Community Planning: Glossary A - Z

Glossary A - Z

Common and not so common terms and concepts used in community planning simply
explained. Also terms and concepts from the worlds of planning, regeneration and
environmental sustainability.

If you know of a term or concept that should be listed here, or want to suggest changes to the
annotations, please open suggestion form and submit details on the template provided.

Key to links:
Principles Case studies Websites
Methods Toolbox Glossary
Scenarios Publication/ film Similar entry
Projects Contacts all other links
Building Neighbourhood Low carbon commnuities
community planning

Glossary A-Z
(To print out a selection from the list click the chosen entries checkbox and then click on any
of the printer icons or click here to print all)

Sitemap / index

Last updated on:16 November 2009

21st century town meeting

Method involving very large numbers of community, industry and government
representatives (100 to 5000 or more) in a forum of one or two days. Participants engage in
formed deliberation in small groups, connected through networked computers. They work
from pre-designed questions, entering their individual team consensus, as well as priority
ratings and rankings. The goal is to find common ground and priorities on broad and complex
issues. This is a multi-step process with intensive facilitation and includes trained facilitators
and theme teams, as well as volunteer scribes.
America Speaks America Speaks
back to top A

Access centre
Initiative which increases access to education, training, employment and other services (e.g.
health) within a local setting. Can be either physical or virtual.
Full service school

Accountability
Being answerable for decisions. When policy decisions are made openly to the population,
who are capable of assessing whether it is a decision made in the wider public interest.

Action group
Informal organisation set up to get something achieved, usually through visible and public
protest.

Action minutes
Record of a meeting in the form of a list of steps required, who should take them and when.

Action plan
Proposals for action. Usually in the form of a list of steps required, who should take them and
when.
Action planner

Action planning
Developing an action plan. Term also used in the 1990s to describe community planning
events.
Action plan Community planning event

Action planning event

Similar meaning to community planning event. Term used in the 1990s.
Community planning event Community planning event

Action research
Research oriented towards bringing about change, often involving respondents in the process
of investigation, with the researchers being aware of their influence on the research process
by being a part of the environment they study. (Sarkissian)

Active citizenship
Extensive participation in civic life by citizens. Allows people to play a greater role in public
affairs and the delivery of public services.

Activity mapping
Plotting on a map or plan how people use places as an aid to understanding how best to
improve them.
Mapping

Activity week
Week of activities designed to promote interest in, and debate on, a chosen theme: eg
Architecture week; Urban design week; Environment week.
Activity week
Activity year
Year of activities designed to promote interest in, and debate on, a chosen theme: eg Glasgow
1999; UK City of Architecture and Design.

Adaptable model
Flexible model of an area or building which allows people to test out alternative design
options.
Models

Added value
Additional benefits gained as a by-product of a service or project.

Adopted proposals map

Part of a Local Plan which shows the location of proposals on an Ordnance Survey base map.

Adoption
When a plan has statutory force. Usually confirmed by a legal notice in a local paper.

Advanced thermal treatment

A means of recovering energy from waste. Waste is heated at high temperatures and a
useable gas is produced. Also known as gasification and pyrolysis.

Adventure playground
Playground that encourages children to construct and manage their own environment.

Advocacy planning
Professional planners working on behalf of the disadvantaged. Term popular in the United
States in the early 1970s.

Aerobic digestion
Biological treatment of organic waste in the presence of air, producing a residue used to
improve soil quality.
Anaerobic digestion

Affordable housing
Housing which those who need it can afford. Usually refers to housing which is subsidised.
May be for sale or for rent.

Agenda
Plan for a meeting. List of items to be discussed.

Aggregates
Sand, gravel, crushed rock and other bulk materials used by the construction industry.
Alternative plan
Plan for a site or neighbourhood putting forward a different approach to the prevailing plan.
Community plan

Amenity
A positive element that contributes to the overall character or enjoyment of a place by
residents or visitors. For example, open land, trees, historic buildings and the relationship
between them, or less tangible factors such as tranquillity.

Amenity trust
Charitable organisation established to manage a public amenity.
Development trust

Anaerobic Digestion
Organic matter broken down by bacteria in the absence of air, producing a gas (methane) and
solid (digestate).
Aerobic digestion

Ancient monument
Structure subject to special planning controls. (Protected under the Ancient Monuments and
Archaeological Areas Act 1979 in UK.)

Ancient woodland
Woodland that is believed to have existed from at least medieval times.

Animateur
Person with good communications skills employed to assist in organizing and enlivening a
community process, such as children’s participatory design activities. Often a community
artist. (Sarkissian 2009)

Appeal
The process through which an applicant can challenge a planning decision by the planning
authority. Appeals can be made against a refusal to grant permission, the failure to issue a
decision within a given time, against conditions attached to permission, against the issue of
an enforcement notice and against refusals of listed building and conservation area
consent. In England and Wales, appeals are processed by the Planning Inspectorate.

Appraisal
Similar meaning to community appraisal.
Community appraisal Landscape appraisal

Appreciative inquiry
Group working process which builds on potentials, solutions and benefits to create change.
The Thin Book of Appreciative Inquiry
Aquifer
Underground rock layer that holds groundwater. Often an important source of water for
public use, agriculture and industry.

Archaeological assessment
Evaluation of potential archaeological interest of a site or building. Either desk-based or
using a field survey with small-scale pits or trial trenching by professionally qualified
archaeologists looking for historical remains.

Archetype
Place with certain easily identifiable qualities. Concept sometimes used in briefing and
design workshops to get people to describe the kind of place they aspire to; for instance, a
certain part of a certain city or a certain building.

Architects in schools
Environmental education programme involving architects working with children in schools.
Royal Institute of British Architects

Architecture centre
Place aimed at helping people understand, and engage in, the design of the local built
environment.
Architecture centre

Architecture week
Week of activities designed to promote interest in, and debate on, architecture. Usually
includes opening interesting buildings to the public.
Activity week

Architecture workshop
Workshop session on architecture. Term also sometimes used to describe an architecture or
community design centre.
Architecture centre Community design centre

Area action plan

Formal planning document focused on a specific location requiring conservation or facing
significant change. May aim to deliver planned growth, stimulate regeneration,
protect sensitive areas and resolve conflicting objectives.

Area based regeneration

Approach based on getting agencies involved in depressed areas working together to improve
the quality of life.

Area forum
Body designed to improve relations between local authorities, public service providers and
local residents. Provides an opportunity for residents to raise matters of local concern, give
feedback on how services are being delivered and influence decisions being made about
where they live. Also gives local authorities and service providers the chance to improve their
knowledge and understanding of local issues.
Forum Neighbourhood forum

Area investment framework

Establishes regeneration priorities for an area with the aim of targeting funding from
development agencies.

Area of change
Place identified in a local plan as one that the planning authority expects to change, through,
for example, development pressure or regeneration initiatives.

Area of outstanding natural beauty (AONB)

Statutory designation aiming to conserve and enhance the natural beauty of the best
landscape. In England, powers created by the National Parks and Access to the Countryside
Act of 1949. AONBs are designated by Natural England. There are 36 in all, covering about
15% of the Country.
Natural England

Arms length management organisation (ALMO)

Company set up by a local authority to manage and improve all or part of its housing stock.

Art centre
Place providing a focus for the arts and local artists.

Art house
Building used as a base for local artists producing and exhibiting work with and about the
local community. Used as a regeneration technique for developing local pride and talent.
Art centre

Art workshop
Session where local residents work with artists designing and making artworks to improve
their environment.
Art workshop

Article 4 direction
Allows the secretary of state or local planning authority to require a planning application for
a development that would normally not need one because it would be covered by permitted
development rights. Power comes from Article 4 of the The Town & Country Planning
(General Permitted Development) Order 1995.

Asset base
Capital assets of property or cash which underpin the operations of an organisation, for
instance by generating revenue from rents.

Asset based community development

Approach which acknowledges that communities already have strengths and assets that can
be built upon.
Asset based development
Strategy to secure the future of community organisations and charities through possession of
tangible assets such as land, buildings or a dedicated income. Ensures self-sufficiency,
independence and sustainability.

Assistance team
Similar meaning to Design assistance team
Design assistance team (DAT)

Award scheme
Programme set up to promote good practice by presenting awards for excellence or effort.
Award scheme

Awareness raising day

Day of activities designed to promote interest in a community planning issue, normally held
prior to a planning day or other intensive activity

Awareness walk
Similar meaning to Reconnaissance trip
Reconnaissance trip
back to top B

Backland development
Building on landlocked sites behind existing buildings, such as rear gardens. Usually in
residential areas. Such sites often have no street frontages.

Barefoot architect
Architect who works in villages helping people construct their homes. Term used in Asia.
Community architect

Baseline data
Information about the starting point of any project or initiative against which improvement
can be measured later.

Beacon council
Local authority recognised as achieving excellence in particular services. Scheme established
by UK government to promote innovation.

Before and afters

Photos, drawings or computer simulations showing a place before and after development has
taken place from the same viewpoint. One of the most effective ways of helping people
understand proposals.
Benchmark
Indicator that allows people to measure the impact or success of a project by comparing it
with something similar.

Bending the mainstream

Re-aligning the allocation of main public resources, such as the police and health services, to
better target the most deprived areas or problematic issues.

Best fit slide rule

A visual discussion tool designed to examine alternative street infill solutions and their
consequences. An elevation of a street is drawn or assembled with photos and alternative
designs inserted.
Participatory Design

Best practice
Superior performance in achieving a policy or objective. It is usual for best practice to be
rolled out or copied, leading to widespread performance improvements. Term good practice
has similar meaning.

Betterment
Way of capturing, through the tax system, some of the development value of land for the
benefit of the community.

Biodegradable waste
Waste which breaks down naturally, such as food, plants and paper.

Biodiversity
Biological diversity. The variety of life in the world or in a particular habitat or ecosystem.

Biodiversity action plan (BAP)

Strategy prepared to conserve and enhance biological diversity in an area.

Biofuel
Fuel derived from biomass.
Biomass

Biomass
Organic material derived from waste which is used as a renewable energy source to produce
electricity and heat.

Blight
When the value of land or property diminishes as a result of proposals for development or
anticipated development.

Block models
Physical models where buildings are made out of wooden blocks.
Models
Blog
Online journal or noticeboard (web log) where individuals or organisations can comment on
specific subjects and invite responses so generating an ongoing debate.

Blu-tack®
Registered brand name for re-usable adhesive 'gum' for fastening paper etc to a surface.

BME
Commonly used abbreviation for 'Black and Minority Ethnic' group or community.

Bottom-up
Term used to refer to initiatives led by the community, as opposed to top down initiatives led
by the authorities.

Brainstorming
Vigorous discussion to generate ideas in which all possibilities are considered. Widely used
first step in generating solutions to problems.

Brainwriting
Workshop process where group members respond in silence with four written suggestions to
a given problem. Papers are then exchanged and members add suggestions to a ‘new’ paper.
All papers are then compared and discussed by the group. (Sarkissian 2009)

Branding
Neighbourhood 'branding' uses simple images and text to establish a desired identity for an
area. The branding process can be used as a core element of a community involvement
strategy.
APaNGO

Bridging
The linking of local, community based plans with statutory planning at local authority or
regional level.

Brief
Instructions setting out what is required. Common types include development brief, design
brief, planning brief.

Briefing workshop
Working participatory sessions held at an early stage in a project or action planning event to
establish a project agenda or brief.
Briefing workshop

Brownfield land
Land that has been previously developed (in contrast to 'Greenfield' land).
Building cooperative
Cooperative building contractor. All members usually receive equal rates and decisions are
made collectively.

Building preservation notice

Statutory notice providing temporary protection to a building while its long term status is
considered. Useful for historic buildings in danger of being demolished.

Business improvement district (BID)

Area within which businesses agree to pay a levy to the local authority for an agreed set of
objectives. These might include environmental improvements, increased refuse collection or
better signage. Usually managed by a business-led local development partnership.

Business planning
Testing the viability of a project or organisation by predicting income and expenditure over a
period of time.

Business planning for real

Computer-based simulation which helps new or existing organisations 'play through' the
choices they will face in developing a business plan. Groups assemble a list of projects they
would like to undertake. These are fed into a computer and the cost implications printed out.
Good practice guide to community planning and development

Business planning workshop

Session where participants work in small groups to determine project priorities and
programme targets. Normally a draft business plan is prepared as a basis for discussion which
is then amended until an agreed cash flow is arrived at.

Business planning zone (BPZ)

Area with a simplified planning regime. Specific low-impact development, conforming to a
scheme setting out acceptable use classes and general design standards, might not require
planning permission.

Buzz group
Small group of people who work through an issue. Similar to a focus group or workshop.
back to top C

Capability
The quality of being capable; the ability to do something.

Capacity and vulnerability analysis (CVA)

Same meaning as Vulnerability and capacity analysis
Vulnerability and capacity analysis
Capacity building
The development of awareness, knowledge, skills and operational capability by certain actors,
normally the community, to achieve their purpose.
Empowerment

Capacity building workshop

Event organised primarily to establish partnerships between the public, private and voluntary
sectors on development issues.

Case study
Description of a project. Used for helping others understand how it worked, or failed to work.

Catchment management plan

Plan for the future of a river catchment. Contains analysis of issues such as water and sewerage
infrastructure, waste disposal and flood plain planning, and programmes of work to achieve
proposed objectives.

Certificate of lawfulness of use or development

Document issued by the local planning authority to describe the precise use, operation or building
works on a site which is considered permissible without the need to apply for planning permission.

Chairperson
Individual who controls a meeting, deciding who can speak when.
Facilitator

Champion
Individual who believes in an idea and will promote it through thick and thin. Important ingredient
for many projects.
Moving spirits

Change of use
A change in the way that land or buildings are used. Planning permission is usually needed to change
from one use class to another e.g. from retail to housing.
Use classes order
Charity
Organisation which acts in the interests of society rather than in pursuit of profit. May receive tax
breaks and other benefits.

Charrette
Increasingly popular term for describing a workshop devoted to a concerted effort to solve a
problem or plan the design of something. Same meaning as Design charrette.
Design charrette

Chart
Large sheet of paper used for writing or drawing on, usually attached to walls or placed on an easel.
Essential tool of participative working.
Flipchart

Charter
Prospectus containing a set of principles to guide development of a place. Best developed using a
collaborative process with key stakeholders. Three steps: Looking and Learning together; Setting
standards for excellence; Committing resources to longer term priorities.

Chatham House Rule

When a meeting, or part thereof, is held under the Chatham House Rule, participants are free to use
the information received, but neither the identity nor the affiliation of the speaker(s), nor that of any
other participant, may be revealed. May be invoked at meetings and workshops to encourage
openness and the sharing of information.

Choice catalogue
Menu of items, usually visually illustrated, showing a range of design choices available.
Choice catalogues

Choices method
Visioning process based on four steps:
1. Meetings throughout the community to brainstorm ideas for making life better.
2. Consolidation of ideas into goals and vision statements.
3. A vision fair where people vote on which visions they would like to pursue and make personal
commitment pledges.
4. Setting up of action groups to carry out chosen ideas.
Chattanooga Participation Works!
Circular
Government publication setting out procedural matters and guidance.

Citizens advisory group

Group made up of members of the public (usually between 10 and 30) which informs and advises
decision makers. Can take many forms.

Citizens jury
Informal inquiry method where a group of around 16 people, selected to be representative of the
community, spend a few days examining an issue, listening to witnesses and producing a report.
Participation Works!

Citizens panel
A large, demographically representative group of citizens used regularly to assess public preferences
and opinions.

Citizens summit
Large-scale deliberative public meeting (typically involving between 500 to 5,000 people) that uses
advanced communications technology to facilitate discussions.

City farm
Working farm in an urban area, normally run by a voluntary committee of local people. Primary role
is educational rather than food production.

Civic amenity site

Facility provided by the waste disposal authority where the public can deposit waste not collected by
dustcarts.

Civic forum
Same meaning as Forum
Forum

Civil renewal
Individuals and groups becoming more actively involved in the well-being of their community,
identifying and tackling problems to bring about change and improve the quality of life.
Civil society
The arena of organised citizen activity outside of the state and market sectors. People coming
together to define, articulate, and act on their concerns through various forms of organisation and
expression.

Client
Individual or organisation that commissions buildings or other projects.
User client

Climate change
Long-term changes in temperature, precipitation and wind patterns. Now widely regarded as a result
of human activity, particularly fossil fuel consumption.

Clusters
Networks of interconnected firms and organisations working in a particular field such as universities
and hi-tech industries. Business practice based on co-operation and collaboration between firms.

Co-operative
An enterprise conducted for the mutual benefit of its members. This might be a business that is
democratic, each member having one vote irrespective of capital or labour input. Any economic
surplus belongs to the members – after providing for reserves for the development of the business.
Housing co-operative

Co-ownership
Tenure arrangement in which property is partly owned by the occupier, the remaining portion being
gradually purchased during the period of occupation.

Code for sustainable homes

National UK standard for sustainable design and construction of new homes. Expressed in terms of
Levels. In 2006 most houses were built at the equivalent of Level 1. By 2016, new homes will have to
be built to Zero Carbon – Level 5 or 6. The increasing standards are being achieved by ramping up
the compulsory Building Regulations requirements. By 2011 all housing development built with
public subsidy – mainly by housing associations – had to meet Code Level 4 requirements.

Cohousing
Housing with shared living components. Ranges from sharing of gardens to sharing of workshops,
laundry rooms and even kitchens.
Cohousing Cohousing Network UK
Collaborative design workshop
Similar to design workshop or design charrette. Term used on this website for a one day workshop
sandwiched between an open house event and public report back session.
Design workshop Design charrette Collaborative Design Workshop

Collaborative planning
Planning undertaken by two or more parties working together. A key concept in community
planning. Similarly collaborative design.

Combined heat and power (CHP)

Heat and power (usually electricity) generated at the same time with the heat, instead of going to
waste, being captured for other uses such as heating local buildings.

Commitments
Land with current planning permission or allocated in adopted development plan for development,
particularly residential development). Also referred to as Committed development.

Committee
Group of people elected or delegated to make decisions, usually in meetings.
Workshop

Community
Used in many ways. Usually refers to those living within a small, loosely defined geographical area.
Yet any group of individuals who share interests may also be described as a community. Also
sometimes used to describe a physical area rather than a group of people
following entries on community

Community action
A process by which the deprived define for themselves their needs, and determine forms of action to
meet them, usually outside the prevailing political framework.

Community action planning

Same meaning as Microplanning workshop
Microplanning workshop Action planning
Community anchor
Independent community-run and led organisation, rooted in a sense of place (whether an inner city
neighbourhood or a rural district), and with a mission to improve things for the whole community.
Likely to own or manage assets and use income from these to provide services.

Community appraisal
Survey of the community by the community to identify needs and opportunities. Usually based on a
self-completion questionnaire devised by the community and delivered to every household.
Village Appraisals Software for Windows Community profiling

Community architect
Architect who practises community architecture. Will often live and work in the neighbourhood he or
she is designing for.
Community architecture

Community architecture
Architecture carried out with the active participation of the end users. Similarly community design,
community planning and so on.

Community art
Visual and performance art addressed to the needs of a local community. Often related to
environmental issues.
Art workshop

Community based organisation (CBO)

Voluntary organisation operating at a local level to represent a local community or interest group.
term increasingly used at international level. Similar in meaning to community group.
Community group Non governmental organisation (NGO)

Community based regeneration

Programmes focused on people that usually involve some form of capacity building. Improves the
ability of local people to influence decision-making within their own community.

Community build
Building construction carried out by members of the local community, often voluntarily or as part of
a training course.
Self build
Community building
Building conceived, managed and sometimes built, by the local community for community use.
Phrase also used to describe the activity of building a community; physically, socially and
economically.

Community business
Trading organisation owned and controlled by the local community which aims to create self-
supporting and viable jobs for local people and to use profits to create more employment, provide
local services or support local charitable work.

Community car scheme

Provides a pool of cars across a district, for use by local people. Alternative to individual or family
ownership of vehicles.

Community champion
Natural leader within a community who enjoys a great deal of respect from other residents. Has a
strong concern for the community and other residents and is able to motivate others.
Champion

Community chest
Small grants available to community groups for projects to help them renew their own
neighbourhoods.

Community cohesion
Where diverse backgrounds and cultures are valued in a community and where there is a common
vision and sense of belonging.

Community consultation
Finding out what local people want.
Consultation

Community design
Design carried out with the active participation of the end users. Similarly community architecture,
community planning and so on.
Community design centre
Place providing free or subsidised architectural, planning and design services to people who cannot
afford to pay for them. Also known as a community technical aid centre.
Community design centre Community technical aid centre

Community design house

Local office used by a community designer or community architect. Term used in Japan.
Community design centre

Community designer
Practitioner of community design. Person who designs places with people rather than for people.

Community development
Promotion of self-managed, non-profit-orientated projects to serve community needs.

Community development corporation

Non-profit-orientated company undertaking development for community benefit. American concept
similar to the UK's development trust.
Development trust

Community development trust

Same meaning as Development trust
Development trust

Community driven
Term used to reflect key role of the community in an initiative.

Community energy
Renewable energy development involving local residents and community groups.

Community enterprise
Enterprise for the benefit of the community rather than private profit by people within the
community.
Community forest
Woodland area developed and managed by and for the communities living in and around it.
Programme established in England by the Countryside Agency and Forestry Commission.

Community garden
Publicly accessible garden or small park created and managed by a voluntary group.

Community group
Voluntary organisation operating at local level.
Community based organisation (CBO)

Community indicators
Measures devised and used by communities for understanding and drawing attention to important
issues and trends. Useful for building an agenda for education and action.
Communities Count!

Community infrastructure levy (CIL)

A charge which local authorities can levy on any new building or extension (with a floor area of 100
square metres or more) to pay for the local infrastructure needed for new development – schools,
community and health facilities, green space, roads. The charge is levied according to a tariff (£x per
building) which is set by the local planning authority in consultation with local communities. The
Localism Act requires charging authorities to allocate a meaningful proportion of revenues to the
neighbourhood where they were raised.

Community land trust

Independent non-profit trusts which own or control land and facilities in perpetuity for the benefit
of the community.
Community land trusts

Community landscape
Landscape architecture or design carried out with the active participation of the end users.

Community learning and education centre

Focal point for information and education at community level.
Community led plan
Plan founded on community involvement and led by voluntary groups.
Community led planning

Community mapping
Making maps as a communal activity.
Mapping

Community memory
Collective sense of local identity and experience (eg of past participatory activity).

Community monster
Community leader who abuses their position and becomes a tyrant.

Community newspaper
Information source controlled by the local community. Also community newsletter; similar on a
smaller scale.

Community of practice
Process of social learning that occurs when people who have a common interest in some subject or
problem collaborate over an extended period to share ideas, find solutions, and build innovations.

Community plan
Plan for the future of a community devised by the local community. Sets out proposals for the way in
which a community wants to develop and respond to changes in the future. No set format. Will
usually contain statements of principle, physical design proposals and targets.
Community plan checklist

Community planning
Planning carried out with the active participation of the end users. Similarly community architecture,
community design and so on.

Community planning council

Umbrella organisation at neighbourhood level with powers to deal with planning matters. Concept
developed and recommended by the UK's Royal Town Planning Institute in 1982. Councils would be
made up of representatives from various sectional voluntary interests.
Forum

Community planning day

Same meaning as Planning day
Planning day

Community planning event

Carefully structured collaborative event at which all stakeholders, including the local community,
work closely with specialists from all relevant disciplines to make plans for the future of that
community or some aspects of it.
Community planning event

Community planning forum

Multipurpose session lasting several hours designed to secure information, generate ideas and
create interaction between interest groups.
Community planning forum

Community planning weekend

Term most commonly used in the UK for a community planning event spanning a weekend. First
used in 1989 at Bishopsgate, London. The term planning weekend is also used. Terms planning week
and community planning week have also been used for slightly longer events. Also community
planning day.
Planning weekend

Community politics
Style of political action through which people are enabled to control their own destinies. Identified
with an on-going political movement which seeks to create a participatory democracy.

Community profiling
Way of reaching an understanding of the needs and resources of a community with the active
involvement of the community. Similar approach as participatory appraisal.
Community profiling

Community project
Facility for the local community, created and managed by a voluntary committee, elected or
unelected, from that community.
Community projects fund
Same meaning as Feasibility fund
Feasibility fund

Community resilience
The ability of a community to withstand shocks and to bounce back from them.

Community safety plan

Plan drawn up by the local community to reduce crime and disorder.

Community shop
Shop democratically owned and managed by people living locally who use it.

Community strategy
Strategy which sets out a framework for regeneration and service improvement in a local authority
area. Also known as a Sustainable community strategy.
Sustainable community strategy (SCS)

Community technical aid

Multi-disciplinary expert assistance to community groups enabling them to play an active role in the
development of land and buildings. The term 'technical aid' is used to cover the diverse range of
skills likely to be needed including architecture, planning, landscaping, engineering, surveying,
ecology, environmental education, financial planning, management, administration and graphics.

Community technical aid centre

Place staffed by multidisciplinary group of experts who work for voluntary groups, helping them to
undertake any project involving the development of buildings and land. Will provide whatever
assistance is needed – design, planning, organisation, decision-making, management – from
conception to completion. Similar to a community design centre.
Community design centre

Community trust
Independent fundraising and grant-making charity which funds initiatives in the local community.
Community visioning
Thinking collectively about what the future could be. Term used to describe group working processes
which help a community to develop imaginative shared visions for the future of a site, area or
organisation. Approach often adopted by local authorities at an early stage in the plan-making
process.
New Economics Foundation Future search conference

Community woodland
Same meaning as Community forest
Community forest

Compact
Understanding between government (national or local) and the voluntary sector (in the guise of its
representative bodies or through wider consultation) on how relations between the two should be
conducted.

Competent authority
Organisition which considers a Strategic Environment al Assessment (SEA) report before coming to a
decision on whether to adopt a programme or plan. (European Union directive on SEA.)

Composting
Conversion of biodegradable material, such as garden or kitchen waste, into a stable material that
can be used as fertiliser. Can be done at different scales, from home composting to a large
centralised facility.
Aerobic digestion Anaerobic digestion

Compulsory purchase order (CPO)

Power allowing government (national or local) to acquire privately owned land or property to fulfil
certain obligations.

Computer aided design

Way of visually simulating designs in three dimensions on computer.

Condition
Requirement attached to a planning consent to limit, control or direct the manner in which a
development is carried out. Also referred to as a planning condition.
Conformity
Similar. In compliance with. For instance, plans at different scales may have to be in conformity with
each other in terms of specifying the same number of new homes to be built in a certain place.

Consensus building
Procedure for helping people with different views to come together interactively on a dispute,
project, plan or issue, to work towards agreeing a sensible solution or way forward which is mutually
satisfactory.

Consensus forum
Where a large number of stakeholders deliberate for between one and three days with the goal of
reaching common ground on broad and complex issues and influencing decision making. Participants
are selected to be representative of the community and are overseen by a Guidance Team. Trained
table facilitators assist and a forum report is prepared for comment. (Sarkissian 2009)

Conservation area
Area of special architectural or historic interest whose character and appearance it is desirable to
preserve and enhance. There are special rules on some development in conservation areas. Planning
authorities publish a map showing the boundaries and also produce a Conservation Area Proposals
Statement. (Designated in the UK under the Planning (Listed Buildings & Conservation Areas) Act
1991.)

Conservation area character appraisal

Document defining the special architectural or historic interest that justifies an area being
designated as a Conservation Area.
Conservation area

Conservation area consent

Consent required for the demolition of an unlisted building within a conservation area. Separate
from, and independent of, any need for planning permission.
Conservation area

Consultation
Seeking people's views (but not necessarily involving them in decision-making).

Consultation day
One-day event designed to consult key stakeholders or the general public on a particular issue.
Stakeholder participation day
Consultation fatigue
Lack of public interest in consultation initiatives. Usually caused by an excess of consultations (due to
lack of coordination by agencies) and/or a perceived lack of any results from past consultations.

Contaminated land
Land that has been polluted making it unfit for development and use unless cleaned up.

Coproduction
Shared responsibility between citizens and public officials for producing services and managing
development processes. Purpose: to work together constructively through inevitable tensions and
conflicts, negotiating outcomes with recognized power and responsibility sharing. Term used widely
in Europe to mean community engagement. (Sarkissian 2009)

Core costs
Expenditure essential to keep an organisation going. As opposed to project costs. Includes such
things as staff wages, rent, heating.

Core strategy
Document that sets out the key themes, vision and goals for spatial development, together with the
strategic objectives of the planning framework for an area and the core policies to deliver these
objectives.

Cost benefit analysis

Widely used technique used to decide whether to make changes to a project or programme based
on the costs and benefits of different courses of action.

Countryside design summary

Simple description of the design relationship between the landscape, settlement patterns and
buildings. Usually produced by the planning authority for a region, often combined with the
production of local design statements for neighbourhoods within the region.
Local design statement

Credit union
Financial co-operative owned and controlled by its members. Offers savings and loans at competitive
rates, often to people unable to access mainstream banking services.
Critical friend
Someone who will point out what you are getting wrong, as well as right, in a constructive manner.

Critical mass event

Umbrella term for organisation development techniques involving large-scale events often lasting
several days and often involving hundreds of people. Mostly used for organisational change but may
also be appropriate for community planning. Labels given to specific types of event - structured in
different ways and promoted by different people - include future search conference, large-scale
interactive process, conference model, real-time strategic change, participative work redesign and
open space workshops.
Future search conference Open space workshop Future search conference Open
space workshop

Crowdwise
Participative method for taking shared decisions that uses a combination of consensus voting and
constructive dialogue in order to overcome differences, find common ground and reach more
productive outcomes.
Crowd wise

Culture
The arts and other manifestations of human intellectual achievement. Includes media, sports,
libraries, museums, parks, the countryside, built heritage, tourism, and the creative industries.

Curtilage
Area of land attached to a building and forming one enclosure with it.

Cycle network
Linked routes, both on and off road, facilitating an easier and safer journey for cyclists.

back to top D

Daily routine chart

Diagram showing people's daily activities and time taken to accomplish each of them. Usually
produced by groups of women, men and children separately. Useful to deepen the analysis on
seasonal calendars and highlight divisions of labour and responsibilities.
Community profiling Seasonal calendar
De minimis
From the Latin de minimis non curat lex (the law does not deal with trivial matters). Term for
activities or changes too minor to fall within the legal definition of development and which would
make no difference to the outward appearance of a building. Used to deal with such things as
installation of television aerials or small antennas.

Deadweight
Improvements that would have occurred naturally without the intervention of a regeneration
programme.

Decent home
Home which is warm and weatherproof with reasonably modern facilities. Standard established by
the Department of Communities and Local Government, UK.

Delegated power
Where decision-making is moved to another authority or body. For example, authority given by
locally elected councillors to planning officers to take decisions on certain planning matters on
behalf of the council.

Density
The quantity of people or things in a given area or space. Residential development is normally
measured by the number of habitable rooms or dwellings per hectare. Commercial development is
normally expressed in terms of plot ratio: site coverage plus the number of floors.

Deprivation
Condition in which individuals, groups or communities do not have adequate food, shelter,
education or opportunities for improvement.

Design assistance team (DAT)

Multidisciplinary team which visits an area and produces recommendations for action, usually after
facilitating a community planning event. Term used by the American Institute of Architects to
describe state-level events which evolved from its national level Regional/Urban Design Assistance
Team (R/UDAT) programme. Similar terms in use include Urban design assistance team (UDAT) and
Housing assistance team (HAT) (where only housing involved). Local DAT programmes have a wide
variety of names; for example Ontario’s Community Assist/Urban Study Effort (CAUSE) and
Mississippi’s Small Town Action Team (STAT). First UK event was called a Community/Urban Design
Assistance Team (CUDAT).
Design assistance team
Design charrette
Intensive design session, often including "all-nighter", originally just for architecture students but
more recently including the public and professionals. Term originated at the Paris Ecole des Beaux-
Arts at the turn of the century. Projects were collected at designated times on a cart ("charrette")
where students would be found putting finishing touches to their schemes. Term now widely used in
the USA to describe any intensive, group brainstorming effort. Charrette often used without the
"Design" in front. Similar to design workshop
Design workshop Design workshop

Design code
Rules and requirements for the physical development of a site or area. The graphic and written
components are detailed and precise, and usually build on an overall design vision or masterplan for
a site or area.

Design day
Day when architects and local people brainstorm for design solutions to particular building
problems, usually in teams. Term also used to describe day when local residents can drop in and talk
through design ideas with professionals.
Building Homes People Want Drop-in office

Design fest
Action planning event where multidisciplinary design teams develop and present their ideas in
public.
Design fest

Design game
Method for devising building and landscape layouts with residents using coloured cut-outs of
possible design features on plans.
Design game

Design guide
Document setting out general urban design principles which should be adopted by any development
in an area.
Local design statement

Design meeting
Meeting for developing designs. Usually organised on a regular basis during the design stage of a
project. Users and professionals will be present. The users, or clients, set the agenda but the
meeting is normally conducted by the professionals. Various techniques will be used to present
information and make decisions: showing slides, models, drawings, catalogues. Normal arrangement
is for participants to sit round a table.

Design quality indicator (DQI)

Process for evaluating design quality of buildings which can be used by everyone involved in the
development process. Generic toolkit available which can be used with all types of building.
Design quality indicator (DQI)

Design simulation
Playing at designing to get people used to the various roles in the design process.

Design statement
Document setting out the design principles on which a development proposal is to be based. Usually
prepared by a developer in support of a planning application. Often required by planning authorities
for large-scale and architecturally sensitive schemes. Will include information on the appearance,
materials, layout, context and setting of buildings.

Design surgery
Where architects, planners or other professionals work through design issues with individuals, for
instance occupants in a new housing scheme.

Design workshop
Hands-on session allowing groups to work creatively developing planning and design options.
Sometimes called hands-on planning.
Design workshop Design charrette

Designing for real

Term used to describe the use of adaptable models to develop detailed design proposals for a
building or site. Participants explore options by moving parts of the model around: ie, parts of a
building or whole buildings. Similar concept to Planning for Real but on a smaller scale.
Planning for Real ® Planning for Real

Detailed application
A planning application seeking full permission for a development proposal, with no matters reserved
for later planning approval.
Planning permission
Determination
Another word for decision. The process by which a local planning authority reaches a decision on
whether a proposed development requires planning permission.

Development
The carrying out of building, engineering, mining or other operations in, on, over or under the land,
or the making of any material change in the use of any buildings or other land and some categories
of demolition and rebuilding (Town and Country Planning Act, UK, 1990, section 55). Note that the
two part definition covers both new development and changes of use.

Development brief
Outlines the nature of development preferred on a site. Often used to encourage development. On
large sites it may set out general development principles; on smaller sites it may specify uses,
massing of buildings and any particular uses essential to securing planning permission.
Brief

Development consent order

Grant of planning permission and other necessary consents for large scale infrastructure projects in
the fields of energy, transport, water and waste.

Development control
Function undertaken by planning authorities. includes dealing with planning applications,
enforcement and providing advice on planning to the public and professionals.

Development limits
Boundaries of an area within which development proposals would be acceptable. They seek to
prevent development from gradually extending into the surrounding countryside.

Development officer
Individual who gets a project or organisation up and running.

Development partnership
Arrangement for collaboration by two or more parties to facilitate development, usually between
the public and private sectors.
Partnership
Development plan
The approved statutory land use and spatial plan for an area. Sets out a local planning authoritys
policies and proposals for the development, conservation and use of land and buildings. The most
important consideration when making a decision on a planning application.

Development plan documents (DPDs)

Suite of documents setting out planning policy in an area. Likely to include a core strategy, area
action plans and an adopted proposals map. DPDs are produced after rigorous community
involvement, consultation and independent examination. Once adopted, they provide the basis for
development control decisions.

Development planning for real

Adaptation of Planning for Real specially devised for developing countries.

Development trust
Independent, not-for-profit organisation controlled by local people which facilitates and undertakes
physical development in an area. It will have significant community involvement or control, will bring
together a wide range of skills and interests, and will aim to sustain its operations at least in part by
generating revenue.
Development trust Community development corporation

Diagramming
Creating diagrams in groups.
Diagrams Diagrams

Diagrams
Visual representations of information which help explain current issues or future proposals.
Diagrams

Direct action
Exertion of political pressure by tactics other than voting at elections. Usually used to refer to
strikes, squatting or occupations.

Direct observation
Noting of events, objects, processes and relationships; particularly useful for issues hard to verbalise.
Disabled access
The means by which disabled people can conveniently go where they want.

Disabling
Non-participatory form of service which renders the user unable to have a say in the process.

Disaster
Serious disruption of the functioning of society, causing widespread human, material, or
environmental losses which exceed the ability of the affected society to cope using its own resources
(UNDP 91).

Disaster management
All aspects of planning for, and responding to, disasters.

Disaster mitigation
Reducing the impact of disasters on society by reducing the hazards and/or society's vulnerability to
them.
see also
Mitigation

Disaster preparedness
The ability to predict, respond and cope with the effects of a disaster.

Disaster relief
Extraordinary measures necessary for coping with a disaster.

Discussion group
Method of social research involving a group of people who are brought together to discuss their
views or experiences surrounding a particular topic.

Discussion method
Structure for effective communication which allows everyone in a group to participate.
see also Technology of participation
Technology of participation
Displacement
Extent to which the added value of a regeneration project is reduced by causing existing activity to
relocate or be replaced.

Distributed energy
The generation of electricity and/or heat near to where it is used. In contrast
with centralised systems which transmit energy a considerable distance along power lines.

Distributor road
Most important road within the main residential, commercial and industrial built-up areas.

District centre
Group of shops and some service outlets serving part of an urban area and providing a geographic
focus for it. Separate from the town centre but with more variety than a local centre.

District heating
Heating of many properties in a neighbourhood by a single boiler or heat plant. In contrast to having
separate boliers for each property.

Door knocking
Basic engagement method of knocking on front doors and speaking to the people who open the
door.
Door knocking

Draft
Document or plan which is not finalised and may be consulted on and revised before being so.
Draft plan consultation

Draft plan consultation

Seeking views on a draft plan or proposal.
Draft plan consultation

Drop-in office
Working office open to the public. Set up by architects or urban designers working in a
neighbourhood to encourage local involvement in the design process. May be permanent or
temporary (on an open day for instance).

Dwelling
Self-contained building or part of a building used as a home. May be a house, bungalow, flat,
maisonette or converted farm building.

back to top E

E-government
Delivery of government services and information through electronic means such as the internet,
digital television and other digital technologies.

E-petition
Online version of traditional petition. Way of demonstrating support for a particular viewpoint. See
for example:epetitions.direct.gov.uk

E-planning
Provision of planning services online, accessible via the internet and email.
Planning portal

E-voting
Voting electronically, normally using instant polling or audience response systems.
E-voting

Eco-town
Exemplar green development which meets the highest standards of sustainability, including low and
zero carbon technologies and quality public transport systems. It will make use of brownfield land
and surplus public sector land where practical and lead the way in design, facilities, services and
community involvement.

Economic audit
Audit of local economy, usually undertaken by independent professional economist.

Economic impact report

Study on the economic impact of a new road; who will benefit and to what extent. Road schemes
are often justified on the basis that they will attract new businesses and create new jobs.
Education action zone (EAZ)
Defined area with high levels of deprivation and low educational attainment that receives grants to
raise education standards.

Electronic map
Map on a computer screen and/or the internet.
Electronic map

Elevation montage
Display technique for helping people to understand and make changes to streetscapes.
Elevation montage

Employment zone
Area where additional money is available to help the long-term unemployed into work.

Empowerment
Development of confidence and skills in individuals or communities leading to them being able to
take more control over their own destinies.
Capacity building

Enabler
Professional or other person with technical expertise or in a position of authority who uses it to help
people to do things for themselves. The term can also be used to refer to organisations which
behave likewise.

Enabling
Professional and other services that consciously encourage or allow users to participate.
Enabler

Energy crop
Carbon neutral energy source. For example, short rotation coppice or willow plantation uses carbon
dioxide to grow plants. Crops may then be burned to create energy - hence carbon neutral.
Energy descent action plan
Plan which focuses on energy use and the creation of low carbon communities.
PlanLoCal

Energy fair
Event which allows householders to engage with suppliers and installers of energy saving
equipment.

Energy from waste

The conversion of waste into a useable form of energy, often heat or electricity.

Energy performance certificate (EPC)

Provide home buyers and sellers with a rating of the energy efficiency of a property. A to G.

Energy service company (ESCO)

Professional organisation, scheme or trust formed to plan or administer energy producing projects
or design effective solutions.

Enforcement action
Procedure by a local planning authority to ensure that the terms and conditions of a planning
decision are carried out, or that development carried out without planning permission is brought
under control.

Enforcement notice
Document served on a property owner by a local planning authority setting out the action necessary
to correct any work or activity undertaken without planning permission or in breach of a condition.

Enquiry by Design
Intensive workshop process involving urban designers and local stakeholders. Devised for developing
plans for new build and regeneration by The Prince’s Foundation.
The Prince's Foundation Enquiry by Design

Enspirited envisioning
Way of developing individual and shared visions of the future through personal and group
development.
Participation works!
Enterprise agency
Non-profit-making company whose prime objective is to respond through practical action to the
economic and training needs of its local community. A principal activity is providing free advice and
counselling to support the setting up and development of viable small businesses. Mostly public
sector-led in partnership with the private sector but there are many exceptions.

Enterprise trust
Similar meaning to Enterprise agency
Enterprise agency

Enterprise zone
Area for industrial development within an older urban area where businesses can benefit from relief
from paying business rates and from relaxed planning restrictions.

Environment forum
Non-statutory body for discussing and co-ordinating environmental issues in an area.
Forum

Environment shop
Shop selling items and providing information which helps people improve their environment.
Similarly architecture shop, conservation shop etc.
Environment shop

Environment week
Week of activities designed to promote interest in, and debate on, the environment.
Activity week

Environmental authority
Statutory body set up by Government with direct environmental responsibilities. In England, these
are Natural England, English Heritage and the Environment Agency.

Environmental capital
Inclusive, participatory process for evaluating what environmental features and attitudes matter to
local interest groups and why.
Environmental education
Programmes aimed at making people more aware of their environment and the forces which shape
it.

Environmental impact assessment

Process whereby all impacts of a development are identified and their significance assessed.
Increasingly a statutory requirement before planning permission is granted by a local authority.

Envisioning
Similar meaning to visioning.
Visioning

Equality impact assessment

Evaluation tool which assesses the effect that a policy or procedure will have on a particular group of
people. Promotes equality and aims to ensure there are no discriminatory effects.

Equity sharing
Similar meaning to Co-ownership
Co-ownership

Estate Management Board (EMB)

Partnership between tenants and their landlord which gives tenants more control over the day-to-
day running of their housing.

Evidence base
Knowledge used to support a decision or policy. For example information and data gathered by local
planning authorities to justify the soundness of the policy approach set out in development plan
documents, including physical, economic, and social characteristics of an area. Includes quantitative
and qualitative data.

Evidence scanning
Evaluating evidence without ploughing through reams of statistics. Involves actions such as: checking
a few key statistics; using other people’s analysis; testing statistics against your own knowledge;
doing a small survey; finding an expert from amongst your group.
Examination in public (EIP)
Session to test the soundness of development plan documents. A document is considered sound if it
is based on good evidence and prepared in accordance with accepted procedures.

Exhibition
Displays of information. May be simply for presenting information or for getting feedback too.
Interactive exhibition

Exit strategy
Arrangement for continuing the process of renewal and development after funding from a
programme stops. Sometimes called a forward, continuation or succession strategy.

Extended school
School which opens up its facilities to the wider community outside of traditional school hours; for
example sport facilities, ICT suites and after-school clubs. Aim to integrate the school and the
community and provide public services not otherwise accessible to the general population.
Full service school

back to top F

Facilitation
The art and science of managing meetings and group processes. Bringing people together to decide
what they wish to do, and to work together to decide how to do it.

Facilitator
Person who steers a process, meeting or workshop. Less dominant role than a "chairperson". Also
known as a moderator.

Farmers market
Market exclusively for local food producers and countryside products.

Feasibility fund
Revolving fund providing grants to community groups for paying professional fees for the
preparation of feasibility studies for community projects. Also known as a community projects fund.
Feasibility fund
Feasibility study
Examination of the viability of an idea, usually resulting in a report.

Fence method
Prioritising procedure using a line with a fence in the middle to establish people"s views on
conflicting alternatives.
Prioritising

Festival market
Market for bric-a-brac and crafts.

Fete
Traditional celebration or festival.

Field workshop
Workshop programme on location. Term used to describe events lasting several days involving a
range of community profiling, risk assessment and plan-making activities.
Field workshop

Financial exclusion
Where people do not have access to mainstream financial services (including high street banks),
usually due to living in a poor area, being reliant on benefits, or having a low income.

Fish bowl
Workshop technique where participants sit around, and observe, a planning team working on a
problem without taking part themselves.
Community Participation in Practice; A Practical Guide

Five Ws plus H
What, When, Why, Who, Where and How. Useful checklist in planning any activity.

Flipchart
Large pad of paper on an easel. Standard equipment for participatory workshops as it allows
notetaking to be visible.
Flipcharter
Person who records points made at a workshop or plenary session on a flipchart or large sheet of
paper pinned on a wall in full view of the participants.
Flipchart

Flood plain
Low-lying area next to a river or the sea where water flows in times of flood, or would flow but for
the presence of flood defences.

Flood risk assessment

Study of the likelihood of flooding in a particular area.
Risk assessment

Floor target
Minimum outcome required, usually of service providers by government.

Fly-posting
Pasting up posters in public places, usually without permission from building owners or authorities.

Focus group
Small group of people who work through an issue in workshop sessions. Membership may be
carefully selected or entirely random.

Footfall
The number of people entering a place in a given time. Used to assess the viability of shopping
areas.

Forum
Non-statutory body for discussing and coordinating activity and acting as a pressure group for
change. Term also used to describe a one-off open meeting aiming to create interaction.
Environment forum Neighbourhood forum Community planning forum Public
forum

Forum theatre
Theatre which engages the audience in determining the plot. Can be a highly participative way of
exploring how to break through blockages which can often hamper the potential of community
planning.

Fossil fuel
Natural fuel such as coal or gas formed from the remains of living organisms. Invariably carbon-rich
so burning them contributes to climate change.

Foyer
Residential centre that provides homes, training and work opportunities for homeless young people.

Front-loading
Community involvement in the production of development plan documents to encourage public
input and consensus from the outset.

Full service school

One-stop centre for children, their families and the wider community where schools house a variety
of public services such as healthcare, careers services, employment training, housing services and
family welfare.
Extended school

Full-scale simulation
Acting out a scenario to test a design idea using full-scale mock-ups. Particularly useful for helping
people design new building forms.
Design simulation Mock-up

Future search conference

Highly structured two and a half day process allowing a community or organisation to create a
shared vision for its future. Ideally 64 people take part; eight tables of eight.
Future search conference

Futures workshop
Term used for a workshop devised to discuss options for the future. Various formats are possible.
Briefing workshop Design workshop

back to top G
Gallery walk
Report back process where workshop flipchart sheets are pinned up at a plenary session and the
reporter 'walks' past the sheets, using them as a prompt to summarise what took place.

Gaming
The use of games to simulate real situations.
Gaming Role play Simulation

Gap funding
Government incentive to encourage developers to build on unprofitable brownfield sites.

General permitted development order (GPDO)

Provides development rights for a specified range of developments which do not require an
application for planning permission.

Geographic information system (GIS)

Computer-based system whereby mapping and information are linked for a variety of uses, such as
capturing data justifying local development documents.

Geothermal technology
Transfer of energy from heat inside the earth, usually carried to the surface by superheated water
and steam.

Giving evidence
Formal presentation of information, for instance to a public inquiry or local authority committee.

Global warming
Gradual heating of the earths atmosphere due to greenhouse gases, leading to climate change and
rising sea levels. Renewable energy, energy efficient buildings and sustainable travel are examples of
ways to reduce global warming by reducing the use of energy derived from fossil fuels which
generates CO2 emissions. Also known as the greenhouse effect.

Goal-oriented project planning (GOPP)

Tool for project management in which interactive workshops involving all stakeholders in a project
together with an external moderator are held at different points in the project lifecycle. Uses logical
framework analysis.
 GOPP Moderators Association Upgrading Urban Communities Logical framework
analysis

Governance
Ways in which political, economic, social and cultural life is co-ordinated at global, national, regional
and local levels.

Government circulars
Documents that provide non-statutory advice and guidance on particular issues to expand on
subjects referred to in legislation.

Green belt
Area restricted from building use and allowed to remain in a natural state or retained for agricultural
use to contain development, preserve the character of the countryside and provide open space.

Green corridor
Area of nature linking housing areas to cycle networks, town and city centres, places of employment
and community facilities. They help to promote sustainable forms of transport such as walking and
cycling within urban areas and can also act as vital linkages for wildlife.

Green sheet
Feedback form (usually printed on green paper) for SpeakOut workshop participants to fill in if they
wish further information, want to be contacted after the event or feel that issues they wish to raise
were not addressed fully during the workshop. The workshop Chair or other representative of the
client should respond to all green sheets in writing or by telephone as soon as possible after the
workshop.
SpeakOut

Green wedge
Open area around and between parts of a settlement which maintains the distinction between
countryside and built up areas, prevents the merging of adjacent places and provides recreational
opportunities.

Greenfield development
Development on land that has never previously been developed.
Greenhouse gases
Atmosphetric gases which contribute to climate change. Naturally occurring examples include water
vapour, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and ozone. Some human activities increase air
pollution from these gases, including fossil fuel combustion within motor vehicles and some power
stations and space and water heating in dwellings.

Groundwater
Water present underground, within strata known as aquifers.

Group interview
Pre-arranged discussion with an invited group to analyse topics or issues against a checklist of points
or local concerns.
Interview

Group modelling
Use of physical models as a basis for working in groups to learn, explore and make decisions about
the environment.
Models

Guided buses
Buses for which travel direction is controlled automatically by electronic or kerb guidance along a
defined route.

Guided visualisation
Group process using mental visualisation techniques for establishing a community's aspirations.
Participation Works!

back to top H

Habitable room
Any room used or intended to be used for sleeping, cooking, living or eating. Does not include
bathrooms, toilets, service rooms, corridors, laundries, hallways or utility rooms. Term used in
connection with assessments for density and daylight and sunlight levels.
Density

Habitat
The social and economic, as well as physical, shelter essential for well-being.
Hands-on exhibition.
Similar meaning as Interactive exhibition.
Interactive exhibition

Hands-on planning
Method of community involvement in planning where small groups make plans for the future using
table top plans or flexible cardboard models. Often referred to as Planning for Real but this term has
been registered by the Neighbourhood Initiatives Foundation to apply to its own method only.
Planning for Real ®

Have your say event

Drop-in workshop set up to enable people to make their views known in an informal setting.
Have your say event SpeakOut

Hazard
Phenomenon that poses a threat to people, structures or economic assets and which may cause a
disaster. It could be either human-made or naturally occurring.

Hazard analysis
Identification of types of hazard faced by a community, their intensity, frequency and location.

Hazardous waste
Waste that can cause harm to human health or the environment.

Headline indicators
Main set of data that describes the factors to be changed.

Healthcheck
Tool based on worksheets and community consultation to help identify the strengths and
weaknesses of a town as a basis for producing plans of action. Designed by The Countryside Agency
(now English Nature).

Healthy Cities
Programme led by the World Health Organisation to put health on the agenda of decision-makers in
cities and to build strong support for public health at the local level.
Heavy rail
The traditional railway network, using standard rolling stock. In contrast to light rail.

Heritage centre
Place aimed at helping people understand, and engage in, the historic local built environment. Key
elements: old photos, old artefacts, leaflets, books, information sheets, maps, postcards, models,
trails.
Architecture centre Local heritage initiative

Heritage coast
Area of largely undeveloped, unspoilt coast, where attention is focused on managing the sometimes
competing needs of conservation, recreation, tourism and commercial activity such as shipping and
fishing in a co-ordinated way.

High court challenge

The process by which an applicant may challenge a planning decision or a notice of intention to
adopt a development plan in the High Court on a point of law. But other appeal procedures may
apply first and prior legal advice is advisable.

High demand housing area

Location where a high demand for housing results in expensive pricing and rents making it difficult
for people to enter the housing market. For example, some rural locations and commuter areas.

Higher tier authority

Local authority with elected councillors (county councils, metropolitan bodies and unitary
authorities); so called because they are a higher level of government than district councils in
counties with two tiers of government.

Highway authority
Organisation responsible for producing the local transport plan and for managing existing or
proposed new roads. Usually the county council, metropolitan council or unitary authority.

Historic buildings trust

Charitable organisation set up to preserve historic buildings.
Historic parks and gardens
Designed landscapes identified as worthy of protection and listed on the Register of Parks and
Gardens of Special Historic Interest (maintained by English Heritage in the UK). They have no
additional statutory controls, but Government planning policy says local planning authorities should
protect them when preparing development plans and determining planning applications.

Historical profile
Key events and trends in a communitys development, usually displayed visually.
Community profiling

Historical profiling
Construction of historical profile in groups. Information about past events is gathered to explain the
present and predict possible future scenarios. One approach involves people describing and
explaining their life history with respect to particular issues. Information is marked up on maps or
charts to build a comprehensive time-line of events and issues that mould and affect a community.

Home zone
Area where roads are shared by vehicles, cyclists and pedestrians to promote quality of life,
community spirit and safer play and recreation.

Homeowners file
File of book-keeping schedules designed to help families to control the construction and
management of their homes.

Homesteading
Programme in which property owners (usually local authorities) offer substandard property for sale
at low cost to householders who will work on them in their own time, doing basic repairs and
renovation to standards monitored by the original owners.

House in multiple occupation (HMO)

A building or part of a building (eg, a flat) which is: occupied by more than one household and in
whcih more than one household shares an amenity (or the bulding lacks an amenity) such as a
bathroom, toliet or cooking facilities; occupied by more than one household and is a converted
building which does not entirely comprise self-contained flats (whether or not there is also a sharing
or lack of amenities); comprised entirely of onverted self-contained flats that do not meet the
minimum standards of the Building Regulations 1981.
House manual
Record of useful information and tips from previous occupants on how to manage and look after a
house.

Household waste
Refuse from household collection rounds, street sweepings, public litter bins, bulky items collected
from households and refuse which householders themselves take to household waste recovery
centres and bring sites.

Household waste recovery centre

Similar meaning as Civic amenity site
Civic amenity site

Housing association
Association run by an elected management committee which uses government money to provide
housing in areas and for people which the government believes to be a high priority. Building society
money is also increasingly used to fund housing associations.

Housing co-operative
Organisation which owns or manages housing and which is owned and managed by the occupants of
that housing. Often referred to as a housing co-op.
Co-operative Secondary co-operative

Housing density
The amount of housing provided in a given area.
Density

Housing land availability (HLA)

Amount of land allocated for residential use in development plans which is waiting for development.

Hub space

Place which inspires and engenders collaboration, enterprise and /or innovation.
Human capital
Ability of individuals to do productive work; includes physical and mental health, strength, stamina,
knowledge, skills, motivation and a constructive and co-operative attitude.
Social capital

back to top I

Icebreaker
Group activity aimed at making people feel comfortable with each other. Often held at the start of
action planning events.

Ideas competition
Competition for generating options for improving a neighbourhood, building or site aimed at
stimulating creative thinking and generating interest.
Ideas competition

Illustrated questionnaire
Questionnaire with pictures to find out peoples design preferences.
Choice catalogue Questionnaire survey

Imagine
Method for establishing positive initiatives based on a structured approach to imagining the future.
Participation Works!

Imaging day
Day when people visualise the future with the assistance of a skilled artist.

Immediate report writing

Writing reports in the field or at an event rather doing it later in the office.

Incineration
The controlled burning of waste. Energy may also be recovered in the form of heat.

Independent examination
The process by which a planning inspector may publicly examine a development plan document
(DPD) or a statement of community involvement (SCI), before issuing a report. The findings set out in
the report are binding upon the local planning authority.
Independent retailer
Retailer operating separately and outside of a larger company chain.

Index of multiple deprivation (IMD)

Ranking of wards and districts according to factors such as health, education and employment. Used
as the basis for government allocation of funds for neighbourhood renewal and tackling deprivation.

Indicator
Measure that shows whether or not an objective is being achieved.
Objective

Infill development
Building on a relatively small gap between existing buildings.

Informal hearing
A planning appeal hearing undertaken in a structured way, but without the full formality of a local
inquiry.

Informal walk
Walking in a group without a definite route, stopping to chat and discuss issues as they arise.
Community profiling

Information technology (IT)

The technology required for information processing. In particular, the use of computers and
computer software to convert, store, process, transmit and retrieve information.

Infrastructure
The basic services necessary for development to take place. For example, roads, electricity,
sewerage, water, education and health facilities.

Inquiry
A hearing by a planning inspector into a planning matter such as a local plan or appeal. Sometimes
known as a public local inquiry.
Inset map
Development plan map showing a particular area of interest on the wider proposals map at a larger,
more readable scale.

Inset village
A village treated separately from the green belt or other countryside protection policies relating to
surrounding land, allowing more development.

Inspector
Person employed to preside over inquiries into development plans and rule on planning appeals.
Appointed by the Planning Inspectorate, an independent agency of Government appointed by the
Secretary of State.

Interactive display
Visual display which allows people to participate by making additions or alterations. Also known as a
hands-on display.
Interactive display

Interactive exhibition
Exhibition which allows people to participate by making additions or alterations. Also known as a
hands-on exhibition.
Interactive display Open house event

Intermediate housing
Submarket housing which is above target rents but below open market levels. This includes various
forms of shared ownership housing, key worker housing and submarket rent provision.

Interview
Recorded conversation, usually with prepared questions, with individuals or groups. Useful for
information gathering. More flexible and interactive than a questionnaire.
Group interview Key informant interview Semi-structured interview

Issues, options and preferred options

The pre-submission, pre-production consultation stage on a development plan document (DPD). The
aim is to gain public consensus before submission of documents for independent examination.

back to top J
Jigsaw display
Exhibit where groups prepare different parts which are then assembled as a whole.

Judicial review
Procedure by which the High Court may review the reasonableness of a decision made by a local
authority, for example a planning decision.

back to top K

Ketso
A hands-on toolkit for creative engagement invented in Southern Africa and developed at the
University of Manchester, UK. Ketso means Action in Sesotho, the language of Lesotho. See
www.ketso.com
Ketso Ketso kit

Key diagram
Visual interpretation of the spatial strategy of a local plan as set out in a local authority core
strategy.

Key informant
Person with special knowledge.

Key informant interview

Informal discussion based on a pre-determined set of questions with people who have special
knowledge.
see also Interview
Interview

Kilowatt (KW)
Unit of electrical power commonly used to measure output from a generator. One Kilowatt = 1 000
watts.

KISS
Stands for 'Keep It Simple, Stupid'. Useful reminder in a complex field.
Knowledge-based industry
High technology manufacturing (for example computers and pharmaceuticals) and knowledge-based
services (for example telecommunications and business services) which are considered important for
economic development.

back to top L

Ladder of participation
Useful and popular analogy for likening the degree of citizen participation in any activity to a series
of rungs on a ladder. First put forward in 1969 (by Sherry Arnstein) with 8 rungs:
1. Citizen control.
2. Delegated power.
3. Partnership.
4. Placation.
5. Consultation.
6. Informing.
7. Therapy.
8. Manipulation.
This has been modified in many different ways by many people since.
Participation Matrix The Guide to Effective Participation Participation matrix

Land compensation
Provisions for the compensation of land compulsorily acquired in the public interest.
Compulsory purchase order (CPO)

Land raising
Using waste material to raise the height of the land. Does not include the spreading of sewage
sludge on agricultural land.
Landfill

Land use
The way land is used or developed.

Land use planning

The framework for how land is used and developed. Largely provided by the town and country
planning system, which aims to secure the most efficient and effective use of land in the public
interest, and to ensure that facilities like roads, schools and sewers are built where they are needed.
Landbank
Stock of land with planning permissions but where development has yet to take place. Can be of
land for minerals, housing or any other use.

Landfill
Disposal of waste into the ground, including the construction of landforms above ground level (land
raising).
Land raising

Landfill directive
European Union requirements on landfill to ensure high standards for disposal and to stimulate
waste minimisation.

Landfill gas
Gas generated in a landfill site accepting biodegradable material. Mainly methane and carbon
dioxide.

Landscape
The appearance of land, including its shape, form, colours and elements, the way these components
combine in a way that is distinctive to particular localities, the way they are perceived, and an
area\'s cultural and historical associations. Landscape character can be expressed through landscape
appraisal, and maps or plans.

Landscape appraisal
Method of assessing appearance and essential characteristics of a landscape.

Landscape character
The distinct and recognisable pattern of elements that occur consistently in a particular type of
landscape. Reflects particular combinations of geology, landform, soils, vegetation, land use and
human settlement.

Landscape character assessment

Process for describing an area\'s sense of place, features and attributes. Useful foundation for
making planning and land management decisions for an area.
Local character workshop
Large group intervention
Similar meaning to Critical mass event
Critical mass event

Launch
Event to promote the start of an initiative or project. Useful for generating interest and involvement.

Layout
The way buildings, routes and open spaces are placed or laid out on the ground in relation to each
other.

Leachate
Water that has percolated through a solid and leached out some of the constituents. Often relates to
water coming into contact with decomposing waste material in landfills, thereby becoming
contaminated.

Leaflet
Sheet of paper providing information, usually produced in large quantities. Standard publicity
technique.

Leakage
Extent to which a proposed activity benefits people outside the target area or group that it was
intended for.

Legibility
Clarity of built form. Locations, streets and open spaces that have a clear image and are easy to
understand. Places with good legibility have a strong sense of identity and are easy to find your way
around.

Leverage
Additional money or activity that an investment in a programme leads to.

Life cycle analysis

Technique which measures the total impact of a product during its production, distribution, use and
recycling, treatment or disposal. Useful for sustainable waste management.
Lifetime homes
Housebuilding approach that enables inhabitants to remain in the same home throughout all stages
of their life. Developed by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation.

Light rail
Local railway or tram system, sometimes capable of sharing routes with vehicles or heavy railways.
Heavy rail

Limits of development
Boundaries of an area within which development proposals would be acceptable. They seek to
prevent development from gradually extending into surrounding countryside.

Linkage diagram
Shows flows, connections and causality.
Diagrams

Listed building
Structure of special architectural or historic interest. Graded I, II* or II with grade I being the highest.
Listing includes the interior as well as the exterior of a building and Listed building consent is
required for almost all works to a Listed building. English Heritage is responsible for designating
buildings for listing in England.

Listed building consent

Permission required for the demolition, in whole or in part of a listed building, or for any works of
alteration or extension that would affect the character of the building. Usually granted by the local
planning authority. All applications are referred to English Heritage which, in some cases, has powers
to intervene.
Listed building

Listed building enforcement notice

Document issued by a local planning authority if work is carried out on a listed building without
consent, and requiring that the building be brought back to its former state or specifying other
remedial works.
Listed building

Listener
Facilitator at an issue stall in a SpeakOut.
SpeakOut
Livability
Somewhat loose measure of the quality of life where needs that are justifiable according to natural
justice are met.

Living over the shop scheme

Programme to encourage people to occupy vacant premises over shops, usually by offering grant
aid. Town centre regeneration method.

Lobbying
Influencing decision-makers through individual and group face-to-face persuasion or letter writing.

Local
Pertaining to a particular rural or urban place or area.

Local agenda 21
Comprehensive action strategy prepared by local authorities to help achieve sustainable
development.

Local area agreement (LAA)

Agreement between local and national government that gives local authorities more flexibility in the
way in which they set and meet targets and deliver public services.

Local authority
Organisation governing local public services in an area. For instance; borough council, county
council, town council, village council.

Local centre
Small group of shops and perhaps limited service outlets of a local nature serving a small catchment.
For example, a suburban housing estate. Sometimes referred to as a local neighbourhood centre.

Local character workshop

Workshop designed to help people identify what makes an area special. Usually undertaken as part
of preparing a local design statement or landscape character assessment. Involves mapping and
photo surveys.
Landscape character assessment Local design statement
Local design statement
Published statement produced by a community identifying the distinctive character of the place. The
aim is for it to be used by planning authorities to ensure that future development and change is
sympathetic and has community support. May be adopted as a supplementary planning document.
Common types are town design statements, parish design statements and village design statements.
Local design statement

Local designation
Identification of land, usually for its landscape or nature conservation interest, in development
plans. Confers a level of protection less than that which applies to national statutory designations
like a national park but greater than that which applies to undesignated areas.

Local development documents (LDDs)

These include both development plan documents (which form part of the statutory development
plan) and supplementary planning documents (which do not). LDDs collectively deliver the spatial
planning strategy for a local planning authority area.
Development plan documents (DPDs)

Local development framework (LDF)

A suite of documents that outlines how planning will be managed in an area. Includes core strategy,
supplementary planning documents and a Statement of Community Involvement.

Local development order (LDO)

A power given to local authorities to extend permitted development rights or grant permission for
any development contained in the order, removing the need to apply for planning permission.

Local development scheme (LDS)

Scheduled plan of a local planning authority for the preparation of local development documents.
Identifies and describes the documents and when they will be produced. Covers a three-year
timespan and may be updated annually. The local planning authority local development scheme
must be approved by the Secretary of State.

Local environmental resource centre

Resource centre focusing on local environmental issues.
Resource centre
Local government ombudsman
Person who investigates complaints of injustice arising from maladministration by local authorities
and certain other bodies. The objective of the Ombudsmen is to secure, where appropriate,
satisfactory redress for complainants and better administration for the authorities.

Local heritage initiative

Process for helping people record and care for their local landscape, landmarks and traditions.

Local housing company

Local authority promoted housing development and management organisation, possibly with wider
regeneration objectives. Likely to be established in partnership ownership between a local authority
with other public and/or private sector organisations.

Local inquiry
Inquiry into a local plan.

Local landscape designation

Non-statutory and locally designated areas, outside the national landscape designated areas, which
are considered by the local planning authority to be of particular landscape value to the local area.

Local listing
Locally important building valued for contribution to local scene or for local historical situations but
not meriting listed building status.

Local nature reserve

Non-statutory habitat of local significance designated by local authorities where protection and
public understanding of nature conservation is encouraged.

Local need housing

Housing requirements generated by the indigenous population rather than by in-migration.

Local people
People who live in a particular rural or urban place or area.
Local plan
Plan that sets out detailed policies and specific proposals for the development and use of land in a
district and guides most day-to-day planning decisions.

Local planning authority

The local government body which is responsible for formulating planning policies, controlling
development through determining planning applications and taking enforcement action when
necessary. This is either a district council, unitary authority, metropolitan council or national park
authority.

Local public sector board

Allows all public sector organisations (e.g. councils, police, health, fire) in a locality to meet and work
together on an agreed services improvement plan.

Local regeneration agency

Organisation set up to undertake regeneration work in an area.

Local resource centre

Place providing information and support for people at a community level.
Resource centre

Local roads
Public roads (including B and C roads) which are the responsibility of the local highway authority.

Local strategic partnership (LSP)

Partnership between different parts of the public sector with private business and the voluntary and
community sector in order to deliver services more effectively. Designed to rationalise and simplify
other local partnership arrangements and work with neighbourhood-based partnerships. Expected
to prepare and implement the Community Strategy and develop targets for Public Service
Agreements.
Community strategy

Local support team

Locally-based team providing expertise for an activity or event.
Local sustainability model
Process allowing a community to assess its present position and test the likely effect of projects.
publication or film Participation Works!
Participation Works!

Local transport plan

Plan that sets out a local highways authority policies and strategy on transport on a five-yearly basis.
They are submitted to central Government, which approves and provides funding for the measures
contained in the plan.

Locally listed buildings

Buildings designated by the local planning authority to be of local significance and included in a local
list. Although they are not statutorily protected, in general, close scrutiny will be given to any
development affecting them.

Logical framework analysis

Method for thoroughly testing the effectiveness of any project or proposal by completing a table
known as a Log Frame. Assesses goal, objectives, outputs, activities, indicators, assumptions, inputs
and effects. Much used by international funding agencies.
Goal-oriented project planning (GOPP)

Looking and Learning

Method for collaborative planning with a main feature being visits by key stakeholders to other
places, both successful and unsuccessful, to learn the lessons.

Low demand housing

Location where the housing market has collapsed or is close to doing so resulting in a low demand
for housing or actual abandonment.

Low-cost housing
Housing affordable by people on low incomes.
Affordable housing

back to top M

Mainstreaming
Realigning the allocation of main public sector resources, such as the police and health services, to
target the most deprived areas and sustain regeneration activity piloted through short-term funding.
Maintenance manual
Instructions on how to maintain a building or open space. Important for helping users to keep places
in good order.

Maisonette
Flat with more than one level.

Managed workspace
Communally managed building for individual, and independent, enterprises sharing common
support facilities and services. Sometimes known as a working community.

Management committee
Governing body of a project or organisation. Similar to board of directors in a company.

Management plan
Plan for the detailed, sometimes day-to-day management or conservation of important areas,
including nature conservation, archaeology, or historic sites, in order to maintain and enhance those
special features or qualities.

Mapping
Physical plotting of various characteristics of an area in two dimensions. May be done individually or
communally.
Activity mapping Community mapping Mental mapping Mind map Parish
mapping Mapping

Market
Place for buying and selling goods and services. An important regeneration tool. Types of market
include: street market, covered market, farmers market, festival market.

Market town
Small town, generally with a population of up to 10,000 people, which supports an economy and
community containing both the settlement and a defined rural hinterland.

Market town action plan

Document which sets out and justifies the various projects and initiatives decided upon. Will
normally include: summary of the town’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats; vision
which responds to those elements; statement of strategic objectives; listing of specific projects with
funding and phasing details.

Masterplan
Overall planning framework for the future of a settlement. May be highly detailed or schematic.
Used to provide a vision and structure to guide development.

Material consideration
A matter which must be taken into account in making decisions about an application for planning
permission or other consents, alongside the statutory development plan. Include central
government policies and guidance, non statutory plans and the relevant planning comments made
by consultees.

Materials recycling facility (MRF)

Facility for sorting and packing recyclable waste.

Matrix
Diagram in the form of a grid allowing comparison of two variables. Used for assessing options.
Diagrams

Mechanical biological treatment (MBT)

Treatment of residual waste using a combination of mechanical separation and biological treatment.

Mediation
Voluntary process of helping people resolve their differences with the assistance of a neutral person.

Meeting
Event where people come together to discuss and decide. May be formal or informal, public or
private.

Mental mapping
Production of maps by individuals or communities showing how they perceive their neighbourhood
(as opposed to geographically accurate maps).
Mapping
Microfinance
Banking system which provides small loans to poor people without collateral.

Microplanning workshop
Intensive planning procedure developed specifically for upgrading settlements in developing
countries involving a minimum of preparation, materials and training. Also referred to as community
action planning.
Microplanning workshop

Milestones
Key events with dates marking stages in the progress of a project or programme.

Mind map
Diagram showing people's perceptions of trends and linkages. Not a geographical map. Used in
future search conferences.
Diagrams Future search conference

Mini visioning
Basic and succinct visioning workshops.
Visioning

Mission statement
Written explanation of the purpose of a project, event or organisation. Usually brief and to the
point. Useful for avoiding misunderstanding, particularly in partnerships.

Mitigation
Measures taken to minimise the impact of a disaster. By modifying the hazard itself or by reducing
vulnerability to it. Ranges from physical measures such as flood defenses, to raising people's living
standards so they no longer need to inhabit areas at risk. Mitigation can take place before, during
and after a disaster.

Mixed use
Or mixed use development. Provision of a mix of complementary uses, such as residential,
community and leisure, on a site or within a particular area.
Mobile unit
Caravan or mobile home converted into an office/studio as a base for undertaking community
planning activity on location.
Mobile unit

Mock-up
Full-size representation of a change or development, usually on its proposed site, prior to finalising
the design.

Mode of transport
Method by which people or goods travel. For instance bus, foot, cycle, train, car, plane, boat.

Modelling
Making models. Usually refers to making models as a group process. Similar to mapping but in three
dimensions instead of two.
see also Mapping
see also Models
Mapping Models

Models
Physical three-dimensional constructions simulating a building or neighbourhood.
Models

Moderated planning workshop

Structured meeting in which partners in a project can discuss and
agree objectives, goals and responsibilities to create a
plan for further action. Run by a neutral facilitator. Increasingly used in multi-partner, transnational
projects in Europe.

Moderator
Similar meaning as Facilitator
Facilitator

Monitoring
The regular and systematic collection and analysis of information to measure the progress of policy
implementation. For instance, planning authorities are required by law to produce an annual report
covering the monitoring of policies in their statutory development plans.
Moving spirits
People in a community who want to improve things for the better and who are prepared to give
time and thought to something they think might help. Also referred to as movers and shakers or
social entrepreneurs.
Champion

Multi-use games area (MUGA)

Enclosed area using a synthetic grass or hard surface for playing a combination of sports, for
example five-a-side soccer or netball.

Multiplier
Additional or second level effect of a programme over and above that resulting directly from
programme funds.

Multiplier effect
The extended impact of an economic action upon business activity and/or upon employment. For
example, a new major business may place orders with a smaller one helping to create extra jobs.

Municipal solid waste (MSW)

Household waste and any other waste collected by a waste collection authority, such as from
municipal parks and gardens, beach cleansing and the clearance of flytipping.

Mutual aid
Where people help each other without any formal organisation.

back to top N

National nature reserve

Area designated to secure protection and management of the most important areas of wildlife
habitat, and to provide a resource for scientific research. All national nature reserves are also sites of
special scientific interest.

National park
Places of outstanding natural beauty. Designation provides powers to conserve and enhance their
natural beauty, wildlife and cultural heritage and to promote opportunities for public understanding
and enjoyment of their special qualities.
Nationally significant infrastructure project (NSIP)
The term covers a range of projects in the fields of energy, transport, water and waste above certain
size threshold (set out in Sections 14 to 30 of the Planning Act 2008). Promoters of NSIPs have to
apply for permission to develop by way of a development consent order to the Infrastructure
Planning Commission (IPC).

Neighbourhood
A district within a town, city or rural area, often seen as providing the physical location of a
community or providing a sense of identity.
Community

Neighbourhood branding
Establishing an identity for an area.

Neighbourhood council
Elected body at neighbourhood level with certain statutory powers. Urban equivalent of a parish
council and effectively a mini local authority.

Neighbourhood development order

An Order made by a local planning authority (under the Town and Country Planning Act 1990)
through which Parish Councils and neighbourhood forums can grant planning permission for a
specific development proposal or for specific classes of development.

Neighbourhood forum
Non-statutory body for discussing a neighbourhood's affairs and acting as a pressure group for
improvements. Members may be publicly elected - usually in categories (eg residents, traders,
churches, etc.) - or be nominated by organisations entitled to be represented under the constitution.
May be effectively a non-statutory neighbourhood council although procedural practice varies
considerably.

Neighbourhood management
Way of encouraging stakeholders to work with service providers to help improve the quality of
services delivered in deprived neighbourhoods.

Neighbourhood plan
Plan for a neighbourhood. Term often used loosely to describe any plan for a local area. Also used
formally in England to describe the lowest tier of statutory plans introduced by the Localism Act
2011.

Neighbourhood planning
The process by which a plan to guide and shape the development or regeneration of a
neighbourhood is created. Good practice requires the active and influential involvement of local
residents and businesses.

Neighbourhood planning office

Local office established to co-ordinate community planning activity.
Neighbourhood planning office

Neighbourhood renewal
Programme to narrow the gap between rich and poor communities involving physical, economic and
social recovery of deprived areas.

Neighbourhood renewal fund (NRF)

Provides public services and communities in a country’s poorest local authority districts with extra
funds to tackle deprivation.

Neighbourhood skills survey

Survey to establish what skills and abilities people have in a neighbourhood. Used to find out what a
community can do for itself and to generate interest. Sometimes referred to as a neighbourhood
talent survey.
see also Neighbourhood skills survey checklist
see also Resource survey
Neighbourhood skills survey checklist

Neighbourhood talent survey

Same meaning as Neighbourhood skills survey
Neighbourhood skills survey

Neighbourhood warden
Semi-official presence in a local area to prevent anti-social behaviour, maintain the local
environment, reduce crime and fear of crime. Provides a complementary service alongside the police
and environmental services.
Net-map
An interview-based mapping tool that helps people understand, visualize, discuss, and improve
situations in which many different actors influence outcomes. By creating Influence Network Maps,
individuals and groups can clarify their own view of a situation, foster discussion, and develop a
strategic approach to their networking activities.
Netmap blog VisualComplexity

Networking
Exchanging experience with people engaged in similar activities. Usually in an informal manner.

New localism
Drive to devolve power from central departments to the local level. Signals a move away from
centralisation towards strengthened local centres. Involves an acceptance that local problems
cannot be solved by standardised approaches imposed from above and that local agencies need
more space to meet national priorities more effectively.

New town
City, town, or community created in a rural or underdeveloped area and designed to be self-
sufficient with its own housing, education, commerce and recreation facilities.

Newsletter
Means of communication using print or email.

Newspaper supplement
Special insert or section of a newspaper. Can be used to cover local design issues.
Newspaper supplement

Non governmental organisation (NGO)

Voluntary and non-profit-distributing organisation. The difference between an NGO and a CBO
(community-based organisation) is that an NGO is normally organised and funded from outside the
local community in which it operates.
Community based organisation (CBO)

Non-fossil fuel
Source of energy not derived from the combustion of fossil fuels. Examples include solar, wind or
hydroelectric power.
Not For Profit Organisation
Any society, association or organisation not carried out for the profit or gain of any member and
whose rules do not allow money, property or any other benefits to be distributed to any of its
members.

Notetaker
Person who records points made at a workshop or plenary session with a view to writing up a record
and/or making a presentation of the results.

back to top O

Objective
What is trying to be achieved.

Off-setting biases
Being self-critically aware of biases in behaviour and learning, and deliberately countering them.

Offshore renewable energy project

Project to generate electricity such as offshore wind or wave generators.

One stop shop

Single multi-purpose facility that enables local residents to access a wide range of services.

Online consultation
Seeking peoples views using the internet.
Online consultation

Open day
Day when a project or organisation encourages people to come and find out what it is doing and
how it works. Often used to generate interest and momentum.

Open design competition

Competition open to everyone. Contrasts with limited or closed competitions to which entry is
restricted.
Ideas competition
Open house event
Event designed to allow those promoting development initiatives to present them to a wider public
and secure reactions in an informal manner. Halfway between an exhibition and a workshop.
Open house event

Open space
Unenclosed areas of public value, including landscaped areas, playing fields, play areas, rivers and
lakes which offer opportunities for sport and recreation or act as a visual amenity and haven for
wildlife.

Open space technology

Framework within which open space workshops are held.
Open space workshop

Open space workshop

Workshop process for generating commitment to action in communities or organisations. Features
include starting without an agenda.
Open space workshop

Opencast working
Surface mining to obtain minerals, where the waste is cast from the working face to the rear as the
mineral is exposed.

Opinion survey
Survey to find out what people think about an issue.
Survey

Option appraisal
Process of assessing a range of options to identify the particular projects to be undertaken.

Outcomes
Results of projects or programmes, usually unmeasurable (eg, people are happier).
Outputs
Outline application
An application for planning permission to establish that a development is acceptable in principle,
subject to subsequent approval of detailed matters. Does not apply to applications for a change of
use.
Planning application

Outputs
Measurable results of projects or programmes (eg, number of
trees planted).
Outcomes

Outreach
Taking consultation to the people rather than expecting them to come to you.

Outsiders
Non-local people. Usually refers to professionals and facilitators.

Over-development
An amount of development (for example, the quantity of buildings or intensity of use) that is
excessive in terms of demands on infrastructure and services, or its impact on local amenity and
character.

Overlooking
Term used to describe the effect when a development or building affords an outlook over adjoining
land or property, often causing loss of privacy.

Overshadowing
The effect of a development or building on the amount of natural light presently enjoyed by a
neighbouring property, resulting in a shadow being cast over that neighbouring property.

Ownership
Term often used to refer to a sense of responsibility for an initiative or project. eg, 'People will have
ownership of an idea or a project if they have been involved in creating it'.

back to top P
Pair-wise ranking
Rapid and simple way of selecting the most important issues or problems facing a community.
Brainstorming generates a preliminary list. A group of people then vote on the significance of every
item against each other item using a matrix.

Paradigm
A coherent and mutually supporting pattern of concepts, values, methods and action, amenable or
claiming to be amenable, to wide application.

Parish council
The third tier of local government (created by Local Government Act 1894). Whether called parish or
town council is dependent on the number of residents. Members elected by local community to
serve four-year term. Funding raised by precept on adult residents of area. Comment on planning
applications and seek to influence policy of district council. Contribute to village design statements.

Parish mapping
Arts based way in which a community can explore and express what they value in their place
through the creation of maps out of a wide variety of materials.
Mapping Common Ground

Parish plan
Statement of how a local community (usually in a rural area) sees itself developing over the next few
years.

Participation
Act of being involved in something.

Participation matrix
A simple illustration of how different levels of participation are appropriate at different stages of a
project.

Participation matrix

Participation training
Short courses or workshop sessions on participation approaches. May be aimed at professionals or
community activists.
Participationitis
When everything has to be checked by everyone. Too much participation.

Participatory 3D Modelling (P3DM)

Merges conventional spatial information (contours) with people's mental maps; makes information
tangible and meaningful-to-all, and visualizes scaled and geocoded indigenous spatial knowledge.
Participatory Avenues

Participatory appraisal
An approach to gaining a rapid in-depth understanding of a community, or certain aspects of a
community, based on the participation of that community and a range of visual techniques. Allows
people to share and record aspects of their own situation, conditions of life, knowledge, perceptions,
aspirations, preferences and develop plans for action. Not restricted to planning issues. Many terms
used to imply similar concept including participatory learning and action.
Community profiling Whose Reality Counts?

Participatory budgeting
Mechanism which brings local communities closer to the decision-making process regarding the
allocation of public budgets.
methods
Participatory Budgeting UK

Participatory building evaluation

Method for users and providers to jointly assess the effectiveness of buildings after they have been
built.
User Participation in Building Design and Management

Participatory democracy
Process which involves people directly in decision-making which affects them, rather than through
formally elected representatives such as councillors or MPs as in representative democracy.

Participatory design
Design processes which involve the users of the item or places being designed.

Participatory editing
Method of involving large numbers of people in producing reports and other material.
see also methods
Participatory editing
Participatory monitoring and evaluation (PME)
Monitoring and evaluation undertaken with the participation of those who took part in the activity
being monitored and evaluated.

Participatory rapid appraisal (PRA)

Similar meaning to Participatory appraisal
Participatory appraisal

Participatory theatre
The use of physical movement and creativity to explore people's experience and develop a common
vision.
Participation Works!

Partnership
Agreement between two or more individuals or organisations to work together to achieve common
aims.
Managing Partnerships

Partnership agreement
Formal document setting out the terms and conditions of a partnership arrangement.
Partnership

Passive solar heating

Heating using a simple solar collector, building materials, or an architectural design to capture and
store heat from the sun. Simple examples include a garden greenhouse, or a south-facing window in
a dwelling.

Pathfinder
Project or programme which tries out new approaches that others can learn from.

Pattern language
Method devised to enable untrained people to design their own buildings and cities in accordance
with well-tried principles of good design.
A Pattern Language
Peer review
Evaluation of a piece of work by experts in the same field. Widely used for funding and publishing
proposals but can also be useful for action plans and development proposals.

Pendleton criteria
Assessment of e-planning capabilities. A series of currently 21 criteria relating to how much of a local
planning authority’s planning service is available online and how easy it is to use. Local planning
authorities are scored against these criteria.

Peoples organisation
Similar meaning to Community based organisation
Community based organisation (CBO)

Peoples wall
Wall covered with large sheets of paper where visitors to a design fest or workshop can write and
draw.

Percent for participation

Campaign to get a percentage of total development costs spent on participation. Started by the
Royal Institute of British Architects Community Architecture Group.

Performance management framework

Strategies, plans, policies and indicators that enable the performance of an organisation (usually a
local authority) to be effectively and efficiently monitored in an open and transparent manner.

Permaculture
Approach to designing sustainable environments based on ecological principles of co-operation with
nature.

Permaculture design course

Courses aimed at making groups self-reliant and sustainable and helping them to take initiatives.
Introductory courses last a weekend. Main courses are 2 weeks or a series of weekends.
Permaculture Association The Permaculture Teachers Handbook

Permitted development
Or permitted development rights. Building works and uses as defined by the general permitted
development order and use classes order as those that can be undertaken without the need for
specific planning permission from the local planning authority, unless those rights have been
removed by virtue of an article 4 direction.

Photo survey
Survey of locality using cameras.
Photo survey

Photovoltaics
Conversion of solar radiation (rays from the sun) to electricity by the effect of photons (tiny packets
of light) on the electrons in a solar cell. For example, the photo-voltaic panels installed on the roofs
of houses to generate energy.

Pile sorting
Method of categorising by sorting cards or other items into piles. Used in group sessions.

Place-shaping
The ways in which local players collectively use their influence, powers, creativity and abilities to
create attractive, prosperous and safe communities, places where people want to live, work and do
business. (www.futurecommunities.net)

Placecheck
A way of assessing the qualities of a place, showing what improvements are needed, and focusing
people on working together to achieve them.
Placecheck

Plan-led system
The principle that decisions on planning applications should be made in accordance with the
adopted development plan, unless there are other material considerations that may indicate
otherwise. This means that the statutory development plans for an area are the most important
factor to be taken into account when making a decision on a planning application.

Planning aid scheme

The provision of free and independent information and advice on town planning to groups and
individuals who cannot afford consultancy fees.
Planning aid scheme
Planning application
Administrative process by which permission to carry out development is sought from the local
planning authority. The form and content of the application is laid down in guidance. Applications
can be made in outline or detailed form for some categories of development.

Planning assistance kit

Series of worksheets designed to assist community organisations in physical planning,
implementation and management of their environment.

Planning assistance team

Similar to a design assistance team. Event programme
started by US Air Force using a R/UDAT process on
weekdays for planning issues relating to its bases.
Design assistance team

Planning brief
Outline of the vision for the future of an area which indicates the broad principles that should be
followed in its development. Written to encourage development and give clear guidance to potential
developers. Can include issues such as linkages to surrounding areas as well as uses, type of
buildings, spaces and density.

Planning condition
Requirement attached to a planning permission which has to be met by the developer unless they
successfully appeal against it. The five policy tests for conditions are that they must be necessary,
relevant to planning, relevant to the development to be permitted, enforceable, precise and
reasonable in all other respects.

Planning day
Day when interested parties work intensively together developing urban design options for a site or
neighbourhood.
see also methods
Planning day

Planning department
Section of local authority dealing with planning issues.

Planning for Real ®

Technique for community involvement in planning and development focussing on the construction
and use of flexible cardboard models and priority cards. Promoted and branded by the
Neighbourhood Initiatives Foundation.
Planning for Real

Planning gain
Benefits secured from a developer as part of a planning approval. For example, affordable housing,
community facilities, a new footpath or road.

Planning inspectorate
Independent Government agency that processes planning and enforcement appeals against the
decisions of local planning authorities and holds inquiries into local development plans. It also deals
with a wide variety of other planning-related casework, including listed building consent appeals,
advertisement appeals and reporting on planning applications.

Planning permission
Consent given by a local planning authority for building operations that do not constitute permitted
development or uses permitted by the use classes order. Usually subject to conditions and
sometimes a legal agreement.

Planning portal
Online service for planning provided by central government. Makes it possible to apply for planning
permission as well as submit and track an appeal online. Also to search for planning applications
locally and nationally.

Planning register
Record of all planning applications and decisions open to public inspection. Local planning
authorities are statutorily obliged to maintain them.

Planning weekend
Similar meaning to community planning weekend
Planning weekend Community planning weekend

Plenary session
Meeting of all participants at an event (for instance after a number of separate workshop groups).
Popular planning
Planning from the bottom up. Term used by the Greater London Council in the 1980s.

Post-it note ®
Or simply Post-it. Registered brand name for a sheet of paper with a sticky edge. Come in pads.
Great technical aid to collective working as, unlike cards, they can be stuck on vertical surfaces and
moved around to create groups.

Poverty trap
Describes a situation where a person or group of people find themselves unable to break out of a
cycle of deprivation.

Precautionary principle
Taking action now to avoid possible future environmental damage, when the scientific evidence for
acting is inconclusive but the potential damage could be great. This principle has underpinned
climate change policies since the Rio Earth Summit in 1992.

Preparedness
Measures taken in anticipation of a disaster aimed at minimising loss of life, disruption and damage
if the disaster occurs. Includes formulating contingency plans, developing warning systems,
maintenance of relief supplies and an efficient emergency relief distribution system.
Disaster

Prioritising
Deciding what needs doing when. Ranking of problems to be dealt with or projects to be
undertaken. Term usually used to refer to group prioritising processes.
Prioritising

Priority Estates Project

Experimental UK government programme to give council tenants a chance to exercise more control
over their homes and neighbourhoods by establishing estate-based management systems. Set up in
1979.
PEP

Priority search
Survey technique based on a computerised questionnaire package which analyses responses to
structured questions.
Problem tree
Visual way of analysing the inter-relationships among community issues and problems. A process of
asking why is used to arrive at consensus about root causes and related effects. A symbolic tree is
drawn with the trunk representing problems, the roots representing causes and branches
representing the effects.
See example in Community profiling

Process design
Activity of designing the process.

Process planning session

Event organised to allow people to determine the most appropriate process for their particular
purposes.
Process planning session

Project cycle management (PCM)

Term given to the process of planning and managing projects, programmes and organisations.
Widely used in the business sector and increasingly used by development organisations.

Public art
Permanent or temporary physical works of art visible to the general public, whether part of a
building or free-standing. For example, sculpture, lighting effects, street furniture, paving, railings
and signs.

Public forum
Public meeting with an emphasis on debate and discussion rather than speeches and a question and
answer session. Participants will normally sit in a circle or a horseshoe arrangement.
Forum Public meeting

Public inquiry
Hearing carried out by the planning inspectorate assessing planning decisions made by the local
planning authority. Allows applicants to appeal against the refusal of permission, consent or
enforcement proceedings. The inspector produces a decision after hearing evidence. This can be
overturned by the Secretary of State or challenged on legal grounds through judicial review.
Public meeting
Advertised, open access event at which issues are presented and commented on and at which
decisions may be made. Term normally used to refer to fairly formal events with the audience sitting
in rows facing a speaker or panel of speakers with a chairperson who controls the proceedings.
Public forum Workshop

Public open space

Urban space, designated by a council, where public access may or may not be formally established,
but which fulfils or can fulfil a recreational or non-recreational role (for example, amenity,
ecological, educational, social or cultural usages).

Public realm
Those parts of a village, town or city (whether publicly or privately owned) which are available for
everyone to use. Includes streets, squares, parks and the space between and surrounding buildings.

Public right of way

A highway or footpath over which the public have a right of access.

Public wall
Area of wall space or display boards where members of the public can make their views known by
putting up drawings or text and making comments on material already there.
Peoples wall

Publicity
Raising awareness of a situation through use of posters, leaflets and so on.

Pump-priming
Investing in an activity or service to get something started.

back to top Q

Qualitative measurement
Where words are used to describe changes.

Quantitative measurement
Where numbers are used to measure changes.
Questionnaire survey
Survey which involves collection of information in the form of written responses to a standard set of
questions. Often a starting point for participation processes. Frequently used with other methods.
Survey

Quiet lanes

Designation for minor roads to pay special attention to the needs of walkers, cyclists and horse
riders and reduce the problems caused by the volume or speed of traffic.

back to top R

Rapporteur
French term often used even at English speaking events.
Reporter

Reconnaissance trip
Direct inspection of area under consideration by mixed team of locals and technical experts.
Reconnaissance trip

Recycling
The reprocessing of waste, either into the same product or a different one.

Referendum
Public vote on an issue of special importance. May be used for strategic planning issues (for instance
in the Netherlands).

Regeneration
To bring new and more vigorous life to an area or institution; to be reborn; to grow; to improve an
area’s social, physical and economic environment.

Regional spatial strategy

Document setting out how much development there should be, how it will be spread around the
region and how it will be delivered. Covers a large area.
Regional/urban design assistance team (R/UDAT)
Name originally given to the planning weekend programme started by the American Institute of
Architects in 1967. A generic R/UDAT uses the same process to look at problems common to many
communities. A mini R/UDAT uses a similar process with a student team.
Design assistance team Planning weekend

Registered social landlord (RSL)

Independent, not-for-profit private sector organisations which provide social housing. Most housing
associations are RSLs.
Housing association

Reinvigorate
Event usually lasting one day where ‘outsiders’ and ‘insiders’ undertake a workshop process to
identify solutions to an area’s problems. Process developed by the British Urban Regeneration
Agency (BURA) which spells it Re:Invigorate.
Reinvigorate

Remedial work
Work needed to raise the quality of land to an acceptable level before it is used or developed. For
example, removing pollutants from contaminated land.

Renewable energy
Energy flows that occur naturally, for example from the wind, water flow, tides or the sun. It is
renewable as it never runs out.

Reporter
Person who reports to a plenary session on the outcome of a workshop.

Residents choice catalogue

Choice catalogue for residents.
Choice catalogue

Residents’ tool loan service

Service lending out tools and equipment to make it easier for residents to carry out building work on
their environment.
Residual waste
Waste remaining after materials for re-use, recycling and composting have been removed.

Resilience
The amount of change a system can undergo and essentially retain the same functions, structure
and feedbacks.

Resource assessment
Identification of resources and capacities within a community.
Resource survey

Resource centre
Place designed to provide community groups with the facilities they need to make the most of their
energies and enthusiasm. No two centres are exactly alike but will provide some or all of the
following: information, office equipment, professional advice and support, meeting facilities,
equipment for meetings and fund raising, training courses and opportunities for groups to meet and
share ideas.
see also
Neighbourhood planning office

Resource survey
Survey to identify local resources which may be mobilised. Will include people, organisations,
finance, equipment and so on.
Neighbourhood skills survey

Restoration
Steps to return land to its original or former condition following mineral working by using subsoil,
topsoil or soil-making material.

Retail impact assessment

Assessment of potential impact of proposed retail developments on existing retail centres.

Review session
Workshop organised to monitor progress and maintain momentum.
Review session
Right to buy
Scheme under which most council tenants and some housing association tenants may buy their
homes at a lower price than the full market value. Only properties that are particularly suitable for
occupation by elderly or disabled people, or are let in connection with the tenants employment, are
exempt. People qualify for a discount on the basis of the number of years that they have been social
rented housing tenants, subject to a Government-specified maximum amount that varies region by
region.

Risk assessment
Examination of risks from disasters existing in any community. The basis for risk reduction.
Comprises three components: Hazard analysis; vulnerability analysis; resource assessment.
Risk assessment

Roadshow
Series of linked public workshops, exhibitions and public forums to explore the potential for
improving the built environment and provide a catalyst for action.
Roadshow

Role play
Adopting the role of others and acting out scenarios. Used to help people understand the views and
aspirations of others.
Gaming

Round table workshop

Workshop process for engaging the main stakeholders in generating a vision and strategy for an
area. Often used for consensus building between previously antagonistic parties.
Participation Works!

Rural diversification
The expansion, enlargement or variation of the range of products or fields of operation of a rural
business. Includes branching out from traditional farming activities into renewable energy, tourism
or food processing.

Rural rapid appraisal (RRA)

Similar approach in rural areas.
Participatory appraisal
back to top S

Scheduled ancient monument

Nationally important monuments, usually archaeological remains, that enjoy protection against
inappropriate development (through the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979).

Scoping
Preliminary exploration of a subject or project.

Screening
The process of deciding whether a plan or programme needs a strategic environmental assessment.

Search conference
Conference or workshop for key interested parties organised as a first stage in a consultation
process on a project. May include briefings, role play, reconnaissance, interactive displays,
workshops and plenary sessions. Term much used in Australia. Similar to planning day or community
planning forum.
Community Participation in Practice - A Practical Guide

Seasonal calendar
Chart showing a communitys work and social activities month by month to highlight problems or
concerns about such things as livelihood, health and community relations.
see also Community profiling
Community profiling

Secondary co-operative
Organisation which provides services, such as technical aid, to a co-operative which is also owned
and managed by that co-operative.
Co-operative Housing co-operative

Secondary data
Indirect information sources; files, reports, maps, photos, books and so on.

Secondary data review

Collection and analysis of published and unpublished material such as maps, reports, census
statistics and newspaper clippings. Normally done prior to field work.
Secretary of state
The most senior Government minister responsible for the work of his or her department. The
Government department responsible for planning in England is the Department for Communities
and Local Government (DCLG).

Section 106 Agreement

A legal agreement (under section 106 of the 1990 Town & Country Planning Act) between a local
planning authority and a developer, or undertakings offered unilaterally by a developer, that ensure
that certain extra works related to a development are undertaken. Continue alongside the
community infrastructure levy.
Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL)

Self build
Construction (or repair) work physically undertaken directly by future (or present) occupiers on an
individual or collective basis.

Self help
Where people take responsibility, individually or collectively, for solving their problems.

Self management
Where a facility is managed by the people who use it.

Self sufficiency
Reduction of dependence on others, making devolution of control easier and encouraging self-
reliance.

Semi-structured interview
Conversational open discussion with local inhabitants to understand their needs, problems and
aspirations. Uses a checklist of questions as a flexible guide in contrast to a formal questionnaire.
Different types include; individual, group, focus group, and key informant.
Interview

Seminar
Meeting or workshop with educational slant.
Sequential approach
A planning principle that seeks to identify, allocate or develop certain types or locations of land
before others. For example, brownfield housing sites before greenfield sites, or town centre retail
sites before out-of-centre sites.

Serendipity
Making happy discoveries by accident.

Service level agreement (SLA)

Arrangement between people providing a service and those receiving it setting out quantity and
frequency of delivery.

Shared ownership housing

When an occupier buys a proportion of a home and rents the remainder, usually from a housing
association. Way of making housing affordable.

Shared presentation
Presentation by a group or several individuals.

Shell housing
Construction system where only floors, walls, roofs and services are provided, leaving occupiers free
to build their own interiors.

Shop front scheme.

Scheme for improving the street scene by grant aiding improvements to individual shop fronts.

Short-life housing
Use of empty property on a temporary basis, usually by a voluntary organization.

Silo
Inefficient departments with little or no planning and co-ordination between related programmes.

Simplified planning zone

An area in which a local planning authority wishes to stimulate development and encourage
investment. Specified planning permission is granted in the zone without the need for an application
for planning permission and the payment of planning fees.

Simulation
Acting out an event or activity as a way of gaining information and insights prior to formulating
plans.
Simulation

Single regeneration budget (SRB)

Series of programmes to enhance the employment prospects, education and skills of local people
and to tackle the needs of communities in deprived areas.

Site and services

Provision of a serviced site for self-builders. Usually by government, but increasingly also by the
private sector.

Site of nature conservation importance (SNCI)

Locally important site of nature conservation adopted by local authorities for planning purposes.
Similar to site of biological interest (SBI)

Site of special scientific interest (SSSI)

Site requiring protection from damaging development on account of its flora, fauna, geological
and/or physiological features. Identified by English Nature under section 28 of the Wildlife &
Countryside Act 1981.

Skills survey
Assessment of skills and talent. Often done in a neighbourhood to establish what the community can
do for itself and what extra help is needed. Also known as a skills audit or skills inventory.
Neighbourhood skills survey

Slide show
Presentation originally based on projecting images from transparencies but now done on a
computer. Widely used in workshops before the widespread use of Powerpoint as they could be
prepared and presented by participants (more easily than video) and enable people to present visual
information to groups (if the projector did not break down!).
Small group discussion
Similar to Small group work.
Small group work

Small group work

People working together in small groups of 8 - 15. Term used to cover a range of similar methods
such as workshops and focus groups which enable people to discuss, evaluate, learn and plan
together. Group work can be formal or informal, one-off or regular, topic related or wide-ranging.

Small to medium enterprise (SME)

Independent business managed by its owner or part owners and having a small market share either
by number of employees or turnover.

Social architecture
Similar concept to community architecture. Term commonly used in the United States.
Community architecture

Social audit
Tool to help an organisation understand, measure and report upon its social performance through
the eyes of its stakeholders. Over time, the approach can be used to help an organisation improve its
social performance.

Social capital
Ability of social structures and institutions to provide a supportive framework for individuals;
includes firms, trade unions, families, communities, voluntary organisations, legal/political systems,
educational institutions, health services, financial institutions and systems of property rights.
Human capital

Social enterprise
Initiative that uses a commercial approach to fund social or community-based activities.

Social entrepreneur
Person who makes things happen by taking initiative in the interests of his or her community rather
than for private or personal gain.
Social exclusion
Exclusion from accepted norms through unemployment, poor skills, low incomes, poor housing, high
crime environments, bad health and family breakdown.

Social housing
Housing provided by a landlord, where access is on the basis of housing need, with rents no higher
than target rents set by the government for housing association and local authority rents.

Social investment
Normally a loan (not a grant) which makes a positive economic, social or environmental impact, as
well as earning income.

Social survey
Survey to find out about the nature of a community. May cover aspects like age, gender, wealth,
health and so on.
Survey

Solid biomass
Material from recently living organisms, including plants, animals and their waste.

Soundness
Extent to which development plan documents conform to national planning policy, have clear
mechanisms for implementation, are founded on a robust and credible evidence base, have taken
proper account of the views of the community and have been prepared following proper
procedures.

Source protection zone

Area where groundwater (especially public water supply) is protected from developments that may
damage its quality. Identified by the Environment Agency.

Spatial development
Changes in the distribution of activities in space, and the linkages between them, in terms of the use
and development of land.
Spatial development strategy (SDS)
Document which provides a vision and strategic guidance on planning matters.

Spatial planning
Activity that goes beyond traditional land use planning to bring together and integrate policies for
the development and use of land with other policies and programmes which influence the nature of
places and how they function. This will include policies which can impact on land use by influencing
the demands on, or needs for, development, but which are not capable of being delivered solely or
mainly through the granting or refusal of planning permission and which may be implemented by
other means.

Spatial vision
Description of how an area will be changed at the end of a plan period.

SpeakOut
Interactive event intensively staffed with facilitators and Recorders where participants drop in and
visit a number of issue stalls set up with interpretative material about the community or the
planning issues under consideration. Provides an informal environment where a wide range of
people have a chance to participate. Encourages casual, ‘drop-in’ participation at people’s
convenience. People find issues about which they wish to ‘speak out’ and have their say, with
comments clearly recorded by a Recorder (Sarkissian 2009). Similar to Have your say event.
Open house event SpeakOut Have your say event

Special interest group

Group championing a particular cause or interest. May be topic or geographically based. May be
formally or informally constituted.

Special needs housing

Housing to meet the needs of people who may be disadvantaged, such as the elderly, the disabled,
students, young single people, rough sleepers, the homeless, those needing hostel accommodation,
key workers, travellers and occupiers of mobile homes and houseboats.

Special projects group

Non-statutory group formed to undertake a particular project.
User group

Squatting
Unlawful occupation of land or housing.
Staffed exhibition
Exhibition where organisers are present to engage in discussion.
Interactive exhibition Open house event

Stakeholder
Person or organisation with an interest because they will be affected or may have some influence.

Stakeholder analysis
Gaining an understanding about who is affected by any proposal and therefore who should be
involved in any participation process. Useful first step in most participation processes.

Stakeholder participation day

One-day event to involve key stakeholders. Often held at the start of a planning process. Sometimes
called a consultation day.
Stakeholder participation day

Statement of case
Document served prior to an inquiry into a planning appeal, detailing full particulars of the case to
be put forward, including the technical data on which the party wishes to rely.

Statement of community involvement (SCI)

Document produced by local authorities to highlight how they intend to engage the community in
their activity.

Statement of consultation
Report issued by a local planning authority explaining how it has complied with its statement of
community involvement during consultation on local development documents.

Statutory
Required by law (statute), usually through an Act of Parliament.

Statutory body
Government-appointed organisation set up to give advice, and be consulted for comment on,
development plans and planning applications affecting matters of public interest. Examples of
statutory bodies in England include: English Heritage, Natural England, Environment Agency, Health
& Safety Executive and Sport England.

Statutory undertakers
Organisations carrying out functions of a public character under a statutory power. They may be in
either public or private ownership. Examples in England include the Post Office, Civil Aviation
Authority, the Environment Agency, any water undertaker, any public gas transporters, supply of
electricity etc.

Steering group
Informal group set up to pursue a project or goal.
User group

Stick
Metaphor for control. Handing over the stick is a much used term to mean the experts or facilitator
handing over the chalk, pen or microphone to enable local people to become the analysts, planners
and facilitators of their own situation.

Sticky wall
Rectangular sheet of parachute silk sprayed with repositional adhesive. Useful for workshops
because notes can be moved around and do not require adhesive backing.

Stop notice
Document served by a local planning authority prohibiting the carrying out or continuing of specified
operations which are alleged to constitute a breach of planning control. The notice is designed to
stop work pending the outcome of an appeal.

Storefront studio
Community design office located in a prominent shop, often temporarily for a community planning
event or charrette. Term used in the USA.

Story-telling
Verbal recounting of tales which may be actual or mythical. Used to understand local values,
standards, practices and relationships. Particularly valuable with children and people who are
illiterate. Also the singing of local songs and reciting of poetry. Performance sets off discussion to
explain local knowledge and beliefs.
Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA)
Assessment of the effects of plans and programmes on the environment. Required for certain
projects by European Directive 2001/42/EC.
Environmental impact assessment Strategic Environmental Assessment Information
Service

Strategic planning
Organised effort to produce decisions and actions that shape and guide what a community is, what it
does, and why it does it.

Street party
Party for the whole community held in the street. Often organised to galvanise regeneration
initiatives.

Street stall
Way of securing public comment on planning issues by setting up an interactive exhibition in a public
street or square.
Street stall

Street survey
Survey carried out by stopping people in a street or shopping centre. Used for securing views of
people using a place (rather than necessarily living or working there).
Survey

Study day
Day spent examining a particular issue. Similar to a planning day but less structured. Useful for
simple issues.
Planning day

Sub-regional partnership
A strategic body directing, influencing and co-ordinating a range of economic development and
regeneration activities. Often made up of key private, public and other interests.

Subsidiarity
Maximum local autonomy.
Suggestions box
Box in which people place their written suggestions or comments on a place or proposals. Useful
device in consultation allowing participants to remain anonymous if they wish.

Sui-generis
Term given to uses of land or buildings, not falling into any of the use classes identified by the use
classes order. For example, theatres, launderettes, car showrooms and filling stations.

Super output area (SOA)

Smallest area for which UK government provides deprivation statistics.

Supplementary planning document (SPD)

A local development document that may cover a range of issues, thematic or site specific, and
provides further detail of policies and proposals in a development plan document. For example
relating to affordable housing provision, or to give detailed guidance on the development of specific
sites in the form of a master plan framework or development brief.

Supports and infill

Concept of design, management and construction which aims to distinguish between individual and
collective areas of responsibility. Developed at the Stichting Architecten Research in the
Netherlands.

Surgery
Similar meaning as Design surgery
Design surgery

Survey
Systematic gathering of information.
Opinion survey Questionnaire survey Resource survey Social survey Street
survey

Sustainability appraisal
An assessment of the economic, environmental and social effects of a plan to allow decisions to be
made that accord with sustainable development. Sustainability appraisals that fully incorporate the
requirements of the European Union (SEA Directive - 2001/42/EC) are required for local
development documents.
Sustainable community
Community that lives in harmony with its local environment and does not cause damage to distant
environments or other communities ? now or in the future. Quality of life and the interest of future
generations are valued above immediate material consumption and economic growth.

Sustainable community strategy (SCS)

Long-term vision for an area created by the local strategic partnership (LSP) to tackle local needs.
The local area agreement (LAA) is the mechanism for making the vision a reality; all the outcomes
and targets of the LAA are designed to deliver the vision set out in the SCS. The SCS is the plan of
plans in an area. It sits above all the other plans and should be based on evidence and consultation.
The SCS should also set out the key tasks that the LSP partners need to achieve to improve the well
being of the area. The SCS is not subject to any external validation but is subject to a sustainability
appraisal. The local development framework, particularly the core strategy, needs to demonstrate
how it is delivering the SCS.
Local strategic partnership (LSP) Local area agreement (LAA)

Sustainable development
Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future
generations to meet their own needs (Brundtland Report definition).

Sustainable travel
Travel creating minimal damage to the environment. Mostly assumed to mean walking, cycling, use
of public transport and car sharing.

Sweat equity
Where an individual or community acquires an asset by expending labour rather than money.

SWOT analysis
Determination of the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats relating to an organisation
or activity.

back to top T

Table group
Group of six to ten people at a workshop who work under the guidance of a Facilitator and are
assisted by a Recorder. They usually work through a structured agenda and report back to all
participants at plenary sessions. (Sarkissian 2009)
Table scheme display
Simple way of securing comment on design proposals by taping drawings on a table top and
requesting people to vote with sticky dots.
Table scheme display

Talent survey
Similar meaning as skills survey
Skills survey

Task Force
Multidisciplinary team of students and professionals who produce in-depth proposals for a site or
neighbourhood based on an intensive programme of site studies, lectures, participatory exercises
and studio working, normally lasting several weeks.
Task Force

Team-building
Learning to work together as a group by getting to know each other and developing shared aims,
values and working practices.

Technology of participation
A framework of practical methods that help facilitators working with groups. Term used by the
Institute of Cultural Affairs. Includes Discussion method, Workshop method and Action Planning
method.
Institute of Cultural Affairs.

Temporal snapshot
Finding out how spaces are used at different times of day and night.

Tenant management organisation (TMO)

Organisation set up to allow housing tenants to participate in the management of their homes.

Think tank
Brainstorming group. Increasingly used by governments and city authorities. Often for experts only.
May use a community planning event format. Sometimes called an expert panel or symposium.
Third wave
Revolution currently transforming society based on growth of high technology and information
systems. The first wave was the agricultural revolution, the second the industrial revolution.

Time money
Alternative currency which credits the time people spend helping each other. Participants earn
credit for doing jobs - an hour of your time entitles you to an hour of someone else's time. Credits
are deposited centrally in a time bank and withdrawn when the participant needs help themselves.
New Economics Foundation

Time use analysis

Assessment of time spent on various activities, on a daily or seasonal basis.

Timeline
Line calibrated to show a historical sequence of events or activities.
Diagrams Historical profiling

Top down
Term used to refer to initiatives led by the authorities as opposed to bottom up initiatives led by the
community.

Topic workshop
Workshop session on a particular topic.
Workshop

Town and Country Planning Act 1990

The chief piece of primary planning legislation in England. Much of it has been amended by the
Planning & Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 and most recently by the Localism Act 2011. But the 1990
Act remains the key legal reference point for planning.

Town centre manager

Person employed to improve town centres by working with all interested parties and taking
initiatives.

Town development trust

Organisation created by a local urban community to revitalise that community's physical
surroundings.
Development trust

Town team
Group of people who work within their community to identify and shape projects designed to
improve it. Term used in Yorkshire, UK.
Upper Calder Valley Renaissance

Town workshop
Workshop organised on the future of a town.

Trail
Carefully planned walk through an area designed to help people understand the problems and
opportunities. Designed to be walked unaccompanied.
Reconnaissance trip

Transect walk
Systematic walk along a pre-determined route through an area to gather information about such
things as land-use, social and economic resources or the state of the environment. Usually done by
community members with facilitators or technical experts. Information is subsequently recorded on
maps and as text.
Reconnaissance trip

Transition towns initiative

Project or initiative aimed at making the transition necessary for communities to be able to reduce
climate change by reducing carbon emissions and counter the effects of the end of cheap oil.
Transition towns wiki

Transport impact assessment

A requirement for major planing applications to outline: what additional transport impacts the
proposals will generate; how they will integrate into existing transport patterns; how they meet
sustainable development requirements.

Travel plan
Plan outlining how people will move around for regular activities such as getting to work or school.
May be prepared on a voluntary basis or as part of a planning agreement. Seen as an important tool
for promoting sustainable travel (e.g. walking, cycling) and encouraging effective use of current
public transport networks and their enhancement.
Treasure hunt
Trail designed with the added incentive of prizes for the correct answers to questions about things
seen on route. Useful warm up to a community planning event, generating interest and getting
people to look closely at the physical nature of an area.
Trail

Tree preservation order (TPO)

Designation of a tree in a conservation area that contributes significantly to amenity. A TPO
designation requires that the council is consulted before any tree maintenance is carried out.

Triple bottom line

Business activity that results in commercial profit as well as social and environmental benefits.

Trunk road
Strategic highway which links cities, towns, ports and airports. Most motorways and some A roads
are trunk roads. The secretary of state for transport is the highway authority responsible for
maintaining and operating the trunk road network.

Trust
Term used in the name of an organisation, usually implying that it has charitable objectives. Also
used to mean 'have confidence in'.

Twin tracking
The submission of two identical (or overlapping) planning applications on the same site at the same
time, with the intention of appealing (against refusal) on one of them in order to pressurise for a
consent on the other. A local planning authority can decline to determine overlapping applications,
for example when an appeal on the same or very similar proposal has recently been turned down.

back to top U

Unauthorised development
Development that has taken place, or is taking place, without planning permission. It may risk being
the subject of enforcement action.

Unitary authority
Single-tier local authority, combining the functions of county and district council.
Unstable land
Land liable to subsidence for which planning proposals should take account.

Urban aid
Government funding intended for community development in urban areas.

Urban capacity study

Investigation to establish how much additional housing can be accommodated within an urban area.

Urban community assistance team

Similar meaning to Design assistance team
Design assistance team

Urban design
Discipline concerned with three-dimensional built form and the ecology of streets, neighbourhoods
and cities.

Urban design action team

Similar meaning as urban design assistance team. Term adopted by the Urban Design Group for its
first UK community planning event in 1990 and used again since. (Note the American ‘Assistance’
has changed to ‘Action’.
Design assistance team

Urban design assistance team

Similar meaning to Design assistance team
Design assistance team

Urban design game

Role-play game designed to help people to understand the planning process and the views of others
by simulating future scenarios.
Gaming

Urban design studio

Unit attached to an architecture or planning school which focuses on involving local communities in
live project work.
Urban design studio

Urban design workshop

Similar meaning to Design workshop
Design workshop

Urban extension
The planned expansion of a city or town. Can contribute to creating more sustainable patterns of
development when located in the right place, with well-planned infrastructure including access to a
range of facilities, and when developed at appropriate densities.

Urban farm
Similar meaning to City farm
City Farm

Urban fringe
Transitional place between urban area and countryside. Can provide a valuable location for sport
and recreation, particularly in situations where there is a lack of land within urban areas.

Urban laboratory
Similar meaning to Urban design studio
Urban design studio

Urban regeneration
Regeneration in an urban area.
Regeneration

Urban regeneration company (URC)

Not-for-profit company which engages businesses in regeneration strategies to develop less
prosperous areas.

Urban renaissance
Vision for widespread urban regeneration based on design excellence, community involvement and
social well-being, with a viable economic framework.
Urban resource centre
Local or regional centre aiming to co-ordinate training in cross-professional skills and disseminate
best practice and innovation in regeneration and community planning.

Urban sprawl
Uncontrolled or unplanned extension of urban areas into the countryside.

Urban studies centre

Centre of environmental education, usually focusing on the immediate surroundings.
Architecture centre Environmental education

Urban village
Term used to describe an urban area with an attractive mix of homes, shops, restaurants and
employers.

Use classes order

Categorisation of land uses. As defined in The Town and Country Planning (Use Classes) Order
1987. Planning permission is not needed for changes of use within the same use class.

User
Actual or future occupier of a building or neighbourhood or beneficiary of a service.
User client

User client
People who are the end-users of buildings and are treated as the client, even if they are not
technically responsible for paying the bills.

User group
Group of actual or future occupiers of a building or neighbourhood or beneficiary of a service.
User group

back to top V

Venn diagram
Diagram using circles of different sizes to indicate roles of different organisations and the
relationships between them. Used for analysing institutional and social networks.
Diagrams
Vernacular
The way in which ordinary buildings were built in a particular place, making use of local styles,
techniques and materials.

Vernacular architecture
Architecture of and by the people and rooted in a particular locality.

Vernacular building
A building built without being designed by an architect or engineer or someone with similar formal
training, often based on traditional or regional forms.

Video box
Use of video to help people express and communicate ideas and opinions. Used for presentation or
as a discussion tool. Particularly useful for young people.
Video soapbox

Video project
Where citizens film their neighbourhood and interview each other as part of a community planning
initiative.

Video soapbox
Use of large screens in public locations to project people expressing ideas and opinions.
Video soapbox Video box

Village appraisal
Similar meaning to Community appraisal.
Community appraisal

Village appraisals and audits

Surveys done by and for local people

Village design day

Day when people work intensively on developing ideas
for their village.
Planning day
Village design statement
Local design statement produced by a village community.
Local design statement

Village envelope
Boundary around a village, or part of a village, within which development might be allowed in
principle.

Vision
An image of how things might be in the future. May be in words or pictures. Provides useful guide
for developing project and programme priorities. ‘Having vision’ implies being imaginative.
Visioning

Vision fair
Event where people vote on their favourite visions. Vision
statements or images, usually from a previous workshop or brainstorm, are exhibited. People use
sticky dots or other means to indicate which visions they would like to pursue. They may also make
personal pledges to take action.
Choices method Vision

Visioning
Thinking about what the future could be and creating a vision.
Community visioning Vision

Visioning conference
Similar meaning to Future search conference
Future search conference.

Visit
Trip by a group of people planning an initiative to a community that has recently undertaken a
similar initiative, to learn from their experience. May be highly structured with formal notetaking,
interviews and feedback sessions, or informal.

Visual minutes
Recording a meeting, conference or workshop visually with cartoon illustrations rather than by
producing traditional minutes using text.
Visual minutes

Visual simulation
Showing how buildings will look when constructed using photomontages.

Voluntary organisation
Not-for-profit, non-statutory and often charitable organisation.

Voluntary sector
Non-statutory organisations funded by grants, donations and sponsorship that provide goods and
services to groups of people.

Vulnerability
Extent to which a community, structure or service is likely to be damaged or disrupted by a disaster.
Disaster

Vulnerability analysis
Identification of what and who is vulnerable to disaster and the extent of that vulnerability.
Disaster

Vulnerability and capacity analysis

Method based on a matrix chart for organising information about a
community’s vulnerability to, and capacity to withstand, the effects of extreme events such as
natural disasters.

back to top W

Walkabout
Direct inspection of area under consideration on foot
Reconnaissance trip

Ward
Small sub-area of a local authority district.
Waste collection authority (WCA)
Organisation with a duty to collect household waste. It also has a duty to collect commercial waste if
requested to do so and may also collect industrial waste. May differ from the waste disposal
authority (WDA).
Waste disposal authority (WDA)

Waste disposal authority (WDA)

Organisation responsible for managing waste collected by the waste collection authority and
providing household waste recovery centres.
Waste collection authority (WCA)

Waste hierarchy
Framework for securing a sustainable approach to waste management. Waste should be minimised
wherever possible. If waste cannot be avoided, then it should be re-used; after this, value should be
recovered by recycling or composting or using waste to generate energy; and finally landfill disposal.

Waste minimisation
Avoiding the production of waste in the first place.

Waste planning authority

Organisation responsible for the disposal and reuse of waste (in a county council or metropolitan
district).

Wealth ranking
Similar meaning to Well-being ranking
Well-being ranking

Web site
Space on the Internet. Immense potential for providing sites with
information, discussion groups and interactive material on community planning projects.

Well-being ranking
Assessment of well-being of different households, usually
using pile-sorting technique. Also known as wealth ranking.
Community profiling
Wheel of fortune
Graphic way for people to collectively prioritise up to 20 competing priorities.
Example in Prioritising

White land
Land (and buildings) without any specific proposal for allocation in a development plan, where it is
intended that for the most part, existing uses shall remain undisturbed and unaltered.

Wildlife corridor
Strip of land (for example, along a hedgerow) conserved and managed for wildlife, usually linking
more extensive wildlife habitats.

Wind farm
Group of turbines generating electricity from wind. May vary in terms of the number and size of
turbines.

Windfall site
Plot of land not specifically allocated for development in a development plan, but which
unexpectedly becomes available for development during the lifetime of a plan. Most windfalls are
referred to in a housing context. They tend to be very small sites for one or a small number of
homes.

Wish poem
Poem made up by combining wishes of participants at a workshop.

Working community
Similar meaning to Managed workspace
Managed workspace

Working group
Small number of individuals with a specific task to complete.

Working party
Similar meaning to Working group
Working group
Workshop
Meeting at which a small group, perhaps aided by a facilitator, explores issues, develops ideas and
makes decisions. A less formal and more creative counterpart to a
public meeting or committee. A topic workshop focuses on
specific issues. A design workshop includes the use of participatory design techniques.
Briefing workshop Design workshop Public meeting Seminar Topic
workshop

World café
A non-confrontational and creative structured process to help large numbers of people engage in
interactive conversations and build mutual understanding and collective learning about important
issues by working in small groups.

World heritage site

Cultural or natural site of outstanding universal value. Designated by the International Council on
Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS). For example Stonehenge.

back to top Y

Youth forum
Way for young people to meet to discuss issues that concern them in whatever way best suits them.

Youth Inclusion programme (YIP)

Programme to reduce youth crime in specific neighbourhoods. Operates in 70 of the most deprived
estates in England and Wales where it targets 13 to 16 year-olds engaged in crime or most at risk of
offending, truancy or social exclusion.

Youth planning day

Day of activities designed specifically to involve young people in the planning process.
Planning day

back to top Z

Zero-carbon home
Energy-efficient dwelling where the net carbon emissions from all energy uses over a year are zero.
This includes energy use from cooking, washing and electronic entertainment appliances as well as
space heating, cooling, ventilation, lighting and hot water.
ZOPP
Acronym for the German expression “Zielorientierte
Projektplanung” or objectives oriented project planning. A planning methodology (a set of
instruments and procedures) for addressing the planning function in the process of managing a
development project through its life cycle. Form of logical framework analysis. Also known as Goal-
oriented project planning (GOPP).
Logical framework analysis Goal-oriented project planning (GOPP)