Defining And Managing The Historic Urban Landscape: Reflections On The English Experience And Some Stories From Liverpool

The period since the 1960s has been characterised by growing societal concern with urban heritage protection and the development of legislative, fiscal and urban planning instruments that seek to ensure the protection and enhancement of historic buildings and environments. International organisations such as UNESCO and European level documents such as the European Spatial Development Perspective (ESDP) have stressed the cultural and economic value of the ‘wise management of natural and cultural heritage’. Since the 1970s many cities have sought to redefine and regenerate themselves through a revalorisation of their past and the protection and enhancement of their historic urban landscapes. Urban heritage has thus often come to be seen as a component of the territorial capital of places, and often had a symbiotic relationship with the objective of urban regeneration. However, urban heritage is not a static concept and ideas about what constitutes heritage, the value of different historic urban environments, and the contribution they can make to city development and regeneration continue to evolve. This paper reflects on this evolution in the context of the English planning system and illustrates some key trends and issues surrounding urban heritage through a consideration of recent and ongoing heritage related planning episodes in the northern English city of Liverpool

Evaluating the application of the European spatial development perspective in the United Kingdom: Methodological considerations and emerging trends

The aim of this paper is to consider how the emerging European spatial development policy agenda is influencing the performance of regional strategic planning in the United Kingdom. In May 1999 the Ministers of Spatial Planning meeting at Potsdam, Germany, agreed on the final version of the European Spatial Development Perspective (ESDP) to guide spatially significant public policy making at all spatial scales from the Community level, to the regional/local level. The status of the ESDP as a non-binding and indicative, rather than prescriptive, document means that it seeks to guide institutions in the exercise of existing competences, which influence spatial development. Its application is therefore to be achieved through voluntary co-operation based on the principle of subsidiarity. One of the key aims of the ESDP Action Plan agreed at Tampere in October 1999 was the promotion of a spatial dimension in Community and national policies, including the integration of ESDP policy orientations into national spatial planning. Such moves towards a 'Europeanisation of state, regional and urban planning' can be seen as echoing Bruce Milan`s statement in the foreword to Europe 2000 that planning in isolation is no longer possible. Informed by this context, the focus of this paper is the application of the principles of 'Europeanisation' and 'spatialisation' to Regional Planning Guidance (RPG) documents in the UK. The paper will evaluate the extent to which the ESDP and the wider European context for planning are being used to inform and shape the development of RPG for the English regions. National policy on regional planning in England: PPG 11 - Regional Planning (DETR: 2000), makes clear that the European context and the ESDP provide an important context for the preparation of regional plans, and that they should be taken into account when developing the spatial strategy for the region and where appropriate in relation to any relevant policies. Consideration will be given to the way in which the spatial planning policy messages and approach of the ESDP have been integrated into the regional planning process and how they have helped to inform the development of substantive objectives for regional planning policy. The paper is based on work commissioned by the UK Planning Officers Society from the Department of Civic Design at Liverpool University and work completed towards ESRC supported PhD research.

Editorial

This issue of Transactions of AESOP brings together a series of papers which reflect on the European Spatial Development Perspective (ESDP) document which was adopted by the then member states of the European Union (EU) in Potsdam, Germany in 1999, and is published shortly after the adoption in December 2020 of a new EU Territorial Agenda 2030 document under the recent German EU Presidency. It features an introduction and five original papers which explore the legacies of the ESDP and the present and future prospects for European territorial development and urban policy

Editorial

This issue of Transactions of AESOP brings together papers that address key contemporary planning themes and agendas with a particular emphasis on appreciating the importance of time and space in shaping the substantive matters planning addresses and the manner in which it responds to these

Editorial

This issue (5.2) of Transactions of AESOP brings together a selection of papers which address current themes and issues in planning education. Two of the papers reflect on the experience of teaching modules submitted to recent rounds of the AESOP Excellence in Teaching Award (ETA), one reports on an experience of internationalisation in planning education, and one is an invited paper by Andrea Frank the present Chair of the AESOP ETA Committee. They all provide original and insightful contributions addressing key themes in contemporary planning education including, the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, new technologies and modes of teaching delivery, the teaching of landscape in planning programmes, and, the internationalisation of planning cohorts and curricula

Editorial

This issue (5.1) of Transactions of AESOP brings together a selection of papers submitted to recent rounds of the Best AESOP Congress Paper Award and an invited paper by Tuna Taşan-Kok the Chair of the AESOP Congress Paper Award Committee. They provide original and insightful contributions addressing key themes in contemporary planning research and practice

Aftermath: the consequences of the result of the 2016 EU referendum for heritage conservation in the United Kingdom

In June 2016 a referendum was held in the UK on membership of the European Union. Two of the territories of the UK, England and Wales voted to leave the EU whilst two, Scotland and Northern Ireland voted to remain. The overall result was a narrow UK vote to leave the EU. Perhaps the one thing that all sides in a now deeply divided state can agree on is that the decision to leave the EU is a momentous one. Internally the position of Scotland and Northern Ireland within the UK is a key issue. In England the status and role of London and other major cities (which also mostly voted to remain in the EU) in relation to other regions, is also a matter of debate (BBC News, 2016). Less attention has been given to the many and varied relationships that local authorities have developed with the EU since the UK joined the then EEC in the 1970s. The withdrawal will impact diverse areas of their work – for example, experts predict it will lead to a hollowing out of environmental protection (Travers, 2016). How it will affect the heritage sector however, has received scant attention in the referendum campaign and since the result. This Viewpoint provides some reflections on this issue