SPACES OF HOPE is exploring the often-overlooked ways in which local people and organisations have come together to improve their physical and social environments. Since the 1960s a rich but hidden history has emerged of communities drawing up their own land-use plans, owning, occupying and developing sites, initiating community projects and using art and others forms of media to communicate ideas. Bringing together universities, artists and archivists and working in partnership with the TCPA, HOPE is an AHRC-funded research project that aims to reveal these histories and spark debate about how lessons can be applied to current community place-shaping.
- The People’s Plan for the WestwayLong-time resident and activist, Adam Ritchie, reflects on one of the most significant episodes of community-led planning in London, focussed on the Westway road in North Kensington. The Times NewspaperContinue reading “The People’s Plan for the Westway”
- The Communityplanning.net journeyby Dr Nick Wates The Community Planning Website, or Communityplanning.net as it is more helpfully called, was born in 1998 at the offices of the Department for International Development (DFID)Continue reading “The Communityplanning.net journey“
- Black Environmental Justice: From urban studies to radical rurals in EnglandDebbie Humphry (Oxford Brookes University) interviews Julian Agyeman, founder of the Black Environment Network (9th July 2022) Debbie Humphry: Could you just tell me briefly about your involvement in communityContinue reading “Black Environmental Justice: From urban studies to radical rurals in England”
- Insights from a London Community PlannerMichael Parkes has worked as a planner since 1967 in public, private and community sectors in GB, the Middle East, Europe and Africa. Here he reflects on his work (1985Continue reading “Insights from a London Community Planner”
- City Farms, not roads!John Le Corney, a south Londoner who’s kept his accent, moved to the Heeley area of Sheffield in 1975. As he recalled, in an interview for the Spaces of HopeContinue reading “City Farms, not roads!”
- Putting Women in the Centre: women’s community planning in Birmingham
Report by Debbie Humphry. Thanks to the participants who are quoted. It took painstaking detective work to unearth women’s histories of community-led planning in Birmingham from the 1960s. After scouringContinue reading “Putting Women in the Centre: women’s community planning in Birmingham” - From Network to Movement: Community Enterprises in Gwynedd, Wales – Newyddion o Gymru: Rhwydwai
Report by Debbie Humphry. Quotations are all from the participants involved in the Community Enterprises (CEs) unless otherwise indicated. Link to the Map Spaces of Hope – Map (peoplesplans.org) BackContinue reading “From Network to Movement: Community Enterprises in Gwynedd, Wales – Newyddion o Gymru: Rhwydwai” - Planning for People in BrumSpaces of Hope/PeoplesPlans is conducting research on the histories of community-led planning. We have spoken to people who worked with communities to create the spaces and places needed in Birmingham sinceContinue reading “Planning for People in Brum”
- Beyond tokenism: What lessons can we learn from the TCPA’s experience of delivering Planning Aid?The “Spaces of Hope” project is researching and preserving the history of a period when local communities demanded more say in planning decisions. In this guest blogpost, Jack Dangerfield recountsContinue reading “Beyond tokenism: What lessons can we learn from the TCPA’s experience of delivering Planning Aid?”