nick wright planning
Archive
Welcome to dedicated archive chronicaling all of the analysis and projects posts published on the site to date. You can easily navigate through the archive chronologically by clicking the below years.
“You can’t have a totally structured place and then just expect people to fit in...”
28 Nov 2011
"... building new communities that can flourish and become socially successful and sustainable is as important as designing places that are physically, economically and environmentally sustainable. Social sustainability is an issue of public value as well as the wellbeing, quality of life and satisfaction of future residents. It demands a...
Read More...crianlarich into action
20 Aug 2011
[Image] What does Crianlarich make you think of? That little place signposted from miles away, only for you to blink and miss it when you get there? Somewhere to dive into the loo on the way to the West Coast, and then get back on the road again? Despite having...
Read More...a new plan for Kilmarnock
17 Jun 2011
Kilmarnock, East Ayrshire's principal town, has suffered its share of setbacks. The closure of the Johnnie Walker bottling plant in 2012 will be the latest in a series of high-profile closures over the last 40 years, including Stoddart Carpets, Saxone and Massey-Ferguson. But Diageo's departure is also an opportunity to...
Read More...from starchitects to localism | a new political dawn
17 May 2011
Most of us are familiar with the idea of starchitects – get Norman Foster to design your Reichstag dome, or Frank Gehry to design you a new Guggenheim museum, and your city will get an economic shot-in-the-arm. The cult of the iconic building is immensely tempting to governments and...
Read More...getting the best out of planning
24 Apr 2011
Over the last year, Seamus Lalor and I have been running a series of 17 seminars for ACSEF in and around Aberdeen. The title of the seminars was Getting the best out of planning. ACSEF commissioned us because they want to improve the efficiency of planning decision-making in the...
Read More...when I say that I'm a planner...
27 Mar 2011
This article originally appeared on the Public Art Scotland website in March 2011, the first in a new occasional series of Thoughts and Responses in which two different specialists are encouraged to explore one issue from their own perspectives. I was asked to discuss some of the big questions that...
Read More...Pre-Application Consultation | consult people on design, not the principle
25 Feb 2011
I've been co-facilitating a series of workshops in Aberdeen with Seamus Lalor Associates over the last year or so, for ACSEF in Aberdeen city and shire - as I explained in this earlier post. The workshops are all about building trust and understanding between different players in the planning...
Read More...delivering better places | the role of leadership
13 Feb 2011
This excellent report deserves to be widely read. Launched by Alex Neil MSP, Minister for Housing and Communities, at the end of January, Delivering Better Places in Scotland: a guide to learning from broader experience was prepared by the University of Glasgow's Department of Urban Studies for the Scottish...
Read More...the leadership role of planning
01 Feb 2011
At the Delivering Better Places in Scotland launch last week (more of which in another post soon), the need for more leadership in planning was a strong theme - possibly the dominant theme. This isn't about training more leaders of planners. It's about the need for planning to take...
Read More...a new slant on promoting enterprise
06 Jan 2011
I'm currently working on an "integrated urban development plan" for Kilmarnock, part of a team led by Kevin Murray Associates and including WMUD, Hamilton-Baillie Associates, The Burrell Company and SLIMS Consulting. The study has been commissioned by Make it Kilmarnock, the advisory board charged with delivering economic recovery for...
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