A few weeks ago, I was invited to give presentations at a couple of Ministerial events in Edinburgh about community engagement in planning. One was a seminar about how to engage communities in cont...

"... 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....

[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...

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...

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 s...

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 commission...

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 t...

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...

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...

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...

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 ...

I've posted a few blogs over the last year about making more people-centred places - and have mentioned lots of ideas, but not a great deal of practice. Which is a little ironic, since most of my w...

What might Scotland be like in 50 years' time? For a credible and considered impression, take a look at these five thoughtpieces commendably commissioned by the Scottish Civic Trust. This valuabl...

“...think of your city as if it were a living work of art where citizens can involve and engage themselves in the creation of a transformed place ... ordinary people can make the extraordinary happ...

I'm in favour of the Big Society. I like the ideas of civil society and local responsibility that underpin it, which are on the policy agenda in Scotland as well as in Westminster. But I also bel...

At the Community Development Alliance Scotland’s conference this week, a recurring theme was the need to change attitudes and behaviours if communities are to become more engaged and empowered in...

As you may already know, I’m interested in how community empowerment can contribute to good placemaking. Not simply consulting or engaging communities about the design and management of places, b...

We are witnessing two trends in Scottish planning. On the one hand, government planning reforms are - quite rightly - urging the planning system and profession to create better places, play a more...

The Prince’s Foundation for the Built Environment hosted a conference last week in Perth about new approaches to street design which are now policy in Scotland, thanks to the Scottish Government’s ...

With Sèamus Lalor of sèamus lalor associates, I'm facilitating a series of events in Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire for ACSEF, the Aberdeen City and Shire Economic Forum. The events are half-day discu...