Some occasional pieces celebrating people, organisations, books and experiences.

Happy birthday LUC Land Use Consultants asked me to speak at their 40th birthday party.  I said why I valued them so highly.

Formative moments   Ecos invited some contributors to say what formed their environmental consciouness.  For me it was vivid experiences of some pretty ordinary events – digging up potatos, a wet bike ride.

In praise of the Development Planning Unit  A piece written for DPU’s newsletter on why I admire and value its work researching and teaching about urban planning in developing countries.

Lessons from Barcelona  As a member of one of the Urban Task Force’s working groups I leapt at the chance to join the UTF’s study tour of Barcelona.  This short report sets out what I think the UK should learn from the city’s regeneration – and some caveats and limitations.

Happy birthday CAG  I was a member of CAG Consultants from 1992 to 2001, and was one of three ex-Caggies invited to speak at the co-operative’s 21st birthday party in 2003.  I reflect on what made CAG special.

Influential books The ones that changed my life: Wyndham’s Day of the Triffids, Kuhn’s Structure of Scientific Revolutions,  Richard Ballantine’s Richard’s Bicycle Book, the social contract theorists, and Girouard’s Cities and People.