Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.
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Elites treat the poor as disposable citizens – CV19 in India
Dispatch from Delhi on the CV19 crisis in India’s cities. „The COVID-19 pandemic is deepening the existing ruthless and exclusionary practices in India’s big cities, where elites treat the poor as ‘disposable citizens’ clearly evident when we see thousands of poor migrants being stranded in the middle of nowhere, whereas the upper-class people continue to…
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Why the CV19 pandemic is a planning issue
The global pandemic raises some important questions about the links between public health and planning. With whole countries shut down and a soaring death toll, there are signs that it will not be long before a debate about the trade offs between health and economies becomes heated. At the moment, the professional body in the…
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WUF10 – Disasters waiting to happen
This is my third daily blog from the 10th World Urban Forum. Today has not been a disaster! Far from it, there have been some really good stories to hear at the World Urban Forum. But I want to put the theme of disasters at the heart of this blog. In yesterday’s blog I mentioned the World…
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The Divide between Government Action and Community Action
Can we break the glass ceiling dividing community action and government action? On the second day of the 2020 UN-Habitat World Urban Forum, I have sensed a divide between the actions of governments in the formal sphere and the scope for empowered communiies to make a difference on key issues such as adapting to the…
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Metropolitan challenges and affordable housing
After the pomp of the opening ceremony, the 10th World Urban Forum got involved in two critical issues. How to plan and manage metropolitan areas? An event organised by ISOCARP focused on this urgent theme. A range of leading figures from organisations that included the World Bank, the OECD and politicians from the Barcelona metropolitan…
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Ten messages from the rest of the world to planners in Scotland
What can planners in Scotland (and the rest of the UK) learn from thinking and practice in other countries? For World Town Planning Day 2019 I did a blog that extolled ideas nurtured in Scotland that had relevance for the rest of the world. Now it’s time to flip the focus and look the other way. In…
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WUF10 – Global Planning Aid
I am going to participate in the tenth World Urban Forum, in Abu Dhabi 8-13 February 2020. At the WUF I will be speaking in a Networking Event hosted by PAS and ISOCARP. We will be launching the idea of Global Planning Aid in Hall 2, Room 5 on Wednesday 12 February from 2-4pm local time. All are welcome to attend. The aim is to…
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Growth and the commercialisation of public space in Edinburgh
A major controversy has developed in Edinburgh over a huge development that was allowed to go ahead in the World Heritage Site without planning permission. The London-based event organisers Underbelly have a contract with Edinburgh’s city council who are paying them a reported £800,000 to stage a Christmas Market and a series of events around…
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Ten messages from Scotland for Planners around the World
On World Town Planning Day 2019, I was part of an event in Dundee organised by RTPI (Scotland) with the theme „Through the Years, Across the Globe“. Discussion during and after prompted me to ponder Scotland’s messages to an international audience of planners and urbanists. For a small country, Scotland has contributed significantly to thinking…
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Job opportunity – Commonwealth Projects Coordinator
Exciting job opportunity – closing date 3 November 2019. Are you interested in a 12 month job, working on sustainable cities and human settlements, with opportunities for interenational travel? 2020 is going to be an important year. In February the 10th World Urban Forum will be convened by UN-Habitat in Abu Dhabi. There will also…
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