Does Planning Make a Difference to Urban Form? Recent Evidence from Central Scotland

Abstract

Urban form is changing in Britain, with new patterns of development reflecting economic, technological, and transportation conditions in an increasingly competitive framework. Changes in urban form have implications for the environmental sustainability, integration and cohesion, and longer term quality of life in and around cities. Britain has a comprehensive planning system with a strong rhetoric of policies towards these goals. In this paper the authors draw on evidence from recent research, primarily in central Scotland, to assess how far planning actually does make a difference to urban form rather than simply passively responding to demand. They consider some of the systematic tendencies in decentralised planning decisionmaking, some selected evidence of development outcomes, and some insights from major development case studies. The conclusions highlight the differential influence of planning between different development sectors and the obstacles to achieving a more sustainable pattern.

Compact Urban form for Sociability in Urban Neighbourhoods

“…In terms of density, social interactions within high density areas seem to be better as compared to low density areas. This corresponds well with previous studies where it has proven that among the advantages of higher density are larger concentration of people hence it would create demand for communal services that would lead to greater chance for social interactions [10] [21]. However, it is also important to note that there should be a limit to encourage high density neighbourhood or settlement for sustainability.…”

“…Quality of life also relates to having a good relationship between housing and local employment, retail, education and health facilities. This relationship facilitates better social interactions and sense of community within the built environment [10].…”

“…Urban form is referred to as the distribution and pattern of human settlement within the urban areas. Key variables to describe urban forms are density, shape, degree of dispersal or concentration and the quality of the infrastructure for public transport [10].…”

“Sometimes Climate Adaptation is Politically Correct”: A Case Study of Planners and Politicians Negotiating Climate Adaptation in Waterfront Spatial Planning

“…In the UK context, it is claimed that "spatial planning goes beyond traditional land use planning by integrating policies for the development and use of land with other policies and programs which influence the nature of places and how they function" (Clifford, 2012, p. 2. See also Albrechts, 2010;Bramley & Kirk, 2005;Tewdwr-Jones et al, 2010;Vigar, 2009). Another element of spatial planning involves proactively and strategically managing and influencing change (Tewdwr-Jones et al, 2010, p. 240).…”

“…Wilson and Piper (2010, p. 10) define spatial planning as "the ability to plan, in a democratically accountable way, the activities of … sectors (such as housing, energy, economic development, transport and water … that have spatial or landuse consequences in their wider social and environmental context". In this view, spatial planning transcends the mere technical and legal regulation of land use change (Albrechts, 2010;Bramley & Kirk, 2005;Tewdwr-Jones et al, 2010;Vigar, 2009). Instead, planning is assigned a coordinating role of integrating and balancing current and future societal goals, considerations and knowledge claims.…”