Planning hosts 'A tale of two cities'
Published on Mon 31 Mar 2014
Town & Regional Planning, in conjunction with the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI), recently told 'A tale of two cities', discussing the past, present and future of Perth and Dundee in terms of planning and development.
The event formed part of the celebrations of the 50th anniversary of planning education at the University whilst the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) marks its centenary in 2014.
Perth and Dundee are the only two cities in the area covered by the RTPI’s East of Scotland Chapter, and the University has helped to shape both over the past half-century as many planning graduates have gone on to work in local authorities in Tayside.
Barbara Illsley, Senior lecturer in Planning at the University, introduced the event by discussing the legacy of Patrick Geddes, the former professor at University College Dundee who is regarded as the father of town planning.
“Town and Regional Planning provides an increasing range of environmentally-related programmes and builds on the philosophy of Patrick Geddes that ‘by creating we think, by living we learn’,” said Barbara Illsley.
“Dundee’s goal has been to inspire learners and researchers to innovate in the construction and application of knowledge relevant to building future environments. The ongoing success of our graduates, both internationally and here at home, is the main legacy of the past fifty years of planning education.”
The past, present and future of the two cities was explored by David Littlejohn, Head of Planning and Regeneration at Perth and Kinross Council, and David MacDougall, former Senior Planning Officer at Dundee City Council.
‘A tale of two cities’ was just one of several events organised to celebrate the 50th anniversary of planning education at Dundee.