Rebuilding Britain: Planning for a Better Future

by Hugh Ellis, Kate Henderson

Overview

Britain faces extraordinary challenges, from climate change to growing inequality and global economics, but as a nation it has no plan for the future. This unique book asks a simple question: how can Britain organise itself, not just for survival but to build a fairer and sustainable society? The arguments refer to the high ambitions of those who pioneered the planning movement and campaigned for a clear set of progressive values, but whose drive for utopia has now been forgotten.

The book takes a distinctive approach to exploring the value to society of social town planning and offers a doorway for how planning, both morally and practically, can help to meet key challenges of the 21st century. It challenges the widely held view that it’s impossible to achieve a better future by suggesting that there is real choice in how society develops and pointing to contemporary examples of utopia.

This accessible book makes essential reading for students in the built environment and the wider social sciences who have an interest in UK and European examples of sustainable communities.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781447317609
Publisher:	Policy Press
Publication date:	09/24/2014
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	184
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

Hugh Ellis joined the TCPA as Chief Planner in March 2009 where he is responsible for the Association’s work on climate change and planning reform. Prior to this, Hugh had been Planning Adviser to Friends of the Earth and held a teaching and research post at the University of Sheffield.

Kate Henderson is Chief Executive of Britain's oldest charity concerned with planning, housing and the environment, the Town and Country Planning Association (TCPA). She is responsible for leading the Association’s efforts to shape and advocate planning policies that put social justice and the environment at the heart of the debate.

Kate Henderson is Chief Executive of the TCPA and a visiting professor at the Bartlett School of Planning, University College London.
Hugh Ellis is Head of Policy at the Town and Country Planning Association (TCPA) and Honorary Professor at the School of Planning, Architecture and Civil Engineering, Queen’s University Belfast.

Table of Contents

PART ONE: We are not a poor nation but we are badly organized;

How are we going to live?;

Why care about the future?;

A forgotten heritage of hope;

PART TWO: The lie of the land!;

The nature of the challenge;

A divided nation;

The housing crisis;

The climate change challenge;

Economic transformation;

A disconnected politics;

PART THREE: Practical steps to building a better society;

A fair and efficient society;

Rebuilding Trust;

Building the communities we need;

Providing a resilient and low-carbon future;

Paying for Utopia;

PART FOUR: Tomorrow’s pioneers;

Utopia on your doorstep;

Too Late for Utopia?

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"This is the right book at the right time, providing an eloquent and insightful analysis of the many challenges facing modern Britain. Kate Henderson and Hugh Ellis offer an ambitious formula for rebuilding the nation and a convincing restatement of the essential role of planning in that project, when underpinned by foresight and vision" Professor Nick Gallent, UniversityCollege London

“Rebuilding Britain is a thought-provoking, engaging and accessible way of understanding the choices we face about what kind of country we want to live in and build for future generations. It’s a book which rightly prompts us to act.” Julia Unwin, Chief Executive, Joseph Rowntree Foundation

Editorial Reviews

"Elegant, pithy and well-written, the book is not just a passionate case for planning, but a useful summary of the history of the subject in Britain." - Housing Studies

"This is an important book which seeks to recapture, re-imagine and re-instate the social objectives and utopian thinking which are so badly needed in planning, if we are ever to get to grips with challenges that we currently face." Sarah Longlands, NewStart Magazine

"Loss of "strategic planning" is just one of the disconnects which Hugh Ellis and Kate Henderson point up in this powerful and provocative book, a call to arms to re-invigorate a planning system in crisis." PlanningResource

"A very welcome book. It is short, well written and relatively cheap. I have not yet seen it on the best seller lists – perhaps people are waiting for Christmas – but it deserves a wide readership." - Shaun Spiers, CPRE

From the Publisher

The twenty-first century introduced emerging challenges Britain and the world has not confronted before. Issues like demographic change, urbanization, and climate change demand new ways to plant for the present and future. Rebuilding Britain will inspire a generation of planners and leaders to think differently and to embrace their role as guardians of our common future.

commissioner, New York City Department of Parks and Recreation - Mitchell J. Silver

Rebuilding Britain is a thought-provoking, engaging, and accessible way of understanding the choices we face about what kind of country we want to live in and build for future generations. It’s a book which rightly prompts us to act.

CEO, Joseph Rowntree Foundation - Julia Unwin

Elegant, pithy, and well-written, the book is not just a passionate case for planning, but a useful summary of the history of the subject in Britain.

Housing Studies

This is the right book at the right time, providing an eloquent and insightful analysis of the many challenges facing modern Britain. Henderson and Ellis offer an ambitious formula for rebuilding the nation and a convincing restatement of the essential role of planning in that project, when underpinned by foresight and vision.

University College London - Nick Gallent

Loss of ‘strategic planning’ is just one of the disconnects which Hugh Ellis and Kate Henderson point up in this powerful and provocative book, a call to arms to reinvigorate a planning system in crisis.

PlanningResource

This is an important book which seeks to recapture, reimagine, and reinstate the social objectives and utopian thinking which are so badly needed in planning, if we are ever to get to grips with challenges that we currently face.

NewStart: The Magazine for Making Better Places (UK)

This is an important book which seeks to recapture, reimagine, and reinstate the social objectives and utopian thinking which are so badly needed in planning, if we are ever to get to grips with challenges that we currently face.

NewStart: The Magazine for Making Better Places (UK)