Final project event – recording 8 December 2023 - We held an online event on Wednesday the 29th of November to mark the formal end of the project. Many thanks to all of those who attended and generated a lively discussion, particularly our four guest speakers: Pat Webb on… Continue reading "Final project event – recording"
Good Neighbours? Planning for Real in Birkenhead 28 November 2023 - Whilst researching participatory planning in Birkenhead, the People’s Plans team have uncovered a documentary from the 1980s by Planning for Real pioneer, Tony Gibson. Tony Gibson A key figure in the history of participatory planning, Tony Gibson is best known… Continue reading "Good Neighbours? Planning for Real in Birkenhead"
Women in the Centre: Spaces of Hope Walk 22 November 2023 - The Women in the Centre Walk, produced by Iris Bertz and Emily Baldwin in collaboration with the AHRC-funded Spaces of Hope research team, took place on August 5th 2023. It was part of a series of participatory events that engaged… Continue reading "Women in the Centre: Spaces of Hope Walk"
Case study: 58 Charles Street, Cardiff 17 October 2023 - By Jack Dangerfield Description The 1960s and 1970s saw an upturn in the number of housing clearances in Cardiff’s inner-city area. This had the inevitable effect of increasing homelessness in the city. Faced with the threat of eviction, many communities… Continue reading "Case study: 58 Charles Street, Cardiff"
DICNAC Reunion 7 August 2023 - The People's Plans project recently invited four members of a community-led planning project in Dundee to a reunion - and to roll back the years. In the 1980s, Laurie Bidwell, Bob Barnham, Steve Gillon and Jimmy Black and were at… Continue reading "DICNAC Reunion"
The People’s Plan for the Westway 28 April 2023 - Long-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 Newspaper concluded that every mile of Westway cost the moving or eviction… Continue reading "The People’s Plan for the Westway"
The Communityplanning.net journey 29 March 2023 - by 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) in Central London. A steering group meeting of a project… Continue reading "The Communityplanning.net journey"
Black Environmental Justice: From urban studies to radical rurals in England 23 January 2023 - Debbie Humphry (Oxford Brookes University) interviews Julian Agyeman, founder of the Black Environment Network (9th July 2022) Continue reading "Black Environmental Justice: From urban studies to radical rurals in England"
Insights from a London Community Planner 20 January 2023 - Michael 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 (1985 – 2010) in London as an independent Community Planner, both… Continue reading "Insights from a London Community Planner"City Farms, not roads! 19 December 2022 - 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 Hope project on 23rd November, he “more or less put a… Continue reading "City Farms, not roads!"
Putting Women in the Centre: women’s community planning in Birmingham 8 December 2022 - 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 scouring archives, texts, exhibitions and films and sending out dozens of… Continue 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 2 December 2022 - 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) Back in July 2022, we visited one of our case study… Continue reading "From Network to Movement: Community Enterprises in Gwynedd, Wales – Newyddion o Gymru: Rhwydwai"
Planning for People in Brum 7 November 2022 - Spaces 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 since the 1960s and we are bringing people into conversation together… Continue reading "Planning for People in Brum"
Blog: Claiming space, culture and community through music, ecstasy and dance 7 June 2022 - Debbie Humphry, talking to Coventry-based artist, documentary filmmaker and producer, Adrian Dowling. Photographs by Jamie Shufflebotham Adi Dowling arrived in Coventry from Dublin in the late 1970s, into a culture of de-industrialising despair, “as in poverty, racism, serious violence”. But from… Continue reading "Blog: Claiming space, culture and community through music, ecstasy and dance"
Project Updates – May 2022 #2 31 May 2022 - We have added a list view of examples of community-led planning to the website which lists the examples of historical community-led-planning (CLP) uncovered by the project so far. We want to add as many examples of community-led planning to the… Continue reading "Project Updates – May 2022 #2"
Project Updates – May 2022 10 May 2022 - We have added an interactive map to the website which shows the locations of historical community-led-planning (CLP) examples uncovered by the project so far. We want to add as many examples of community-led planning to the map as we can… Continue reading "Project Updates – May 2022"
Arts in Regeneration: from creative community-led planning to institutional instrumentalism in East London 27 April 2022 - How can images and aesthetics support community led campaigns? In this blog, Loraine Leeson draws on her experiences with the Docklands Community Poster Project, describing how certain images can become a powerful ‘currency’ for communicating issues and arguments to wider… Continue reading "Arts in Regeneration: from creative community-led planning to institutional instrumentalism in East London"
Golborne Community Plan and Neighbourhood Council 7 April 2022 - How have ‘ordinary people’ come together to make decisions about their places, spaces and communities? In this research report, Debbie Humphry explores the story of the Golborne Community Plan and Neighbourhood Council in 1970s London, tracing interconnections of personalities, ideologies… Continue reading "Golborne Community Plan and Neighbourhood Council"
Civil society and ‘community-led planning’ 4 April 2022 - What is 'community-led planning' and how has it been understood over the years? In this blog, Professor Glen O'Hara traces the history of the concept and its relationships with 'civic society', 'regeneration' and activism. The concept of ‘community-led planning’ can… Continue reading "Civil society and ‘community-led planning’"
SE1 Stories. Lessons from the History of Community Organising in one Neighbourhood 15 March 2022 - A recent exhibition about community led planning in North Southwark and North Lambeth gives us food for thought about what lessons we can draw from past experiences of participatory planning and the importance of not letting these histories get hidden.… Continue reading "SE1 Stories. Lessons from the History of Community Organising in one Neighbourhood" Project Updates – January 2022 25 January 2022 - We have added two updates to the About pages on our website. Firstly, we would like to welcome Dr Michael Howcroft to the team. Michael will be based at the University of Sheffield and joins the project as we prepare… Continue reading "Project Updates – January 2022"
Project Update – Autumn/Winter ’21 8 November 2021 - For those interested in finding out more about what we've been up to, we have produced a summary of our activities so far. Continue reading "Project Update – Autumn/Winter ’21"
Project launch: capturing the history of community-led planning 4 May 2021 - Launch of the "Spaces of Hope" project marked by Sue Brownill's article in the Town and Country Planning Journal. Continue reading "Project launch: capturing the history of community-led planning"
Wanted: community planners! 25 February 2021 - Do you know of an interesting example of community-led planning? Do you have experience of participating in community-led planning? Would you like to be involved in a project aiming to document and learn from the hidden history of community-led planning… Continue reading "Wanted: community planners!"