Shaping Neighbourhoods is unique in combining all aspects of the spatial planning of neighbourhoods and towns whilst emphasising positive outcomes for people's health and global sustainability. This new edition retains the combination of radicalism, evidence-based advice and pragmatism that made earlier editions so popular. This updated edition strengthens guidance in relation to climate change and biodiversity, tackling crises of population health that are pushing up health-care budgets, but have elements of their origins in poor place spatial planning - such as isolation, lack of everyday physical activity, and respiratory problems. It is underpinned by new research into how people use their localities, and the best way to achieve inclusive, healthy, low-carbon settlements. The guide can assist with: * Understanding the principles for planning healthy and sustainable neighbourhoods and towns * Planning collaborative and inclusive processes for multi-sectoral working * Developing know-how and skills in matching local need with urban form * Discovering new ways to integrate development with natural systems * Designing places with character and recognising good urban form Whether you are a student faced with a local planning project; a public health professional, planner, urban designer or developer involved in new development or regeneration; a council concerned with promoting healthy and sustainable environments; or a community group wanting to improve your neighbourhood - you will find help here.

It is increasingly important to define what constitutes the unique character of our neighbourhoods, in order to identify what we value and should protect, to pinpoint areas for improvement and places which could be enhanced through sensitive change. But how do we define 'character' or a 'sense of place'? How do we appraise the setting and site of a development area, in order that the essential character is retained and reflected in the design of new development? How can these qualities be communicated to decision makers and involve communities? Characterising Neighbourhoods provides an accessible and richly illustrated guide to the practical methods of appraising neighbourhoods which are precise, well informed and engaging. It demonstrates how characterisation is used as an evidence base for the planning and management of neighbourhoods and urban areas. The core focus is on a proven characterisation method developed and used by the authors and used by community groups, schools, planning and urban design students and professionals. It creates a common language used by these groups in evaluating places. This guide provides a wealth of supporting information, including; briefing on the recognition of local architectural styles, periods and materials, detecting the influence of historic street layouts and property boundaries, townscape concepts such as scale and enclosure, and topographical characteristics. Characterising Neighbourhoods is a valuable resource for practicing planners, urban designers and environmental professionals as well as students in these subjects.

It is increasingly important to define what constitutes the unique character of our neighbourhoods, in order to identify what we value and should protect, to pinpoint areas for improvement and places which could be enhanced through sensitive change. But how do we define 'character' or a 'sense of place'? How do we appraise the setting and site of a development area, in order that the essential character is retained and reflected in the design of new development? How can these qualities be communicated to decision makers and involve communities? Characterising Neighbourhoods provides an accessible and richly illustrated guide to the practical methods of appraising neighbourhoods which are precise, well informed and engaging. It demonstrates how characterisation is used as an evidence base for the planning and management of neighbourhoods and urban areas. The core focus is on a proven characterisation method developed and used by the authors and used by community groups, schools, planning and urban design students and professionals. It creates a common language used by these groups in evaluating places. This guide provides a wealth of supporting information, including; briefing on the recognition of local architectural styles, periods and materials, detecting the influence of historic street layouts and property boundaries, townscape concepts such as scale and enclosure, and topographical characteristics. Characterising Neighbourhoods is a valuable resource for practicing planners, urban designers and environmental professionals as well as students in these subjects.

All day, every day we're surrounded by things that annoy us. So it's surprising we've had to wait until now for a reasonable list. Speaking up for irritated people all over Britain, the Old Geezer's Dictionary of Irritants points a decisive finger at offenders, with both gusto and humour.

For many Britons France has provided their first taste of that alien world called 'abroad' - and sometimes their last. Richard Guise has tracked down ten travellers' tales from three centuries, before venturing forth himself to follow some of their wanderings across the country. He finds out what's left from the sights they saw and how dramatically the country and its people changed over these turbulent times - taking in the years of the Grand Tour, the Revolution and the Napoleonic era; the coming of the railways, holidays and guide books; two world wars, recovery and prosperity; and the twenty-first-century threat of terrorism. His virtual companions include two Grand Tourers (Philip Thicknesse and Tobias Smollett - nicknamed Smelfungus), the man rumoured to have inspired Karl Baedeker, a future chairman of London County Council and Richard's own father, a D-Day survivor. They're not all complimentary about France and the French...

Four English blokes of a certain age strike out from their Leicestershire local and head for the hills of the Dingle Peninsula. This laugh-out-loud tale of their short amble on the wild west coast of Ireland is packed with character and characters, beer and banter, daftness and a dolphin.

'The reason the wind is so cold is that there's nothing between here and the Urals'. A casual remark by his father, to which no one else seems to have paid the slightest attention, sets Richard Guise off on an unlikely adventure. Fifty years after standing on that chilly Leicestershire hilltop, he aims to prove his father wrong. A quest for truth, beer and jokes through England, the Netherlands, Germany, Poland, Belarus and Russia.

The Derbyshire villages of Draycott and Church Wilne have dozed quietly beside the left bank of the Derwent for more than a thousand years, barely registering a mention even in the history of the area. But have things really been as quiet as that? What about the case of the dodgy 18th-century vicar? The flying corpse? The combustible cricketer? And more disastrous, but unexplained, fires than you could shake a stick at. No, things are definitely not as quiet as they seem down by the Derwent. And anyway, why are the local inhabitants known as 'Neddies'?

Shaping Neighbourhoods is unique in combining all aspects of the spatial planning of neighbourhoods and towns whilst emphasising positive outcomes for people's health and global sustainability. This new edition retains the combination of radicalism, evidence-based advice and pragmatism that made earlier editions so popular. This updated edition strengthens guidance in relation to climate change and biodiversity, tackling crises of population health that are pushing up health-care budgets, but have elements of their origins in poor place spatial planning - such as isolation, lack of everyday physical activity, and respiratory problems. It is underpinned by new research into how people use their localities, and the best way to achieve inclusive, healthy, low-carbon settlements. The guide can assist with: * Understanding the principles for planning healthy and sustainable neighbourhoods and towns * Planning collaborative and inclusive processes for multi-sectoral working * Developing know-how and skills in matching local need with urban form * Discovering new ways to integrate development with natural systems * Designing places with character and recognising good urban form Whether you are a student faced with a local planning project; a public health professional, planner, urban designer or developer involved in new development or regeneration; a council concerned with promoting healthy and sustainable environments; or a community group wanting to improve your neighbourhood - you will find help here.