Founded by Sir Ebenezer Howard in 1899 to promote the idea of the Garden City, the TCPA is Britain's oldest charity concerned with planning, housing and the environment. The association was first called the Garden City Association, and then the Garden Cities and Town Planning Association, broadening its scope to promote town planning as well as garden cities. As such, it became the first pressure group for planning and predates the formation of the Royal Town Planning Institute.
Objectives
The TCPA has been a reformist movement for over a hundred years – evidenced by its interest in fair shares in development and land value uplift; shared ownership of public open space; participative and entrepreneurial local governance; town and country planned together, and enhancement of the environment – and the need to achieve sustainable communities. The TCPA objectives in its new Manifesto for the 21st Century, are to:
Secure a decent, well designed home for everyone, in a human-scale environment combining the best features of town and country
Empower people and communities to influence decisions that affect them
Improve the planning system in accordance with the principles of sustainable development
Activities
As part of its educational remit, the TCPA arranges conferences and study tours. The association is not only confined to England but is also involved in a range of European projects.
Projects
Garden Cities
Building on its legacy, the TCPA has been setting out a proactive agenda around garden cities, with a positive response from the government. The association believes that a new generation of 21st century garden cities could help to solve a range of problems such as the acute shortage of housing in the UK and the need to respond to climate change Recently, the Prime Minister has made a statement outlining his support of the garden principles and drafted a prospectus on locally led garden cities. Ebbsfleet has been proposed as a potential new garden city. However, although the site is well-connected it is difficult to see how it could meet all of the Garden City Principles but must genuinely offer affordable homes, according to the TCPA.
Reuniting Planning and Health
Green Infrastructure Partnership
The Green Infrastructure Partnership brings together a network of over 300 stakeholder organisations and individuals to support the development of green infrastructure in England. The GIP was launched by DEFRA in 2011 and was taken over by the TCPA in April 2014.
Climate Coalition
The Planning & Climate Change Coalition, which has been brought together by Friends of the Earth and the TCPA, includes over 60 cross-sector organisations and individuals. The Coalition has worked to ensure that the planning system makes a full contribution to meeting the climate change challenge. They have developed planning guidance and model policies on climate change for local authorities in England. The aim of the Coalition is to build a consensus amongst a wide range of stakeholders on the benefits of guidance on planning for climate change, working with local authorities, Local Enterprise Partnerships and communities. The Coalition has no core funding and no political or corporate affiliations.
Clim-Cap
Clim-Cap is a two-year pan-European project funded by the EU's Lifelong Learning Programme to develop training leading to a qualification in climate change adaptation for professionals working in construction, architecture, planning and other built environment professions. Clim-C partners consist of a network of educational providers from across Germany, the Netherlands, Hungary and Spain, along with the TCPA. Partners are:
