Building Better Britains?


Book Description

This concise text explores the spread of settler colonies within the British Empire over the course of the nineteenth century, specifically those in New Zealand, Canada, South Africa, and Australia.




Building Better Societies


Book Description

From environmental decline to growing economic inequality, things are getting worse for the majority of the human race and will continue to worsen until determined action is taken. Starting from this vantage point, Building Better Societies looks to social scientists to identify what is needed to solve the problems that are leading to a collapse of civil society. This is the first book to collect the ideas of those whose research on social conditions is at the forefront of our biggest societal problems. Challenging fellow social scientists to cast aside their commitment to the established order and its ideological support systems, Building Better Societies argues that social researchers must, as objectively as possible, use their skills to look ahead, identify the likely outcomes of various forms of intervention, and move to the forefront of informed political debate. Bringing together expert contributors researching the many aspects of our social condition, this book channels the energy of social scientists into a more normative and engaged voice; it asks them what mechanisms, interventions, and evidence we might draw on as we make a better world.




HL 100 - Building Better Places


Book Description

The built environment affects us all. The planning, design, management and maintenance of the built environment has a long-term impact upon people and communities. It is widely acknowledged that the quality of life, prosperity, health and wellbeing of an individual is heavily influenced by the 'place' in which they live or work. Policy towards the built environment in England is not the sole preserve of any one Government department; this both accounts for the diverse range of elements which comprise the 'built environment', and reflects the diverse range of impacts which it has upon people and communities. There is an urgent need to co-ordinate and reconcile policy across numerous different areas and priorities. Recently, however, one priority has become dominant in debates concerning built environment policy. Increasing the overall supply of housing, and the speed at which housing is delivered, is a central part of the Government's policy agenda. When seen in the context of the housing crisis facing many communities across England, this is understandable and, overall, we welcome the Government focus on increasing and speeding up the supply of housing. Restrictions on financial freedoms and flexibilities, however, pose a threat to the ability of local authorities to build houses of their own. The private sector, throughout the post-war period, has very rarely achieved the delivery of 200,000 homes a year. We do not believe the Government can deliver the stepchange required for housing supply without taking measures to allow local authorities and housing associations each to play their full part in delivering new homes. In addition, Government initiatives have so far failed to address a further part of the housebuilding problem, which is the gap between planning permissions granted and new homes built. We recommend measures intended to address this, and other, barriers to increasing the number of housing completions.




Building Better Connections


Book Description

This highly topical report provides much needed evidence to inform the re-configuration of services for children and young people. Focusing on the Connexions strategy and service in England, it explores the effectiveness of inter-agency working in this area. The report is based on two years research in three contrasting Connexions Partnerships and around 300 hours of interviews with key stakeholders, young people's Personal Advisors and young people themselves. It examines the inter-agency strategies developed by the partnerships but, most importantly, what impact they have had on the interventions made with young people facing acute and complex needs. It will be of particular interest to Connexions professionals and managers, others involved in partnership working, those involved in the development and implementation of Children and Young People's Strategic Partnerships and Children's Trusts, as well as youth researchers and policy makers.




Building Better Britains?


Book Description

This short book explores the spread of settler colonies within the British Empire over the course of the nineteenth century specifically those in New Zealand, Canada, South Africa, and Australia."




Building Britain's Recovery


Book Description

This White Paper sets out proposals to tackle the effects of the recession and to get back to full employment. Its aims are to give young people a chance to a better start to their working lives and to help more people back to work and make sure they are better off in work, to keep them in work and to build a fair and family-friendly labour market




Building a Better Tomorrow


Book Description

The book aims to provide an introductory overview of a period in British architecture which has been neglected hitherto but in which interest is now burgeoning. Using little-before-seen archival photographs from the RIBA's Photographs Collection, it investigates how architects went about the task of reconstruction during the 1950s and the varied influences at play upon them, from Swedish exemplars, Le Corbusier and Mies van der Rohe abroad, to indigenous sources such as the revival of the Picturesque and a heightened concern for Britain's 'functional tradition'. In a period which began with the strictures of post-war austerity and ended with a property boom, the coverage of such themes as the legacy of the Festival of Britain; the heterogeneous nature of post-war Modernism and its acceptance by a previously hostile public; the parallel robust survival of traditional styles; the flowering of public architecture seen especially in Hertfordshire's pioneering school building programme; the role of prefabrication; the development of the New Town movement; the resurgence of private sector architecture and the rise of New Brutalism; the increased involvement of developers in shaping the urban fabric, all combine to demonstrate the period's architectural diversity.




Building Better Societies


Book Description

From environmental decline to growing economic inequality, things are getting worse for the majority of the human race and will continue to worsen until determined action is taken. Starting from this vantage point, Building Better Societies looks to social scientists to identify what is needed to solve the problems that are leading to a collapse of civil society. This is the first book to collect the ideas of those whose research on social conditions is at the forefront of our biggest societal problems. Challenging fellow social scientists to cast aside their commitment to the established order and its ideological support systems, Building Better Societies argues that social researchers must, as objectively as possible, use their skills to look ahead, identify the likely outcomes of various forms of intervention, and move to the forefront of informed political debate. Bringing together expert contributors researching the many aspects of our social condition, this book channels the energy of social scientists into a more normative and engaged voice; it asks them what mechanisms, interventions, and evidence we might draw on as we make a better world.




Greater


Book Description

We're used to hearing that we live in an age of unprecedented division, that the great storms that have engulfed British politics over the past ten years have driven us further apart than ever, with no hope of finding common ground. Penny Mordaunt and Chris Lewis disagree. In this lively and insightful book, they argue that although differences of opinion are a natural part of healthy political debate, some of our current division is caused by a need for political reform. A wave of scandals has corroded public confidence in leadership in all walks of life, fuelled by a hyper-individualistic social media landscape – but by rebuilding public trust we can restore national pride and positive, competent politics. Greater lays out a plan for post-Brexit Britain. Delving into our history, our institutions and our culture, it explains how we arrived at this point and how the British character points the way towards practical national missions. It explores Britain's role in the world and how to balance global and local priorities; makes the case for the United Kingdom based on the mutuality that binds us; and calls for modernising reform in politics, government and markets. It describes the role of social media in culture wars and calls for a relentless focus on aspiration and a social enterprise revolution. Above all, it reminds us of the many reasons we have to be optimistic.




Is Architecture Art?


Book Description

Is architecture an art, like literature or music? Or is it more akin to science or engineering? Can buildings be artworks, just like paintings and sculptures, or does their fundamentally functional nature mean they cannot be considered pure works of art? Questions of architecture, art, and aesthetics do not allow for simple answers. But by asking such questions, we can usefully reveal the ways in which the concepts and meanings of architecture have changed over the centuries, and how they continue to change in the contemporary era. Is Architecture Art? explores the key conceptual questions about the aesthetic appreciation of architecture and its persistently contested status as an artform. It engages the work of thinkers ranging from Hume and Kant to Adorno, Tafuri, and Rancière, and draws on accessible and thought-provoking accounts of historical and contemporary architectural and art theory. Taking novel approaches to issues that will be familiar to the practising architect, it shows how aesthetics and art theory can open up and illuminate architectural theory, issue by issue. Is Architecture Art? will provoke discussion and debate among architects and architectural theorists, and force a new understanding of the purpose of architectural practice in the contemporary era as the concepts of 'art', 'the arts', and of the creative economy have shifted and blurred as never before.