New links - the NPPF and the Portas Review.

Two new links form the basis of today’s post.

The link on the right to the National Planning Policy Framework in its draft form.
The National Planning Policy Framework has  actually now gone through Parliament. You can read the finalised  document here.

I spoke to a planner recently who thought that the new planning guidelines will lead to lots of applications being challenged in the courts. Like most pieces of law, it is often only when you can refer to a body of case law, does it become apparent how a piece of legislation will be enforced. At any rate, the debate surrounding the correct approach to British Planning and urban design will run and run.

Here is  the Portas Review by Mary  Portas,  into the future of our high streets.

It is, of course, true that retail patterns are shifting, much of it moving to online shopping. There is, I would argue, still a role for physical spaces as opposed to virtual spaces. In the report by Mary Quant, commissioned by David Cameron, she stressed what she argued was the social capital of the High Street.

Incidentally, when the internet was invented, some people predicted the traditional library would now become irrelevant. As far as I can see, libraries are still going strong. In fact, architects like David Adjaye and Rem Koolhaas have virtually re-invented the library.