Celebrating 100 Years

In 2014, The Bartlett School of Planning marks its centenary year with a series of public lectures and a special centenary seminar reviewing the history of planning education at UCL. 

The celebrations culminated in a special Alumni Event that bought together past and current students with many of the School’s industry and professional partners. 

The Alumni Event was followed by this year’s Annual Sir Peter Hall Lecture, delivered by Professor Anne Markusen, from the University of Minnesota.

Our 100th birthday has also been marked by the awarding of Centenary Scholarships to students joining our various MSc and MRes programmes.

The site is intended to be interactive, so if you would like to add any centenary related content to the site – updates to the time-line, commentary on the events, video diaries - please contact Dr Jo Williams.

Our history

The Bartlett School of Planning is one of the oldest and most respected Schools of planning in the world. In 2014 we celebrate our centenary, and in reaching this historic milestone, we are larger, more diverse, more active and in a stronger position than ever before to address the planning challenges of the future.

In the following video, Professor Nick Gallent, Head of The Bartlett School of Planning, discusses the rich history of the school, its place in London and its students. Now with 30 members of staff, from 12 different countries worldwide, the School’s research and teaching reflects a broad experience of different planning systems.

Read Michael Edwards’ personal recollection of his time at The Bartlett School of planning on his blog.

Centenary exhibition

The Bartlett School of Planning series of initiatives to mark its Centenary ended on a high, with its first ever Exhibition and Party held on the 6th of May in the Chadwick Building and the Main Quadrangle at UCL. The Show was officially opened by Bill Dunster. 

The Exhibition focused around the theme FUTURE SUSTAINABLE CITIES 

 and featured work from both undergraduate and postgraduate students. A selection of drawings, posters and videos created an interesting and dynamic display, drawing attention to how busy and productive this growing department has been this year.

The Pop-Up Library displayed a selection of staff recent books and other publications, a series of posters and booklets of current and recently completed research projects and the launch of “Taking Planning Forward”, a publication of 23 PhD research projects prepared for the school’s centenary celebrations in May 2014.

Finally, to celebrate the centenary year we have run a student competition to design a poster or short film which encapsulates the theme future sustainable cities. The prize for the best entry was awarded at the show by Sir Peter Hall.

The exhibition gave students and researchers the opportunity to present their work to a wider audience, and receive the recognition they deserve. It served as a celebration of the creativity at the heart of all learning and research about the form, planning, design and management of cities.

Their hard work and dedication is clearly shown in the strength of the display, and everyone got a real sense of the passion, commitment and talent they have brought to the course.

More images from the Centenary Exhibition are available on The Bartlett’s Flickr. 

Centenary poster competition

A panel of judges from industry, government and academia was convened to judge student entries for a poster competition. Entrants were asked to think about the challenges and potential solutions in a developing a 21st century sustainable city.  The prize for the best entry was awarded at the show by Sir Prof. Peter Hall. Students entries needed to address at least one aspects of the current urban challenges faced by cities today:

• Resource consumption
• Carbon emissions
• Social exclusion and dis-engagement of citizens
• Growing inequality
• Rapidly growing or shrinking cities

1st Prize: ‘MODERN THAMES’ by Wai Ching Lai, Grant McClemens, Beatrice Nassi, Hize Shi and Jo Turner 
2nd Prize ‘SAVING WANDSWORTH’ by Rosenna Barnes Brett
3rd Prize: ‘EARLS’ by Leo Chung, James Harris, Alex Schmidt and Anne Spira

In addition, we asked the  public, to vote for the ‘People’s Choice Award’: the one entry among all the ones on display which, according to the public, best evoked the future sustainable city. The work that gathered the most votes was ‘ANCHORING THE ELEMENTS: A Vision for Stockholm Royal Seaport’ by Martin Bangratz, Sharon Falzon, Jessica Sammut, Millie Tolleson, Giuseppe Verdone. 

Centenary photo gallery

Photographs from our Centenary events over the course of 2014 are available on The Bartlett’s Flickr channel.

Centenary Lectures Videos

The Centenary Lecture series was held at UCL, showcasing the work of some of the big names in 20th and 21st century planning: Yvonne Rydin, Neil Brenner, Patrick Le Gales, Judith Innes, Matthew Carmona, Maarten Hajer and Sir Peter Hall. 

The lectures series spanned nine months and each of the lectures provided attendees an opportunity to catch-up with fellow alumni and to network with others from government, industry, academia and the wider community. The Bartlett also hosted a special Centenary Seminar - The Bartlett: A Retrospective led by ex-Bartlett Professor, Mike Collins in January 2014.

The series culminated on 14 May 2014 with The Sir Peter Hall Centenary Lecture. The guest speaker Ann Markusen, from the University of Minnesota,  presented on creative place-making in a well attended and engaging lecture.

24.10.2013 - The Future of Planning: Beyond Growth Dependence

In the first of the series, Professor of Planning, Environment and Public Policy, Yvonne Rydin, presents ‘The Future of Planning: Beyond Growth Dependence’.

12.12.2013 - Understanding Urbanization

Neil Brenner is professor of Urban Theory at the Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD), Harvard University, where he teaches classes on critical urban theory, urban political economy, and socio-spatial theory; and is Director of the Urban Theory Lab at the Harvard GSD.

30.01.2014 - Planning with Complexity: Collaborative Rationality as a Strategy for Wicked Problems

Judith Innes is Professor Emerita of City and Regional Planning at the University of California, Berkeley, where her recent work focuses on collaborative policy making and action at the state and regional levels as well as improvements in the use of information in planning and public policy.

27.02.2014 - The Design Dimension of Planning (20 years on)

Matthew Carmona is Professor of Planning and Urban Design at The Bartlett School of Planning, UCL. His research has focused on the policy and development context for delivering better quality design in the built environment.

27.03.2014 - Networked regions and cities in times of fragmentation: developing smart, sustainable, inclusive cities

Maarten Hajer is professor of Public Policy at the University of Amsterdam since 1998. The Dutch Cabinet appointed him as Director of the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency (PBL – Planbureau voor de Leefomgeving) in 2008.

28.05.2014 (rescheduled from original date)- Good Cities, Better Lives in England’s Green and Pleasant Land

Sir Peter Hall was Bartlett Professor of Planning and Regeneration at the Bartlett School of Planning, UCL and President of both the Town and Country Planning Association and the Regional Studies Association.

14.05.2014 - Creative Placemaking Revisited: A Forward-looking Research Agenda

Ann Markusen is Director of the Arts Economy Initiative and the Project on Regional and Industrial Economics at the University of Minnesota’s Humphrey School of Public Affairs.