Spatial planning research reforms practice, participation and policy to empower city regions and communities

Research at the University of Liverpool has transformed the relationship between planning and “the planned”, and has reformed professional planning practice. The research has influenced national, regional, city-region and neighbourhood planning processes in England, France, and South Korea. Engagement with policy makers and communities has led to co-production and empowerment, produced changes that benefit practice and policy, and increased community participation.

 

Issue

In the past, planning for how land is used and developed has been perceived as being disconnected from the places it affects, with limited involvement from the communities it serves. In England, the 2011 Localism Act changed the structures of the planning system, abolishing regional planning and introducing neighbourhood planning, ostensibly to give more power to city-regions and communities.

 

Approach

The research has involved a range of methods, including in-depth individual case-studies in England, analysis of legal decisions in relation to emerging Neighbourhood Plans, comparative case-studies of deprived communities in North-West England and elsewhere in Europe, and work advancing the theoretical landscape in relation to strategic planning.

 

Impact

Research on the status of Neighbourhood Plans across the 40 Local Planning Authorities in the North West of England has been used by Planning Aid England, a charitable body helping individuals and communities engage with the planning system. Members of the team co-founded the North West Neighbourhood Planning Network to enable collaboration between neighbourhood planning groups across the North West of England.

Researchers have directly engaged with city-regional and national governing bodies in the UK, South Korea and France, to rescale planning activity and give city-regions greater control over development in their areas.

This involved:

• Supporting the development of Liverpool’s City Region’s Spatial Development Strategy for 1.6 million people for the next 5 years.

• Advising the Mayor of Seoul on urban regeneration, influencing planning practice, and policy at a city-regional level.

• Advising the French state’s inter-ministerial Plan, Urbanisme, Construction, Architecture unit on housing and city regional governance and planning.

 

More information

• Read the full impact case study in the REF21 database

• Reforming planning systems - University of Liverpool

Institution: University of Liverpool 

Researchers: Dr John Sturzaker, Professor Alex Lord, Dr Olivier Sykes, Dr Alex Nurse