Local authority urban greening initiatives have long courted controversy, particularly when parking spaces are replaced with parklets. But, as Hayden Ferriby argues, there is plenty of best practice to learn from and mistakes to be avoided.

Building better places, increasing people’s sense of belonging and boosting civic pride will continue to be an uphill battle as long as we devalue arts and culture, argues Laura Bell.

After years of resistance, there’s now a growing acceptance that towns need to develop long-term plans to revive their fortunes. But where do you start to get your place plans right?

A new placemaking consultancy has been launched bringing together a rich blend of professional experience in community planning, commercial development, place marketing and high street innovation to meet the challenges facing UK town centres.

Boosting pride in place: a mission that needs re-thinking

There’s a term in labour economics used to describe the lasting impacts of recession and how cyclical unemployment can become structural unemployment. Hysteresis explains the persistence of unemployment long after the recovery because people have either lost their skills, or their skills are now obsolete, or they have become disillusioned and depressed.