I was happy to provide a perspective on the prospects for place-based devolution and engagement for a ‘devolution panel’ for The Conversation this week, in the run up to Andy Burnham becoming Prime Minister @casaucl.bsky.social @thebartlettucl.bsky.social

This is remarkable.

Session 1 is live at #CPRELUC: How did we get here? Emma Pinchbeck @thecccuk.bsky.social, Guy Shrubsole guyshrubsole.bsky.social, Prof Mark Tewdwr-Jones @ucl.ac.uk and Sue Pritchard @ffc-commission.bsky.social are making the case for rethinking how England uses its land.

Launching Regions in Evolution: A History of Regional Planning by Daniel Galland @marktewdwr-jones.bsky.social & @drjwharrison.bsky.social at @regstud.bsky.social Conference in Gothenburg 17 June 2pm w/ Jennifer Clark, Andy Pike, @mrglassphd.bsky.social & Simin Yan www.routledge.com/Regions-in-E...

🚨 👩‍🎓 👨‍🎓 📚 PHD OPPORTUNITY! Fully-funded 3 year UCL PhD at @casaucl.bsky.social. Start in October 2026 or February 2027. Deadline to apply is Weds 1 July 23:59 BST. Please share widely! www.ucl.ac.uk/bartlett/cas...

Land Use Conference - meet the speakers (part two) 💚 Join academics, experts, campaigners, broadcasters and decision-makers to discuss solutions to England's land crisis. @marktewdwr-jones.bsky.social @ucl.ac.uk @3keel.bsky.social 25 June | Register now 👇 www.cpre.org.uk/land-use-con...

New report: Re-thinking planning for growth & infrastructure delivery. A framework for how Spatial Development Strateiges can be prepared by strategic planning authorities in England, and the digital & innovation opportunities for integration of data & intelligence cp.catapult.org.uk/report/rethi...

Professor Andy Inch delivering the 2026 Nathaniel Lichfield Lecture last night under the auspices of the @rtpiplanners.bsky.social. Andy asked where the radicalism has gone in urban planning today, and revealed the history of radical alternative thought and practice in planning over the last century

Two days in Cambridge as a contributor to the REHDA Institute Housing and Urban Planning Forum, and listening to The Hon. Nga Kor Ming, President, UN-Habitat Assembly and Minister of Housing and Local Government of Malaysia, discussing housing development at a time of global economic tensions

Just catching up with the absolutely brilliant BBC Arena documentary The Private Life of the Ford Cortina from 1981. Informative but also tongue in cheek. Why don’t we make programmes like this anymore? You can still watch it on BBC iPlayer www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

Published today: Regions in Evolution: A History of Regional Planning by Daniel Galland, @marktewdwr-jones.bsky.social and @drjwharrison.bsky.social @routledgebooks.bsky.social @regstud.bsky.social gawc.lboro.ac.uk/new-book-reg...

Announcing the publication of Regions in Evolution, by Daniel Galland, John Harrison and myself, a history of regional planning internationally. It will be available as hardback, paperback, and ebook. The book is available to order here: www.routledge.com/Regions-in-E...

Happy 200th birthday @uclnews.bsky.social! I’ve devoted nearly 20 years of my career to UCL and still love the place, and the opportunity to interact with my brilliant colleagues and inspiring students. Here’s a pic from way back in about 2002. I’m not sure what Nick Gallent and I were gazing at…

The CASA Connected Environments Lab, led by Prof Duncan Wilson & Prof Steven Gray, has built an IoT Bus Tracker for the shuttle service between Stratford Station & UCL East, designed and operated by students. https://studentsunionucl.org/articles/ucl-east-shuttle-bus-your-journey-just-got-easier

I have received finally a copy of this superb book Margaret Calvert: Woman at Work, dedicated to the life & work of the designer that I was also delighted to support from the outset. Her designs are all around us, at railway stations, airports, roads, hospitals, & the metro. What a phenomenal career

Andy’s new book Cities in the Metaverse is out now, alongside a new album Place and Space, available to download. Colleagues @casaucl.bsky.social pushing the boundaries of knowledge further in our quest to understand cities through science

RIP Martin Parr. Photographer extraordinaire and a brilliant portrayer of everyday British life. Truly inspirational www.theguardian.com/artanddesign...

Delighted to be back at @cpcatapult.bsky.social as an advisor looking at the potential for strategic digital planning in the context of the Planning and Infrastructure Bill & the Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill - integration, strategic thinking, strategic stakeholder engagement

Congrats Holly 👏 Looking forward to receiving my copy today.

New guidance issued for researchers engaging with the UK government. The Government Office for Science has updated its guidance on how academics can engage with government, outlining practical routes for impact & influence at every career stage @thebartlettucl.bsky.social www.gov.uk/government/p...

For prospective Masters students interested in cities and computing, mapping and visualisation, digital connectivity and data analysis, here’s your chance to learn more about our stellar programmes at UCL CASA in London

Interested in cities, places, connectivity, & planning? Applications are open for fully-funded UCL ESRC doctoral studentships through the UBEL partnership. The deadline is 10 November. See further details & eligibility criteria at ubel-dtp.ac.uk/postdoctoral... Contact [email protected]

That’s my weekend listening sorted. New album has arrived @warringtonruncorn.com

I’m so sorry to hear that Sir Terry Farrell has passed away. He was a giant of urbanism, the creator of some spectacular architecture especially in China & Hong Kong, a masterplanner of Newcastle, and the instigator of the Farrell Centre. This is from 2017 when Terry received the RTPI Gold Medal

The Government has announced the candidate locations of 12 new new towns. A good geographical spread and mix of greenfield and urban infilling sites that should be all well connected through public transport

Communities are self-organising increasingly to run their own local services. But why do some so-called ‘DIY urbanism’ projects survive and others fail? New open access publication by Zulfikar D. W. Putra & Mark Tewdwr-Jones now published in Cities www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

A fascinating day at @cpcatapult.bsky.social looking at integrated planning & the prospect of unlocking the potential of planning. Thanks to my panel members Terry De Sousa, David Mountain, & Annette Jezierska for their rich thoughts on spatial development strategies and digital planning

I was delighted to give the plenary talk at the UK Ireland Planning Research Conference at the University of Ulster last week on Planning Futures as the Right of Truth: Unsettling Planning in the Digital Age. Thanks to the organising committee 📸@drcatbutton.bsky.social

I don’t fly very often these days if I can help it, but the aerial view of London on my return flight to London City from Belfast on Sunday was superb. Amazing to see the transformation of Elephant & Castle from this perspective

A superb collection of archive railway films presented this evening BFI NFT with @mrtimdunn.bsky.social and Steve Foxon acting as comperes, covering 200 years of railway history but also showing the creative talent of filmmaking over 130 years. A packed audience of 400 too

Congratulations to my student Yuna Lee on the successful defence of her PhD thesis on Strategic Foresight and Policy Making in the US and UK yesterday @casaucl.bsky.social. Thanks to examiners Louise Kempton & Rainer Kattel, and Mike Batty for being part of the supervisory team

Announcing a forthcoming book, “Regions in Evolution - A History of Regional Planning”, a critical and deep analytical look at the ebbs & flows of regional planning globally over 100 years, with @drjwharrison.bsky.social & Daniel Galland, due to be published early in 2026

Such sad news. I worked with Rachel on Future of Cities, UKRI, Connected Places Catapult & N8 partnership. She was wonderful, inspiring & humorous. Rachel was one of the few people who could transcend disciplines, sectors & academic/policy worlds. I will miss her wise counsel & friendship.

Wonderful to be back in my university ‘home’ at School of Geography and Planning Cardiff University to give a talk on urban futures, interact with so many knowledgeable people across the university, and to catch up with many friends, exactly 35 years since I graduated.

Delightful to speak with MSc Spatial Planning students at @thebartlettucl.bsky.social in a double-act on digital planning with the wonderful Bridget Wilkins of @mhclgdigital.blog.gov.uk.web.brid.gy outlining opportunities & challenges of digitalising planning

Announcing the publication of a new book on planning theory, Critical Planning Futures, with some amazing contributions from academics across the Global South & North, all devoted to analysing the form & future of urban planning. Plus this is Book #20 for me! www.routledge.com/Critical-Pla...

Passionate talk about the prospects for the future of the North East by @kimmcguinness.bsky.social the Mayor of the North East at the @ucl.ac.uk @thebartlettucl.bsky.social Sir Peter Hall Lecture 2025 including discussion of devolution

I’ve been clearing my parents’ house & came across another one of my drawings. This is ‘A Little Town’ drawn when I was 8 in 1977. Some attempt at perspective but incredible attention to detail like road markings. Clearly it was destined that I would have a career in urban planning

So that’s my reading sorted out for the next few weeks. Very much looking forward to reading Owen Hatherley’s new book showing how Central European emigres transformed 20th century Britain

A concept from Jack Napper and T Dan Smith for a new regional transport scheme. It predated the origin of the Tyne & Wear Metro by just 10 years. Currently also a feature at the Concrete Dreams exhibition at The Farrell Centre & previously at the Idea of North exhibition at the Baltic Centre

When does a “non-place” become a “place” and can people’s use of digital technology give new meaning to the locations they are in? New open access article published in @cogitatioup.bsky.social by Weijue Wang, @marktewdwr-jones.bsky.social & @vsigno.bsky.social www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplannin...

UCL Geography has 3 jobs on offer that would be a fit for geospatial and/or health folk. Lecturer in Geographies of Health x 2 (with “spatial analysis") lnkd.in/enH4h2iX Associate Lecturer (Teaching) in Geospatial Data Analysis & Cartography (0.5 fte, 12 months) lnkd.in/eKqaG7FW

The latest title in the Routledge @rtpiplanners.bsky.social RTPI Library book series is Rural Planning Futures edited by @markscott-ucd.bsky.social John Sturzaker Nick Gallent @gavinparker.bsky.social Amy Burnett & @ianmell.bsky.social www.routledge.com/RTPI-Library...

The Promise of Planning by Philip Harrison & Alison Todes is one of the latest books in our @rtpiplanners.bsky.social RTPI Library series for Routledge, discussing recent changes to South African planning. As series editor, I’m always open to ideas for new titles www.routledge.com/RTPI-Library...

Wonderful visit to the University of Cambridge to give my annual lecture on digital governance and digital planning to Department of Land Economy students and to have a great catch up (and walk to Grantchester in warm spring sunshine) with the brilliant Claire Colomb

As a planner, even I think this is a nonsense decision

Applications to the @thebartlettucl.bsky.social Bartlett Promise PhD Scholarships 2025 for those from an under-represented background can now be made. Please check eligibility criteria www.ucl.ac.uk/bartlett/stu...

A pleasure to listen and see the professorial inaugural by @tim-waterman.co.uk of @thebartlettucl.bsky.social this evening discussing landscape futures imaginaries

The Class of 95. Postgrad planning students of Cardiff University visiting Karlovy Vary in the Czech Republic in March 1995, led by your’s truly when I was a lecturer at CPLAN. Photo posted by @garethenticott.bsky.social

I have been fortunate this week to visit both University of Sydney and UNSW and to give a presentation at the UNSW City Futures Research Centre on digital engagement and strategic planning for new metro transport schemes. Wonderful to catch up with friends after a gap of so many years too