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UCL Bartlett Development Planning Unit celebrates 60th anniversary

22 January 2014

2014 is the 60th anniversary of the Bartlett Development Planning Unit (DPU).

DPU We invite you to join us at our anniversary launch event and drinks reception on 29 January. Detailed information about the event can be found on the anniversary website here.

The DPU's focus on urban development and planning in what is now often referred to as 'the global south' was unique in the UK and abroad at the time of its establishment in 1954, and when it moved to UCL from the Architectural Association in 1971.

Throughout the year we will be celebrating 60 years of education, training, research, consultancy and knowledge sharing in urban and regional development policy and planning in the global south through a series of events and activities. 

The centrepiece of our anniversary programme will be our anniversary conference, titled 'Thinking Across Boundaries: Re-Imagining Planning in the Urban Global South'. This will take place from 2-4 July 2014. 

Across the year we will be holding regular events as part of our Dialogues in Development Anniversary series, and there will be a large DPU presence at the World Urban Forum in Medellín, Colombia, 5-11 April 2014, where the DPU will be running several sessions.

We are also using our 60th anniversary year to reflect on the DPU past, present and future. This is being done in a number of ways, such as Looking Back, Looking Forward, a project based around interviews with past and present DPU staff talking about their contributions and roles in the field of development planning. A booklet, DPU's first 60 Years: A Short History, curated by Caren Levy, will chart the recent history of DPU staff, colleagues and research. There will also be a DPU Reflections Working Papers Series with contributions from several former members of staff.

Finally, through the Thinking Across Boundaries research initiative, up to and beyond the anniversary conference, we are questioning what urban development planning in the global south means today and how we see it evolving in the future while critically reflecting on our own position in the process, as an institution and as individuals.

We hope that you will be able to join us for some of these activities in what promises to be an exciting year ahead. You can stay in touch with the anniversary plans and other activities in the department through our dedicated anniversary website, Facebook page, Twitter feed and by subscribing to our mailing list.