Urban planning is undergoing a period of transformation across Europe, with a major trend towards increased urban competition, national deregulation and greater private sector influence. Urban Planning in Europe is the first comprehensive analysis of the influence of countries is developed, presenting the similarities and differences of each country's national planning system. The authors use detailed case studies to explore planning policies in a range of European cities, and discuss the social and environmental objectives that influence today's urban planner. Urban Planning in Europe is an essential guide to contemporary European planning projects and highlighting opportunities for innovation which contain vital lessons for the future of urban decision making.

First published in 1992, this book collects together the papers presented at the International Symposium on Design Review which was held to address the growing tendency of local governments to institute programs of aesthetic control. The editor argues that the widespread adoption of design review processes in the years preceding the conference necessitated thoroughgoing professional criticism and a number of areas of debate are identified and addressed in the subsequent papers. Are the difficulties experienced by planners, community activists and architects with the process due to its relative youth or inherent flaws in the entire concept? How should mechanical problems like time and expense, the ease with which the process can be manipulated, and general inefficiencies in the system be resolved? More intricate problems are also addressed, such as: who has the power to judge the aesthetic quality of a building, whether design review infringes on the rights of the individual especially under the First Amendment, whether the design review process is "fair", and the difficulty for the reviewer of deciding what is right and what is wrong having taken into account factors that can be highly subjective or contradict more practical concerns.

Providing a critique of the concepts attached to the representation of urban space, this ground-breaking book formulates a new theory of space, which understands the dynamic interrelations between physical and social spaces while tracing the wider urban context. It offers a new tool to approach the reading of these interrelations through reflexive reading strategies that identify singular reading fragments of the different spaces through multiple reader-time-space relations. The strategies proposed in the volume seek to develop an integrative reading of urban space through recognition of the singular (influenced by discourse, institution, etc.); and temporal (influenced by reading perspective in space and time), thereby providing a relational perspective that goes beyond the paradox of place in between social and physical space, identifying each in terms of relationships oscillating between the conceptual, the physical and social content, and the context. In conclusion, the book suggests that space/place can be read through sequential fragments of people, place, context, mind, and author/reader. Operating at different scales between conceptual space and reality, the sequential reading helps the recognition of multiplicity and the dynamics of place as a transformational process without hierarchy or classification.

With its celebrated World Heritage List, UNESCO steers the global heritage agenda through the definition and redefinition of what constitutes heritage and by offering the highest-level forum for heritage professionalism. While it is the national governments that nominate sites for inclusion in the World Heritage List, and the intergovernmental World Heritage Committee that makes the final decision on inclusion or non-inclusion, it is the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) for cultural heritage that determines whether the necessary level of 'outstanding universal value' is met. Focusing on the discourses of ICOMOS and their transmission to the local context, this book is the first in-depth historical analysis of the construction of heritage value in the context of cities illustrated through a case study of Old Rauma in Finland. The book contributes to the understanding of the discursive and constructed nature of World Heritage values as opposed to intrinsic values, critically scrutinizes the role of ICOMOS in making valuations concerning urban heritage, and sheds light on the interactions and tensions of universal and local (urban) perspectives in the practice of heritage valuation. Valuing World Heritage Cities is the first in-depth historical analysis of the construction of heritage value in the context of cities in the transnational discourses of heritage. This unique and timely contribution will be of interest to scholars and students working in Heritage Studies, Cultural Geography, Urban Studies and Tourism.

While we all live our lives in designed landscapes of various types, only on occasion do we consider what these landscapes mean to us and how they have acquired that significance. Can a landscape architect or garden designer imbue new settings with meaning, or does meaning evolve over time, created by those who perceive and use these landscapes? What role does the selection and arrangement of plants and hard materials play in this process and just where does the passage of time enter the equation? These questions collectively provide the core material for Meaning in Landscape Architecture and Gardens, a compendium of four landmark essays written over a period of twenty years by leading scholars in the field of landscape architecture. New commentaries by the authors accompany each of the essays and reflect on the thinking behind them as well as the evolution of the author's thoughts since their original publication. Although the central theme of these writings is landscape architecture broadly taken, the principal subject of several essays and commentaries is the garden, a subject historically plentiful in allusions and metaphors. Meaning in Landscape Architecture and Gardens offers the general reader as well as the professional a rich source of ideas about the designed landscape and the ways by which we perceive, consider, react, and dwell within them - and what they mean to us. The essays have been perennial favorites in landscape courses since their original publication in Landscape Journal. Bringing them together - bolstered by the new commentaries - creates a book valuable to all those creating gardens and landscapes, as well as those teaching and studying these subjects.

Since the mid-1970s there has been an increase in interest and concern for the countryside. At a public level, this is evident in the growth in the membership of countryside organizations and rurally-focused hobbies. At the academic level, it can be seen in the burgeoning of courses with rural, conservation and environmental themes. At the level of public policy, it can be seen in the development of policies regarding conservation, farm diversification, public access and housing. Planners are often ignorant of the historical development of the agricultural economy - and conservation experts know little of the tradition of rural community development. This book addresses both of these issues, providing a critical overview of rural change over the 80 years since World War I in order to illuminate the historical origins of present-day policy. This work should be of interest to senior undergraduates and postgraduates specializing in rural development in western economies, rural planning, environmental studies, conservation or recreation; professional town and country planners; and staff in countryside organizations.

Focusing on the working-class experience of gentrification, this book re-examines the enduring relationship between class and the urban. Class is so clearly articulated in the urban, from the housing crisis to the London Riots to the evocation of housing estates as the emblem of 'Broken Britain'. Gentrification is often presented to a moral and market antidote to such urban ills: deeply institutionalised as regeneration and targeted at areas which have suffered from disinvestment or are defined by 'lack'. Gentrification is no longer a peripheral neighbourhood process: it is policy; it is widespread; it is everyday. Yet comparative to this depth and breadth, we know little about what it is like to live with gentrification at the everyday level. Sociological studies have focused on lifestyles of the middle classes and the working-class experience is either omitted or they are assumed to be victims. Hitherto, this is all that has been offered. This book engages with these issues and reconnects class and the urban through an ethnographically detailed analysis of a neighbourhood undergoing gentrification which historicises class formation, critiques policy processes and offers a new sociological insight into gentrification from the perspective of working-class residents. This ethnography of everyday working-class neighbourhood life in the UK serves to challenge denigrated depictions which are used to justify the use of gentrification-based restructuring. By exploring the relationship between urban processes and working-class communities via gentrification, it reveals the 'hidden rewards' as well as the 'hidden injuries' of class in post-industrial neighbourhoods. In doing so, it provides a comprehensive 'sociology of gentrification', revealing not only how gentrification leads to the displacement of the working class in physical terms but how it is actively used within urban policy to culturally displace the working-class subject and traditional

Produced by PLAYLINK, a registered charity which assists local communities to create adventure playgrounds for children. Established in 1962, PLAYLINK is recognised as the national authority on good practice for play provision of this type. This essential handbook draws on PLAYLINK's 35 years experience with adventure playgrounds, introduces recent changes to legislation and gives guidance on the interpretation of legal responsibilities. It is intende for all those working as play officers, playworkers, playground designers or consultants in supervised play provision, legal advisers and regulatory authorities. It will also be of interst to anyone involved in leisure and recreation management and the design and construction of sports facilities.

Sustaining our agricultural landscapes is no longer just a technical, scientific or even political problem, but it has evolved into a socially complex, so-called wicked problem of conflicting social governance and economics. This creates an extreme economic obstacle where the value of ecosystem services remains low and diffuse and the transactions costs remain high and multiple.Using Uber-like business platform technology and a shared governance model, a symbiotic demand for environmental benefits is created. Enabling multi-sector transactions for environmental benefits, this platform innovation would remedy the "tragedy of the commons"; the economic nemesis to achieving landscape sustainability. In a nutshell, to sustain our agricultural landscapes a transdisciplinary approach supported by a shared governance model housed within a multi-sided platform in needed. This book introduces an assessment framework identifying governance actors, styles and ratios for socio-ecological systems. The assessment uses a new governance compass to identify the types of actors completing which tasks and identifies the styles of governance used to complete the tasks. It is aimed to anyone involved in sustainability science, agricultural policy planning, or integrated landscape design.

Despite extensive efforts to understand the overall effect of urban structure on the current patterns of urban mobility, we are still far from a consensual perspective on this complex matter. To help build agreement on the factors influencing travel behaviour, this book discusses the influence of alternative urban structures on sustainable mobility. Bringing together two existing and complementary methods to study the relationship between urban structure and mobility, the authors compare two case studies with distinct urban structures and travel behaviour (Copenhagen and Oporto). Of particular concern is the influence of urban structure factors, namely land use and transport system factors, and motivational factors related to the social, economic and cultural characteristics of the individual traveller. The research presented in this book highlights the relevance of centrality in travel behaviour and in more sustainable travel choices. Different operational forms of the centrality concept are revealed as important: it is shown that more sustainable travel can be influenced by several urban structure factors and that no particular combination is required as long as a certain level of centrality is provided. Finally, the book concludes that urban structure can, on the one hand, constrain and, on the other hand, influence travel choice.

This book explores the role of technology in ecological urban design and regeneration. Part I provides theoretical and methodological insights into technological approaches that offer optimum respect to existing cultural and natural environments, while offering minimum impact and carbon footprint. Parts II and III provide contextualised examples that demonstrate the use, or proposal of, sustainable technologies and solutions for regenerating parts of the urban and peri-urban. The case studies offer insights from the Mediterranean and the Middle East in a diverse range of spaces, from central urban squares, oblique cities, urban waterfronts, decaying suburbs, to peri-urban areas such as touristic waterfronts, former industrial areas, hyper-commercial areas, humid zones and parks.

In her study of the interactions between tools of urban sustainability governance in key cities, Lisa Pettibone argues that a new factor-sustainability-minded groups-may be critical to building momentum for sustainability. The book presents in-depth case studies of six cities in the USA and Germany: New York, Portland, Seattle, Berlin, Hamburg, and Heidelburg. Drawing on 75 interviews, document analysis, and a bilingual literature review, the book analyzes how sustainability is politically constructed in city strategic plans and sustainability indicators. The volume provides a comprehensive introduction to the principles of sustainability, discusses the key governance instruments relevant to urban sustainability, and delivers new empirical and theoretical material on their role in a sustainability transition. It concludes that despite the national-level differences, cities' experiences in both countries are similar. Political sustainability at the city level differs in several important ways from academic principles of sustainability. Finally, it proposes that sustainability-minded groups may be a key link to connect urban sustainability in practice to theoretical concepts.

Current changes and pressures to transcend professional barriers throughout the construction industry are being reflected in the way built environment education and training is now planned and designed. Courses are focusing on aspects which are common to all the subjects to foster a multi-professional approach and lead to better collaborative practice. The Built Environment Series of Textbooks (BEST) provides texts which are relevant to more than one course and addresses areas of commonality in an original and innovative way. Creating Neighbourhoods and Places in the Built Environment examines the forces at work in the built environment and their impact on the form of buildings and their surroundings. The book looks at the competing interests between individuals and agencies which exist, their interaction with physical and environmental forces and the results of their intervention. It shows how buildings, spaces and human activities combine to create a lively and enjoyable environment.

Designing the Compassionate City outlines an approach to urban design that is centred on an explicit recognition of the inherent dignity of all people. It suggests that whether we thrive or decline-as individuals or as a community-is dependent on our ability to fulfil the full spectrum of our needs. This book considers how our surroundings help or hinder us from meeting these needs by influencing both what we can do and what we want to do; either inspiring us to lead healthy, fulfilled lives or consigning us to diminished lives tainted by ill health and unfulfilled potential. Designing the Compassionate City looks at how those who participate in designing towns and cities can collaborate with those who live in them to create places that help people to accumulate the life lessons, experiences and achievements, as well as forge the connections to meet their needs, to thrive and to fulfil their potential. The book explores a number of inspiring case studies that have sought to meet this challenge and examines what has worked and what hasn't. From this, some conclusions are drawn about how we can all participate in creating places that leave a lasting legacy of empowerment and commitment to nurturing one another. It is essential reading for students and practitioners designing happier, healthier places.

Learn how to conduct and evaluate a successful Phase I ESA to identify existing or potential environmental hazards and 'special resources' for a subject property. Through its easy-to-follow checklist format and sample ESA, this book shows you everything you need to know about Phase I ESAs, including ESA statement of work, environmental databases, ESA report appendices, ESA process, site history, governmental records, site reconnaissance, environmental hazards, underground and aboveground storage tanks, historic properties and national landmarks, scientific significance, and more.

This is a work summarizing in one volume the pioneering approach of the author to public-interest decision-taking in the field of urban & regional planning. This book is aimed at students, researchers and professionals in planning. Nathaniel Lichfield first introduced in his "Economics of Planned Development" the concept that, in any use and development of land, the traditional "development balance sheet" of the developers needed to be accompanied by a "planning balance sheet" prepared by the planning officer or planning authority. Over the forty years since this work was published, the author has brought to the operational level the "planning balance sheet," with many case studies, primarily for consultancy purposes. The present title reflects the incorporation during the 1970s of the then emerging field of environmental impact assessment.

Telecommunications and the City provides the first critical and state-of-the-art review of the relations between telecommunications and all aspects of city development and management.
Drawing on a range of theoretical approaches and a wide body of recent research, the book addresses key academic and policy debates about technological change and the future of cities with a fresh perspective. Through this approach, the complex and crucial transformations underway in cities in which telecommunications have central importance are mapped out and illustrated. Key areas where telecommunications impinge on the economic, social, physical, enviromental and institutional development of cities are illustrated by using boxed extracts and wide range of case study examples from Europe, Japan and North America.
Rejecting the extremes of optimism and pessimism in current hype about cities and telecommunications, Telecommunications and the City offers a sophisticated new perspective through which city-telecommunications relations can be understood.

This is the extraordinary saga of the eight year campaign to prevent the destruction of Twyford Down, then the undistributed landscape backcloth to the ancient City of Winchester. The story is told by Barbara Bryant who was at the forefront of the campaign from its modest beginnings in 1985 to its infamous culmination seven years later. Twyford Down is a compelling record of every step of the campaign. It examines the UK government's role in the destruction of the Down, firstly by proposing to complete the 'missing' link in the M3 via the cutting in Twyford Down and subsequently by its intransigence in rejecting alternative solutions. It also looks at the part the campaign has subsequently played in the evolution of environmental campaigning. European legislation, which failed to protect this precious piece of English countryside, is examined, as is the political background to the campaign. The campaign for Twyford Down was lost with the construction of the final section of the M3 motorway through Twyford Down. The campaign, and the issues it raised, are not likely to be forgotten - the gaping wound in the landscape will remain as a monument to the great car economy of the second half of the 20th century.

A multimedia exploration of the morphology of architecture in the American Southwest as defined by evolving modes of transportation. In examining advances in transportation, the book asks how we have come to acquiesce to the monotonous, isolating, and aesthetically bankrupt landscape of suburbia. It also casts predictions about how the future built landscape will look as it continues to adapt to patterns of human movement.

Designing the Olympics claims that the Olympic Games provide opportunities to reflect on the relationship between design, national identity, and citizenship. The "Olympic design milieu" fans out from the construction of the Olympic city and the creation of emblems, mascots, and ceremonies, to the consumption, interpretation, and appropriation of Olympic artifacts from their conception to their afterlife. Besides products that try to achieve consensus and induce civic pride, the "Olympic design milieu" also includes processes that oppose the Olympics and their enforcement. The book examines the graphic design program for Tokyo 1964, architecture and urban plans for Athens 2004, brand design for London 2012, and practices of subversive appropriation and sociotechnical action in counter-Olympic movements since the 1960s. It explores how the Olympics shape the physical, legal and emotional contours of a host nation and its position in the world; how the Games are contested by a broader social spectrum within and beyond the nation; and how, throughout these encounters, design plays a crucial role. Recognizing the presence of multiple actors, the book investigates the potential of design in promoting equitable political participation in the Olympic context.

Phenomenologies of the City: Studies in the History and Philosophy of Architecture brings architecture and urbanism into dialogue with phenomenology. Phenomenology has informed debate about the city from social sciences to cultural studies. Within architecture, however, phenomenological inquiry has been neglecting the question of the city. Addressing this lacuna, this book suggests that the city presents not only the richest, but also the politically most urgent horizon of reference for philosophical reflection on the cultural and ethical dimensions of architecture. The contributors to this volume are architects and scholars of urbanism. Some have backgrounds in literature, history, religious studies, and art history. The book features 16 chapters by younger scholars as well as established thinkers including Peter Carl, David Leatherbarrow, Alberto Perez-Gomez, Wendy Pullan and Dalibor Vesely. Rather than developing a single theoretical statement, the book addresses architecture's relationship with the city in a wide range of historical and contemporary contexts. The chapters trace hidden genealogies, and explore the ruptures as much as the persistence of recurrent cultural motifs. Together, these interconnected phenomenologies of the city raise simple but fundamental questions: What is the city for, how is it ordered, and how can it be understood? The book does not advocate a return to a naive sense of 'unity' or 'order'. Rather, it investigates how architecture can generate meaning and forge as well as contest social and cultural representations.

This text explores the relationship between the planned or built environment and the occurrence of mental ill-health. It begins by providing a broad overview of what is known about the causes of psychopathic behaviour. It then goes on to discuss the issues that arise when attempting to identify: the impact of the environment as a source of stress; the effects that the environment can have on the quality of relationships between people; and the relationship between symbolic aspects of the environment, the planning process and mental health. The book uses analysis and case studies drawn from the UK and US and contains example illustrations of the built environment.

This companion to Introducing Urban Design: Interventions and Responses shows how the principles and concepts of urban design can be applied and implemented in a range of real-world settings.

Much of what constitutes our experience of our immediate environment is quite ordinary and familiar, in particular, where we live. While policymakers and academics are constantly seeking transformations in housing, what we seek from our own housing is stability and lack of change. We seek secure roots to our lives rather than step-changes and radical reform. This book considers this ordinary experience of housing and how we come to depend upon it. The notion of the ordinary is used to argue against the conceits of policymaking and the fetish for domestic design. Using a variety of methods such as critical analysis and film criticism (looking at the work of film-makers as diverse as Bergman, Dreyer, Shyamalan, Tarkovsky, Tati and the Wachowski Brothers), it provides an original, impressionistic view of the role housing plays in our lives.

This text draws on research undertaken for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation on Development Impacts and Development Obligations to provide an account of the developing role of agreements in dealing with the impact of development. The first part reviews the policy, legal, planning and development context. The second part reviews contemporary practice. The third part reviews future developments. The authors bring their experience of both planning theory, practice and law and their empirical work to this major statement on an important area of planning practice. The focus is primarily on England, but the British experience is set in the wider context of experience elsewhere.