uk posts, articles, and infographics | Sustainable Cities Collective

The Smoke & Mirrors of Laissez-Faire Localism

January 16, 2012 by julian dobson
with 53 views

'Yes, Mr Shapps - I'm feeling better already!'Imagine a health service where nobody bothered to share learning nationally or internationally about which treatments worked and why. Imagine a health service where it was considered entirely unnecessary to explore the causes of sickness, as long as local GPs and hospitals were given free... [read more]

Why I Was Won Over by the Queen of Retail

December 13, 2011 by julian dobson
with 127 views

On a sleety December day in Wakefield or Wigan, Weston-super-Mare or Wisbech, a walk down the high street amid hard-up Christmas shoppers is a long way from most people’s idea of a good time.Today Mary Portas, TV’s Queen of Shops and the retail guru appointed by David Cameron to revive our high streets, is delivering her verdict. Can our... [read more]

Social Housing Needs to be a Training Ground, Not A Dumping Ground

November 22, 2011 by julian dobson
with 97 views

The Riddings is a long sloping crescent of nondescript semi-detached houses, branching off into cul-de-sacs and loops. The layout is typical of a sleepy English suburb. But this particular suburb in Huddersfield achieved notoriety in 1990 as the setting for a BBC documentary, The Estate.Local people still rankle at how they were... [read more]

The Missing Link in London’s Tech City

November 9, 2011 by polis blog
with 120 views

Can you engineer an innovative neighborhood? London officials are banking on it. Last November, Prime Minister David Cameron announced plans to turn East London into “Tech City,” a global technology hub to rival Silicon Valley. The designated area stretches from (not-so-catchy) “Silicon Roundabout” near Old Street, across trendy Shoreditch, to the Olympic Park that will host the 2012 Games. [read more]

Local Enterprise Partnerships Struggling

October 28, 2011 by Centre for Cities
with 52 views

One year into the government’s flagship policy for growth and decentralisation and the Local Enterprise Partnerships are coming under increasing scrutiny from media, politicians and economic commentators. LEPs were always going to need to demonstrate some quick wins, to show critics they could do the job, but how are they really... [read more]

Bringing It All Home: UK Wrestles With Housing Supply

August 31, 2011 by Centre for Cities
with 49 views

The public debate on planning reform continues to be conducted in headlines. However, no-one seems to disagree that there is a fundamental problem with housing supply. They just have very different ideas about how it should be solved.The extent of the problem was brought into sharp focus by yesterday’s research from Oxford... [read more]

New Report: The British Cycling Economy

August 25, 2011 by TheCityFix - produced by EMBARQ
with 346 views

A new report from the London School of Economics looks at the “cycling economy” that is taking the United Kingdom by storm and the economic benefits generated by individual cyclists. The 24-page report investigates the factors that have all played a part in driving the growth of the cycling industry, which includes the 200 percent... [read more]

Urban Areas Key To Boosting Pollinator Numbers?

August 2, 2011 by Ceri Margerison
with 161 views

Britain’s largest pollinator study has been launched today. The project led by Professor Jane Memmott, from the University of Bristol, will be conducted in twelve cities across Britain to determine how well pollinators such as bees and butterflies are doing in urban areas. [read more]

UK Proposes National Planning Policy Framework

July 26, 2011 by Ceri Margerison
with 117 views

On the 25th July 2011 the draft National Planning Policy Framework was published by Government. After the release of the Natural Environment White Paper in June this year conservation organisations have been highly anticipating the publication of the Framework, which represents the next step in terms of implementing the declarations of... [read more]

UK Plans For Cities

July 17, 2011 by Centre for Cities
with 69 views

Tuesday’s long-awaited publication of the draft National Planning Policy Framework was even bigger than the England cricket team’s era-defining victory over India, at least in development circles. As the champions of the UK’s cities, our first act at Centre for Cities was to search the document – all 58 pages – for references to... [read more]

4 Ways to Make London a Cycling City

July 12, 2011 by This Big City
with 157 views

London is gearing up for its next Mayoral election in May 2012, and the city’s cycling facilities will be an inevitable topic of debate. Hoping to take advantage of this potential change in London’s politics, the London Cycling Campaign will be running a single-issue campaign, handing over the decision to their members as to which issue... [read more]

“If We’re Serious About Food Security, We Have To Tackle Population Growth”

July 1, 2011 by Donovan Gillman
with 112 views

This article originally appeared in Green Futures, the leading magazine on environmental solutions and sustainable futures published by Forum for the Future by Jonathon Porritt Jonathon Porritt finds the Government’s response to food security “creative” – but can’t forgive its failure to address population issues... [read more]