Royal Town Planning Institute

This week we celebrated the 50th anniversary of Sylvia Law's inauguration as RPTI's first female president. This occasion highlighted the significant changes the Institute has undergone in the last half century. According to her obituary in The Times, Sylvia Law's presidency was regarded as an 'extraordinary feat'. Her inauguration in 1974 marked a pivotal moment for the RTPI and the planning profession as a whole. While her appointment symbolised a significant shift towards gender equality, progress following her presidency was gradual. It took 20 years for the Institute to welcome its second female president, Hazel Mckay, and another 14 years before the third, Janet O’Neill, assumed the role. However, the pace of change accelerated after Skippers, with seven female presidents inaugurated in the following 15 years. The current Vice President of the RTPI, Helen Fadipe, is set to become the 11th female president next year. During the celebration, influential women from various sectors of the profession shared their reflections on Sylvia Law and her impact. Notably, RTPI President Lindsey Richards emphasised the enduring relevance of Sylvia's inauguration speech, particularly in addressing issues such as the shortage of planners, lack of trust, climate change, and the complex relationship with planners, all of which remain pertinent today. Read her full Presidential speech, taken from The Planner archive: https://lnkd.in/esJKPCAF While the RTPI has made strides in promoting gender equity in the industry, there remains more to be done, particularly in increasing the representation of women in senior leadership positions. The Institute continues to champion diversity and gender equality, recognising the importance of fostering an inclusive and equitable planning profession. #womeninplanning #femalepresident #genderequity #builtenvironment

VACANCY: We are looking for a Membership Engagement Manager to lead and manage the development and implementation of RTPI’s strategic membership engagement plan. It's an exciting time to join the team as we develop and deliver high quality, customer-centric membership journeys. The closing date for applications is 4 August. Apply now: https://lnkd.in/eW_6hT_P #membership #recruitment

Plenty of causes to celebrate - RTPI President Lindsey Richards reflects on the teams and individuals being recognised for their contribution, commitment and positive ways of working. Read more: https://lnkd.in/ewzaxGTE

Online CPD - Planning for Non-planners Book now: https://lnkd.in/eESNtuK4

The RTPI has noted the emphasis on the planning system's pivotal role in the government's plan to revive the UK economy, as outlined in the King's Speech. Victoria Hills, Chief Executive of the RTPI, said: “The government has laid the groundwork for achieving its housing and infrastructure ambitions by setting plans to increase the capacity of local planning authorities. "We believe that these measures will not only restore trust in the planning system but also demonstrate that with sufficient resources, the planning system can effectively create spaces where communities can thrive. “It is essential for planners to make a significant impact within the government's first parliamentary term. To achieve this, measures such as ringfencing resources, allowing councils to set their own fees at an appropriate level for their area, and enabling full cost recovery for their services need to be implemented quickly.” On modernising planning committees: “The Institute believes planning committees need modernisation and could include a national scheme of delegation, allowing planning officers to make some decisions themselves. "Qualified planners should be able to implement agreed planning policy, freeing up councillors' time to focus on the most challenging planning cases. This change would help to unblock many applications and speed up the planning process." "The RTPI will also be considering how our experiences running the Politicians in Planning network (PiPN) can inform any new training for politicians on planning committees. "We will also examine how the hybrid or virtual planning committee models, which we successfully advocated for, can help to open up the planning process to a more diverse and inclusive range of people." On Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects: “We have repeatedly emphasised the importance of clearer, more spatial and up-to-date national infrastructure policy to speed up project delivery and clarify where projects should be delivered. This involves updating our National Infrastructure Strategy and requiring National Policy Statements to be reviewed at least every 5 years.” On devolution: "We have long called for metro mayors to have strategic planning powers. We welcome today’s announcements as an essential step in ensuring that the new housing developments are well located and well integrated with industrial strategy, to deliver the billions in economic growth that our research has shown is possible. "We believe it will not only enhance cooperation across housing market areas and diminish local political obstacles, but provide certainty to investors." #planningreform #housing #infrastructure #devolution

Members, Past Presidents and RTPI staff from across the Institute gathered in London for a special celebration marking 50 years of inspirational women. In 1974 the RTPI inaugurated Sylvia Law as the first female president - a  landmark moment for the RTPI and the planning profession. We invited trailblazing women from across the profession to share their thoughts on Sylvia Law and her influence on the profession. RTPI President Lindsey Richards FRTPI highlighted how much Sylvia's inauguration speech still resonates today. Even in 1974 there was talk of the shortage of planners, lack of trust, climate change, the love-hate relationship with planners. Lindsey said how proud she was to be the 10th female President. Academic and RTPI Fellow Janice Morphet became a member in 1974 and remembers meeting Sylvia. Janice highlighted Sylvia's trailblazing career, going from teaching to planning. She broke the mould by joining the newly formed GLC and developed expertise in the link between cities and the countryside and access to green space. "She showed commitment and courage." Past President Wei Yang was born in 1974 and has a special connection with Sylvia. Both were Associate members and Sylvia had a huge influence on her career. The Times obituary said it was an 'extraordinary feat' for Sylvia to be President. Danielle St Pierre MRTPI, founder of planning consultancy Hybrid Planning, picked out Sylvia's notion of continuous professional development and knowledge sharing.  "We never stop learning as planners" RTPI has been fostering gender equity in the industry but more can be done in the profession, such as more women in senior leadership positions. Finally Risikat Bukola Bello spoke as a female pioneer from Nigeria, representing the global nature of RTPI membership. She is the National Chairman of the Association of Women Town Planners in Nigeria and Fellow of the Nigerian Institute of Town Planners. She talked about the objectives of the Nigerian Institute and its work with female planners and called out to British planners to collaborate on capacity building. Thanks to Howden Insurance Brokers Limited for sponsoring and hosting the event at their spectacular office. #womeninplanning #trailblazingwomen #celebration

RTPI Assessors are involved in one of the key stages of a planner's career and are central to ensuring that the Institute's high professional standards are maintained. We love celebrating the achievements of our assessors and it’s so important for us to recognise their hard work and loyalty to the RTPI and the planning profession. Graham Bloomfield has been an all-routes APC Assessor for over 10 years. Read his thoughts on the impact of being an assessor and why there is an increased demand for them: https://lnkd.in/eQtBf2wa #apc #assessment #professionalstandards

RTPI Membership Elections: Do you want to be or do you know someone who can be the figurehead for the RTPI and the planning profession and inspire our members? Nominations are still open for the next Vice President, whose main duties will be speaking at engagements to promote the profession to a wide national and international audience, and to inspire members through visits and events. The VP role sits in the Presidential Team and will allow the person elected to take on some duties in 2025 in preparation for the Presidency in 2026. Find out more about the role and how to make a nomination: https://lnkd.in/eDk5ckyd

"Nutrient neutrality alone will not improve the condition of our rivers. We need to move from the essential short-term measures to a long-term restorative process." Mark Hand, RTPI Director of Wales, explores solutions to water quality in some of Wales’ most environmentally important rivers. Read more: https://lnkd.in/eTNd9NFs

Congratulations to the 20 finalists announced today for the 2024 RTPI Award for Research Excellence. 🙌 This year we received an incredible 226 entries across the five award categories, - nearly double that of 2023. The winners will be announced during the UK-Ireland Planning Research Conference on 2 September at the University of Reading. Early Career Researcher Award ⭐ Tongping HAO (University of Hong Kong): Optimization of tree locations to reduce human heat stress in an urban park. ⭐ Caterina Villani, (University College Dublin): Failed pedestrian street experiments in high-density urban Asia ⭐ Charles Goode, (University of Birmingham): Transit Oriented Development in regional urban growth boundaries. ⭐ Martha Mingay, (University of Sheffield): Understanding Urban Community Land Trust Activism ⭐ Robert Richardson, (University of Glasgow): Conceptualising 'street-level' urban design governance in Scotland. Student Award ⭐ Rebecca Burrows (Leeds Beckett University): Decarbonising England’s Historic Buildings ⭐ KH M Rifat Foysal (Cardiff University): A Novel Approach to Understand the Spatial & Socio-Demographic Distribution of EV Charging Stations in Dundee City ⭐ Jemma Clark (Queen's University Belfast): Teenagers Experience of Chippenham's Public Space. ⭐ Louise Brace (University of Brighton): The Role of Local Planning Authority Plan-Making in Rural Renewable Energy Production. ⭐ Bethany Harris (Oxford Brookes University): Climate Change, Action, and Governance: Analysis of the Essex Climate Action Commission. Planning Practitioner Award ⭐ Keith Mitchell (Stantec): Bridging the Gap. ⭐ Charlotte Mohn (UN-Habitat; International Organization for Migration): From Dadaab Camp to Kismayo City: A Call for Local Evidence to Inform Durable Solutions. Sir Peter Hall Award for Wider Engagement ⭐ Hannah Hickman, (University of West England): Project hindsight - post decision implementation. ⭐ Pablo Sendra (UCL): Assembling Under the Westway: The Emergence of Social Infrastructure in North Kensington, London. ⭐ Teresa Strachan (Newcastle University): Engaging Children and Young People in Planning. Academic Award ⭐ James White (University of Glasgow) : The Planning, Design, and Development of Toronto's CityPlace. ⭐ Prof. Matthew Carmona (UCL): Urban design governance Soft powers and the European experience. ⭐ Prof. Matthew Carmona (UCL): Coding urban design, Constructing a wireframe for a place-focused urbanism ⭐ Mark Dobson (University of Reading): Slow Planning? ⭐ Chris Foye (UCL): Why have the volume housebuilders been so profitable? #researchawards #researchexcellence #planningschools