Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.
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Dark Age Ahead – Europe and the EU 2030
In 2004, David Evers, Ed Dammers and Aldert de Vries wrote a „doomsday scenario“ for a disintegrating EU in 2030. It was never published. It is now. David Evers, Ed Dammers and Aldert de Vries wrote this dystopian scenario in 2004 as part of their work in a spatial scenarios project exploring futures for Cohesion Policy. It…
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What will be the impact of Brexit on planning in the UK?
A Brexit-induced crash in the markets seems likely to set the framework for the work of planners in the months ahead. I am writing early on Monday afternoon, 27 June 2016. The Pound has fallen to a 31 year low; shares in Barclays are down 12%, in the Royal Bank of Scotland 14% In the…
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BREXIT – A blow to the European planning community
Klaus Kunzmann, distinguished professor of spatial planning at the Technical University of Dortmund, give his reaction to Brexit and ponders what it means for planning and planners. England (though not Scotland) has voted for Brexit. It will take months until those who voted against Europe will realize that they have made a tremendous mistake. They…
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Brexit – Why and what next?
Why has Brexit happened and what happens next? I am writing a few hours after the result was declared and before all the detailed analysis that will surely follow. But in some respects that does not matter – indeed, one of the themes of the referendum campaign was that „facts“ from „experts“ were not to…
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Habitat III – The New Urban Agenda
The zero draft of the New Urban Agenda, the declaration that the governments of the world will sign up to in October 2016, gives a prominent role to more proactive and inclusive urban and regional planning. The draft document makes a ringing early statement: „We commit to a paradigm shift in the way we plan,…
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Time tested principles for successful place-making
How do you create attractive and environmentally sustainable places? A new, updated edition of a major text provides powerful lessons and evidence. The first edition of Randall Arendt’s Rural by Design was published 20 years ago, and became a classic resource for a generation of planners and urbanists in North America. The new edition is even better, and has…
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Effective strategic planning
Passion for strategic spatial planning has too rarely endured, thus undermining precisely what it needs, which is a long term perspective. So often startegic planning is disregarded or under-resourced, but used effectively it could provide a means of delivering inclusive and sustainable development. Therefore research by a practising planner on effective strategy-making is welcome. Jan Vogelij has…
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Rethinking the role of museums and public galleries
Here in UK, and particularly in the North of England, museums and public galleries are being closed down as councils struggle to cope with real reductions in income forced by the UK government’s austerity programme. In USA it is a different story. Many towns and cities created public galleries and museums in the nineteenth century or early…
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South Africa 1995
In 1995 I was invited to speak to a landmark conference in South Africa for the transition of planning after apartheid. I reported on my visit in my monthly magazine column. This was first published in Planning Week, 14 December 1995.
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Grid-based plans for urban extensions
A simple grid plan for urban extensions should be the basis for managing rapid urbanisation says a new UN-Habitat report. The value of a grid as an organising structure for new development is demonstrated through historic and contemporary examples from different continents. UN-Habitat’s report concludes that „The main virtue of the grid is its simplicity; the rational…
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