Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.
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Delhi – Colonial Planning, Slums and Gated Communities
Inside the slums and gated communities the opportunities and obstacles to sustainable and inclusive urban development can be seen. Spending a few days in Delhi as part of the Sustainable, Healthy and Learning Cities and Neighbourhoods project has given me insights into the way urbanisation is taking place in the city, and the implications this has for…
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City Spread and New Neighbourhoods
A major study of health, education and sustainability in rapidly growing cities poses some difficult questions for public policy makers. What kind of neighbourhoods characterise the rapidly growing cities of Asia and Africa, and how do they contribute to – or lead us away from – achieving the 2016-30 Sustainable Development Goals? These fundamental questions…
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Capacity crisis is hitting urban development in Pakistan
Pakistan is suffering from chronic underinvestment in urban planning. The leading newspaper in the Punjab has run a story about unfilled professional planning posts, noting some of the negative consequences. The article in Dawn, states that „Many professionals working in the public and private sectors have either left or are planning to proceed abroad.“ It quotes…
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My recent newspaper articles
Here are links to some of my articles that have been published in The Scotsman recently (July 2019) I have had a number of columns published in The Scotsman, which is an Edinburgh-based national newspaper in Scotland. Though the articles are tagetted at that particular readership, the underlying issues are relevant in many other places, I believe.…
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Free on-line learning on cities and planning
The Erasmus University in Rotterdam provides a series of on-line trianing materials on urban development and planning, with a particular focus on rapidly urbanising countries. How to mitigate and adapt to the effects of climate change in African cities? How to finance urban infrastructure? What is Local Economic Development and how can it be delivered?…
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How setting national climate budgets obscure the need to really tackle the climate emergency
Why is the French Government failing to meet its own goals on limiting CO2 emissions? A blog by Pierre Calame provides insights into why France is not meeting its targets on energy and the climate emergency. The messages apply to many other countries too. Calame points out that successive French governments have set national “carbon budgets” every…
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Would you buy a Frank Lloyd Wright house to demolish it?
The Booth Cottage, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1913, which is in Glencoe, Illinois, could become the third of his buildings to be demolished since 2004. The 882 square foot cottage may be tiny, but it sits on a large lot in an affluent Chicago suburb, which I passed through earlier this month. It’s…
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How businesses using Airbnb are reducing affordable housing in Montreal
„I studied the laws surrounding Airbnb all over the world. None are perfect. “ David Wachsmuth. Laws are almost irrelevant if you do not have access to Airbnb data to implement them “ says David Wachsmuth. Associate Professor in Urban Planning, McGill University. Despite legislation seeking to limit and control online short-term rentals, Montreal has five…
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Scotland’s Planning Bill – who will „frontloading“ work for?
The passing of the Scottish Planning Bill marks the end of a tortuous period, during which it even seemed possible that the Bill might be withdrawn, so heavily had it been amended. However, the conflicts that surfaced are unlikely to go away. What changes has the Bill made to Scotland’s planning system? The changes in the…
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50 years a planner
It is 50 years ago since I took up my first post as a professional planner. This anniversary moment provides plenty to reflect on. In May 1968, while students built barricades on the streets of Paris, I took the train from Manchester to Glasgow for a job intereview. The post I was applying for was…
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