Cities and communities

Bridging housing studies and social policy, this book analyses competing interpretations of the role and value of social housing in the UK.

The author provides new research on the relationship between housing and wellbeing, and challenges the pervasive policy and social consensus that owner-occupation is the ‘natural’ choice of aspiring people.

As cities sprawl skywards and private renting expands, this compelling geographic analysis of property identifies high-rise development’s overlooked hand in social segregation and urban fragmentation, and raises bold questions about the condominium’s prospects.

This book offers a unique look at streets as locations that can evolve to support the economic, social, cultural and natural aspects of cities. It focuses on how the power of streets can be harnessed to shape more dynamic spaces for walking, biking and living and stimulate urban vitality and community regeneration.

Connolly draws on the recent changes in the Malaysian state of Penang to open up new perspectives on urban development, governance and the politics of place. Reviewing the role of residents, activists, planners and other experts in socio-natural changes and urban regeneration, it builds an important new framework of landscape political ecology.

This original study makes a compelling case for a more ethical approach to urban development and management. Countering the conventional, neoliberal thinking of urban planners and academics, it uses case studies to show how a philosophy of caring can promote the wellbeing of our cities’ many inhabitants.

This unique, holistic and radical perspective on participatory practice has been updated to reflect on advances made in the past decade and the impact of austerity. The innovative text bridges the divide between community development ideas and practice and considers how to bring about transformative social change.

This book provides a compact analysis for students and early-career practitioners of the critical connections between place capitals and the broader practices of planning, seeded within rural communities. It introduces the breadth of the discipline, presenting examples of what planning means and what it can achieve in different rural places.

Urban experts consider the future of night-time economies’ governance during the pandemic and beyond in this scholarly and accessible guide. They use global case studies to illustrate a range of socio-economic issues in cities after dark, and investigate the role of public and private sectors and leaders in shaping urban planning and policy.

Global building and construction cultures are hard-wired to constructing too much, too badly, with major social and ecological consequences. Rob Imrie calls us to build less and to build better as a pre-requisite for enhancing welfare and well-being.

Exploring the challenges of climate change, Brexit and recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, Peter Hetherington argues that we need to re-shape the countryside with an adventurous new agenda for rural life outside the EU.

This Separated Isle explores how concepts of ‘Britishness’ reveal an inclusive range of understandings about our national character. Featuring a diverse range of photographic portraits and narrative stories from across the UK, this landmark book examines the relationship between identity and nationhood, revealing the ties that bind us together.

This book provides an innovative perspective to consider contemporary urban challenges through the lens of urban vacancy. The contributors develop new empirical insights that rethink ruination, urban development and political contestation over the re-use of vacant spaces in post-crisis cities across the globe.