We attended the launch of the much anticipated #ICON final report yesterday in London. Great to hear place planning come up.

JustNeighbourhoods work is coming to it conclusion soon and we are holding a symposium where this will be discussed along with #C4 and #ICON representation. Contact us if you are interested in attending on 5th Feb – we have just a few slots going still #planning for #socialjustice

A beach toy library organised by Together for Colwyn Bay – a group of local residents that organise and fund community projects using asset-based community development. Check out more here: research.reading.ac.uk/justclp/phot...

Our latest paper is now available to read: "Justice in Community-Led Planning: A Four-Nation Review" We analysed community-led plans across the UK—especially from left behind areas—to explore how justice is understood and acted on locally. What does this mean for how we theorise justice?

Big digital billboards can emit 11 homes' worth of energy and cause harmful light pollution - but local authorities aren't allowed to take this into account when deciding whether to allow them to be built. This week I called for this to be changed #BetterWithoutBillboards @adfreecities.bsky.social‬

Covered this idea a bit here: www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Reeves urged to fund libraries, parks and social centres in left-behind areas

Independent Commission on Neighbourhoods calls for spending on ‘mission critical’ local regeneration schemes

theguardian.com

Nick Plumb@nickplumb.bsky.social · last yr.

For those poring over detail of SR documents, support for community-led renewal - first via 25 trailblazers - looks set to use 'mission-critical neighbourhoods' mapping work done by the Independent Commission on Neighbourhoods.

Why does planning need more time? And how long 'should' a planning decision take? Dr Mark Dobson has studied the reasons for and impacts of the widespread use of Extensions of Time in determining applications for development. Find out more: www.rtpi.org.uk/policy-and-r...

Announcing the publication of a new book on planning theory, Critical Planning Futures, with some amazing contributions from academics across the Global South & North, all devoted to analysing the form & future of urban planning. Plus this is Book #20 for me! www.routledge.com/Critical-Pla...

Great to see The Economist coverage of ICON's recent research with Public First. You can read the piece here: www.economist.com/britain/2025...

Where next with land value capture and planning obligations in England? Robbie Calvert defines what land value capture is and how it can be refined 👇 https://www.rtpi.org.uk/blog/2025/april/robbie-calvert-land-value-capture/

Robbie Calvert: Land Value Capture

The success of approaches to land value capture has varied markedly across the country.

rtpi.org.uk

#OpenAccess paper in Area: 'Ethnographic fingerprints: Examining co-participation, positionality, and interpersonal relationships in diary method' by Julius Baker This paper explores the growing use of solicited diaries in human geography research. doi.org/10.1111/area... #geosky

How can land value capture policies contribute to the Gov's house building plans and help fund affordable housing and public infrastructure? Dr Sotirios Thanos, Dr Eero Valtonen, and Prof Anupam Nanda have provided evidence to the Housing, Communities & Local Government Committee inquiry.

With local elections fast approaching, polling reveals a clear demand from the public: devolve power, and do it at the community level. Over 50% of the UK believes that giving community groups more power over local decisions would improve their areas. Read more: www.right-here.org/wp-content/u...

Learning old lessons can improve delivery of the government’s new Plan for Neighbourhoods www.theplanner.co.uk/2025/04/10/l...

Learning old lessons can improve delivery of the government’s new Plan for Neighbourhoods

But the government would do well to learn from past mistakes – and successes – in efforts to improve the most deprived areas

theplanner.co.uk

Our latest working paper shares information about the case studies we are exploring: 🔹 England – Middlesbrough & Doncaster 🔹 Scotland – Glasgow & Fife 🔹 Wales – Denbighshire & Conwy 🔹 Northern Ireland – Belfast & Armagh Read the Working Paper 4 here: research.reading.ac.uk/justclp/just... ‎

The latest title in the Routledge @rtpiplanners.bsky.social RTPI Library book series is Rural Planning Futures edited by @markscott-ucd.bsky.social John Sturzaker Nick Gallent @gavinparker.bsky.social Amy Burnett & @ianmell.bsky.social www.routledge.com/RTPI-Library...

"Most plans do not talk about equity, nor do they include many goals & recommendations that would advance equity. More recent plans, plans in communities with more planning capacity... & plans with strong public participation processes have stronger equity orientations." — Loh & Kim

📚 Published Article A very important piece of work on children’s playgrounds. To Play or Not to Play : Mapping Unequal Provision of Children's Playgrounds by Paul Brindley, Yueshan Ma, @ruiwang.bsky.social , @mic-martin.bsky.social, and Helen Woolley Read Here : lnkd.in/dVVk_2hV

Great article by @pettertornberg.bsky.social on how investors in Rio boost the online visibility of their establishments. The Instagrammable props, such as neon letters and graffiti, are merely the most striking expressions of a profound reshaping of places journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

Social Media Imaginaries and the City: How the Attention Economy Is Reshaping Urban Built Environments - Petter Törnberg, 2025

Social media are becoming a growing presence in our cities, filtering our experience of urban place and enabling locations to “go viral.” This article examines ...

journals.sagepub.com

Book presentation: Planning Beyond Growth, by Yvonne Rydin. 9/4. Registration Link: urban-futures.at/hot-off-the-... #urban #sociology

The planning system can do better than this surely. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Coggeshall man giving up fight to install solar panels

Barry Thompson's local council refuses his efforts to install six solar panels.

bbc.co.uk

The research team – Gavin Parker, Matthew Wargent, John Sturzaker and Tessa Lynn – penned a short response to the recently launched ‘Plan for Neighbourhoods’ asking how people will actually be involved... research.reading.ac.uk/justclp/just...

Just Neighbourhoods team response to the Plan for Neighbourhoods - Just Neighbourhoods?

The research team - Gavin Parker, Matthew Wargent, John Sturzaker and Tessa Lynn - penned a short response to the  recently launched ‘Plan for Neighbourhoods’  asking how people will actually be invol...

research.reading.ac.uk

I am very interested in the extent to which the Planning and Infrastructure Bill may remove powers from the Senedd and Welsh Ministers - if it does, or if it does without requiring their consent. I hope someone will enlighten us! www.gov.uk/government/n...

'Biggest building boom' in a generation through planning reforms

Homes and key infrastructure will be built faster under Planning and Infrastructure Bill

gov.uk

Why community energy is a vital piece of the net zero puzzle, and what the state needs to do to support it 👇

Power to Change@powertochange.org.uk · 2y ago

✍️ @nickplumb.bsky.social explores for @jrf-uk.bsky.social how community energy can help meet clean power commitments and how it can work for low-income households. Read here: www.jrf.org.uk/climate-chan...

Read Public First’s report here: www.neighbourhoodscommission.org.uk/report/publi...

Public First - Independent Commission on Neighbourhoods: Opinion Research Summary - ICON

neighbourhoodscommission.org.uk

To inform our interim report, Think Neighbourhoods, Public First examined public attitudes towards neighbourhoods. We found a palpable sense of visible decline across the country, which was most acute in those neighbourhoods furthest from the government’s five missions.

Critical toolkit from @philipphorn.bsky.social and colleagues underscoring the importance of challenging epistemic orthodoxies and hierarchies

Philipp Horn@philipphorn.bsky.social · 2y ago

Check out our recently published Otros Saberes Toolkit (www.contested-territories.net/toolkit-otro...) – an overview of 24 experiences in Europe and Latin America that engage with alternative forms of territorial knowledge, particularly those marginalized by hegemonic academic and policy frameworks.

🗣️ Don't miss our free webinar with Dinah Bornat (ZCD Architects) on the Voice Opportunity Power toolkit: a free resource with practical guidance on how to involve young people in the way that places get built and managed. 📅 Monday 24 March 12-1pm 🎟️ buff.ly/4kln7SX

Youth engagement in planning, regeneration and neighbourhood management - Voice Opportunity Power - Town and Country Planning Association

Young people have a right to be involved in the decisions that shape the places where they live and including them creates better places for everyone. The Voice Opportunity Power…

tcpa.org.uk