Dr Philip Booth retires after 35 years of service with TRP

Lecturer Dr Philip Booth retires from the Department of Town and Regional Planning after a distinguished 35 year career. His research has resulted in numerous articles in the academic and professional press and his work has been published in nine books. Orginally trained as an architect, he began a two year MA at the University of Sheffield back in 1972. His early career in planning was with Cambridgeshire and Isle of Ely County Council and with Westminster City Council. He worked in an area team and had specific responsibility for conservation areas and listed buildings. After graduating from the department Philip came back in 1976 and joined the academic staff as a lecturer.

“Of course it was a very different and smaller department back then, I’d say there was about 20 students in each of the two years on the MA course and only about 6 academics. I vaguely remember giving my first lecture, Peter Smith welcomed me and I asked 'what do you want me to teach' he replied 'local planning' well of course I didnt know to what content, academic life wasn't as easy as working life!”

Philip has developed a range of research that has looked at the way in which public sector control of private development has operated, both in the UK and abroad, particularly in France. From this initial interest have come investigations into comparative methodology, the role of law in shaping administrative practice, and the historical antecedents of current practice.

“I’m most proud of my achievements that have come from my ‘French connection’. I was somewhat of a Francophile at school and that has seemed to transpose into my working life. I remember that there were very few books on French planning back then, this intrigued me and as a result it began something deeper. By the mid 80’s I had spent a full term in France and the material collected became part of a PhD thesis. This then spurned a book in the early 90’s. I became very interested in French law and legal systems and the difference and similarities to our own planning systems.”

Philip has continued to maintain an interest in the practice of planning through a range of consultancy work and given advice to numerous professional bodies, including the Max Lock Group, the Consumers´ Association, Gazeley plc, McKenna & Co, Friends of the Earth, and to the Hong Kong government and Zhuhai Municipality, PRC.

Within the Department Philip was director of the dual Master of Architecture in Architecture and Town and Regional Planning, which he was responsible for setting up in 1986. He also oversaw the Department's Socrates exchanges with Denmark (University of Aalborg), France (Institut d´Urbanisme de Lyon) and Italy (Politecnico di Milano), all of which he was instrumental in establishing.

"What I’m going to miss most is the friendship quality of the department, It has been a marvellous place to work, I’ve had such good times both professionally and personally with all of my colleagues.”

Philip officially retires on Friday 16 September and will be concentrating on writing his next book.