 1, 2004... THE CENTRAL ROLE being accorded to civil society in current political discourse means that residents are increasingly taking on similar roles and responsibilities to employed professionals in regeneration programmes. Thousands of ordinary...

King's cross central.(Design Matters)
September 1, 2004... A HISTORY of the King's Cross railway lands is a sorry tale. Early schemes put forward by British Rail in the 1960s and thereafter where quickly abandoned, eventually making way for perhaps the highest-profile failed attempt to get development...

Follow the money.(Going Local)
September 1, 2004... ARE shopping and business developments good for the local economy? The instinctive reply from many planners would probably be an enthusiastic yes, but there are underlying assumptions in that response that might deserve a closer look. Jobs...

What's on.(Calendar)
September 1, 2004... September 16 Towards Land Value Taxation for Local Government. Conference, Oxford. 99 [pounds sterling]-399 [pounds sterling] + VAT. Details: Julie Whyte, Waterfront Conference Company, London. T: 020-7787 1210. W: www.thewaterfront.co.uk...

Garden City futures.
September 1, 2004... New Garden City in the 21st Century? Edited by Takahito Saiki, Robert Freestone, and Maurits van Rooijen Kobe Design University, Kobe, Japan, 2002, ISBN 4-990131 7-1-1, PB, 288pp., 210 x 210 mm, index, 20 [pounds sterling] Available through...

The arts, gambling, and planning.(Inside America)
September 1, 2004... NOT LONG AGO, I was driving through the small town of Healdsburg, about 70 miles north of San Francisco, when I saw an odd-looking object on a street corner. It was a gaily painted, cartoon-like, plastic sculpture of a pick-up truck,...