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This article presents an overview of Second World War bomb damage to British towns and cities and a systematic evaluation of the relationship between damage, revisioning, replanning, and actual reconstruction in a sample of cities - Bath, Birmingham, and Hull. Two were severely affected by aerial bombing as port/industrial targets, and the third for propaganda purposes as a historical city. Two had extensive plans produced by eminent consultants (both involving Patrick Abercrombie) but the city managers of the third did not support "big plans." Birmingham, without a specific plan, rebuilt extensively and relatively quickly. Hull's plan was disliked locally and virtually vanished. Bath was repaired rather than rebuilt. These contrasting experiences have shaped the contemporary city via subsequent generations of replanning (not all of which was implemented) and, in Birmingham's case, the demolition of major reconstruction investments after relatively short lifespans. The article demonstrates the difficulty of conceptualising a generic approach to post-catastrophe reconstruction and the problems of such large-scale change over a short period for the longer-term effective functioning of the city.

Decision makers are being increasingly called on to confront controversial urban histories to create more inclusive, diverse monumental landscapes. Although many prominent and officially 'authorised' public monuments radiate troublesome heritage, the monumental landscape is also richly complex, and demands an evaluation of the shifting relationship between design intention and public reception, as social, political and local contexts alter the heritage-making process. Based on documentary research, secondary analysis of qualitative interviews and an evaluation of media discourse associated with two examples of monumentality in Birmingham, UK, this paper argues that examining these forces is a necessary and urgent step for actors involved in creating sustainable urban environments. This paper concludes by considering how urban actors might effectively deal with those competing historical and political narratives and generate more contextualised and community-oriented responses to the shaping of the heritage landscape during times of economic uncertainty.

Conservation areas are a very common and popular planning tool, used by every UK local planning authority; but the basis on which related decisions are made often remains obscure, and so is the changing pattern of the conservation-related decision-making framework in British local governments. This paper provides an example of the changes in the decision-making framework for conservation area boundaries from the 1970s to the 2010s, using Cardiff, Wales as a case study. It sheds light on the governance documents of the local planning authority and reflects on the parts played by different types of planning-related agencies. Based on this example of the relationship between governance, decision-making, conservation and regeneration, this paper is able to examine the relationship between regeneration and conservation in a typical British city under the power of the New Right and New Labour.

The conservation of recent heritage is contentious, and the issue of large-scale city centre Brutahst postwar buildings has proved more contentious than most. Many of these buildings have attracted neither widespread public support nor positive critical response. The example of Birmingham's Central library if used to explore these issues, as it has produced conflicting responsesfrom expert organisations, politicians, professionals and the public. The structure occupies a high-value site and, if realised, the income from its sale could be used for a range of civic activities. The intensely polarised debate was unsuccessful in changing entrenched opinions, and the building was prepared for demolition in mid-2015.

People have designed cities long before there were urban designers. In Shapers of Urban Form, Peter Larkham and Michael Conzen have commissioned new scholarship on the forces, people, and institutions that have shaped cities from the Middle Ages to the present day. Larkham and Conzen collect new essays in ""urban morphology,"" the people-centered predecessor to contemporary theories of top-down urban design. Shapers of Urban Form focuses on the social processes that create patterns of urban forms in four discrete periods: Pre-modern, early modern, industrial-era and postmodern development. Fea

ABSTRACT:The process of making decisions about cities during the bombing of World War II, in its immediate aftermath and in the early post-war years remains a phenomenon that is only partly understood. The bombing left many church buildings damaged or destroyed across the UK. The Church of England's churches within the City of London, subject to a complex progression of deliberations, debates and decisions involving several committees and commissions set up by the bishop of London and others, are used to review the process and product of decision-making in the crisis of war. Church authorities are shown to have responded to the immediate problem of what to do with these sites in order most effectively to provide for the needs of the church as an organization, while simultaneously considering other factors including morale, culture and heritage. The beginnings of processes of consulting multiple experts, if not stakeholders, can be seen in this example of an institution making decisions under the pressures of a major crisis.

This article reviews an unusual and subtle form of place promotion, that contained in the series of British post-war reconstruction plans produced up to c. 1952. These were not explicitly designed as place-promotional literature, and we suggest that they should be seen as subverse promotion of towns and cities, as well as vehicles for civic boosterism. Evidence of this is discussed with respect to the production of these plans, for example in the commissioning of eminent and expensive consultants; in the texts of plans; and in the often striking and colourful imagery used.

Young people are often seen as "future citizens" and therefore relegated to a back seat in the planning process, awaiting their coming of age. Recent digital transformations in planning have brought new consultation processes but also created a digital divide and conflicting agendas. This article engages with youth, specifically teenagers, a heterogenous community stuck between childhood and adulthood, assumed to possess the necessary digital skills, but usually overlooked in participatory planning processes. This article will examine the case study cities of Manchester, Birmingham, Valencia, and Sofia, where 121 teenagers between 15 and 19 years of age have been interviewed in relation to their awareness and perceptions of digital technologies and smart cities. It focuses on critically examining young people's perceptions and values towards the smart city. Using the smart city wheel as an engagement and discussion tool, the article presents teenagers' critique of smart city models and future city visions. The article categorises common threads and values that this demographic has espoused and presents cautionary tales relating to awareness and skills development in this age group. Throughout the interviews and surveys, young people in all four case studies have reported strong affiliations to specific modes of inhabiting the city and values that they would like to see reflected in any future visions. The article identifies key considerations for planners and smart city practitioners when engaging young people in the creation of future city visions.

This paper discusses the way in which climate emergency-related strategies and the concepts of climate adaptation, sustainability and governance are being introduced into rural and agricultural landscapes. To investigate environmental impacts on climate change, it uses examples from the 'Landscape Observatory' (Catalonia) and the 'Room for the River' (the Netherlands) landscape programmes. This research concludes that a communication strategy strongly supported by policies, legislation and governance structures, in conjunction with a wider understanding of the role of landscape, results in significantly improved responses to deal with the challenges of the climate crisis in rural and agricultural areas.

This paper identifies innovative methods of strategic spatial design to demonstrate the sustainable outcomes that can be achieved by adopting landscape practices to future-proof our cities and regions. A range of strategic landscape-led models and methodologies are investigated to reveal the structure, administrative processes and key elements that have been adopted in order to facilitate the integration of climate change environmental design and landscape quality. We have found that a strong established framework that demonstrates innovative project management and early integration of environmental ideas is critical in order to be able to deliver landscape schemes that appropriately identify and address current climatic and social challenges. Furthermore, to make a real difference in the way that professional practice and politics deal with landscape infrastructure, the project framework and key concepts related to landscape design and planning, such as low carbon design and spatial quality, need to be clearly supported by legislation and policy at all levels. Together with close attention to the importance of design, this approach is more likely to ensure effective implementation and smooth communication during the development of a landscape scheme, leading to higher levels of sustainability and resilience in the future

This paper identifies innovative methods of strategic spatial design to demonstrate the sustainable outcomes that can be achieved by adopting landscape practices to future-proof our cities and regions. A range of strategic landscape-led models and methodologies are investigated to reveal the structure, administrative processes and key elements that have been adopted in order to facilitate the integration of climate change environmental design and landscape quality. We have found that a strong established framework that demonstrates innovative project management and early integration of environmental ideas is critical in order to be able to deliver landscape schemes that appropriately identify and address current climatic and social challenges. Furthermore, to make a real difference in the way that professional practice and politics deal with landscape infrastructure, the project framework and key concepts related to landscape design and planning, such as low carbon design and spatial quality, need to be clearly supported by legislation and policy at all levels. Together with close attention to the importance of design, this approach is more likely to ensure effective implementation and smooth communication during the development of a landscape scheme, leading to higher levels of sustainability and resilience in the future

In an era of globalisation and environmental instability, the 'landscape' is often perceived merely as the physical context rather than as the core element to establish a vision for a whole region, create values, share memories and play a key role addressing the global challenges we face. The focus of this paper is to enhance and emphasise the impact that spatial strategies have in sustainable design and how landscape practice can be instrumental in future-proofing and protecting our cities. The paper forms part of a wider research project examining innovative landscape strategies across Europe, assessing the extent to which low carbon, sustainability and spatial quality can be delivered effectively at the urban and strategic scales. We argue that a sophisticated process needs to be put in place in order to be able to deliver landscape schemes that appropriately identify and address current environmental and social challenges. This paper discusses the outcomes of two major pioneer landscape infrastructure projects in the Netherlands (the 'Room for the River' and the 'New Dutch Waterline') that have demonstrated new ways of engaging with both climate and aesthetic elements during the conceptual and implementation phase of a strategic scheme. The Room for the River is a landscape adaptation programme addressing water level management, while the New Dutch Waterline aims to regenerate inundation sites by introducing cultural and social activities while preserving the landscape infrastructure. Exploration of the impact that policy and legislation have on the landscape demonstrates that governance plays an important role in ensuring the success of a strategic landscape project. An investigation of urban and rural projects dealing with climate adaptation through these two projects shows that a multidisciplinary focus is a significant factor in the development of an effective project framework. We conclude that the establishment of a project framework, clearly supported by legislation and policy, will make a real difference in the way that professional practice and politics deal with landscape infrastructure. The integration of environmental and quality concepts from the early stages of the project process, and the attention to the importance of design, can ensure effective implementation and smooth communication during the development of a landscape scheme, leading to future resilience.

This paper forms part of wider research looking at pioneer landscape strategies across Europe, examining the extent to which low carbon, sustainability and spatial quality can be delivered effectively on urban and strategic scale, and covers examples from the 'Landscape Observatory' (Spain), the 'Room for the River' and 'New Dutch Waterline' (Netherlands), and the 'HS2/HS2LV' project (UK). This paper presents the Netherlands and the UK case studies, illustrating effective ways where the key issues of low carbon and quality of space are integrated in the design framework and the impact this has on the decision making. The case studies have shown that effective implementation requires visual communication and an in-depth understanding of how the concepts of sustainability and spatial quality are expressed. Policies, and legislation are also considered significant for landscape based developments.