Professor Michael Neuman, Professor of Sustainable Urbanism, recently held a launch event for his new book ‘The Routledge Handbook of Regional Design’, co-edited by Professor Wil Zonneveld, Professor of Urban and Regional Planning, at Delft University of Technology (TU Delft).
The book launch, held at the University of Westminster’s School of Architecture and Cities, welcomed an audience from around the world, including Chile, Germany, the Netherlands, and the USA. The audience included distinguished practitioners, scholars, and students, including Professors from Cambridge, UCL, TU Delft, USC (California), TU Munich, Groningen, Santiago de Chile and others.
The new book, titled ‘The Routledge Handbook of Regional Design’, explores contemporary research, policy, and practice that highlight critical aspects of strategy-making, planning, and designing for contemporary regions — including city regions, bioregions, delta regions, and their hybrids.
Speaking on the discussion following the launch, Professor Neuman said: “The participants were clear in recognising that cities are now city regions, and require effective governance means that traditional local and national governments cannot provide, or provide less optimally than desirable, to meet the needs of the 21st century city."
He continued: “This need for effective regional governance is particularly acute in the UK, where regional planning, policy and institutions were abolished in the 1980s. New initiatives like the Northern Powerhouse, as promising and well-intentioned as they, are struggling to meet new demands without sufficient resources or governmental framework and support.”
Professor Neuman's research and practice span urbanism, planning, design, engineering, sustainability, infrastructure, and governance. He is a multi-award winning author and advises governments and private clients around the world.
Find out more about the book on the Routledge website.
