The TCPA is seeking a person, or team of people, to take on the commissioning, editing and production of its journal, Town & Country Planning.
This is a rare opportunity to help shape the future of an acclaimed publication read by a wide range of people interested in how places can be planned, designed and managed to create homes and communities in which everyone can thrive.
Town & Country Planning
The journal is published six times a year. Its audience ranges from students and academics to community activists, and professionals such as planners, architects and landscape designers and policy makers. Its wide-ranging articles inform, challenge and entertain its readership.
Town & Country Planning has been published for more than 100 years and, collectively, its issues form an important historical record of the Garden City and wider town planning movements in England and beyond, as well as tackling perennial topics such as how to ensure that ordinary people have a meaningful say in the way that places change and evolve. Historic issues can be seen on the TCPA’s archive here. Although published by the TCPA, it is not a ‘house’ journal – it is an independent publication that covers a wide variety of topical issues related to the built and natural environments, including, but by no means limited to, the work of the TCPA.
We regret that authors are not paid for their work: the editor must be persuasive, flexible and accommodate the fact that contributors will have other professional priorities and might not always meet deadlines.
Town & Country Planning is currently available in print and via pdfs that can be downloaded by members from the TCPA’s website. It is circulated to all 1,000+ TCPA members, universities around the world, and other subscribers.
Samples of recent issues can be found at the bottom of this page.
What we are looking for
We need a person, or team of people, who could do the following:
- Work with the TCPA to agree topics / themes for issues.
- Create and manage flatplans.
- Commission articles.
- Sub-edit and fact-check (requires background knowledge of planning and the built environment).
- Undertake picture research; design charts and graphs; commission illustrations.
- Send proofs to authors for corrections.
- Take in corrections.
- Copy-edit, format text and lay out pages.
- Proof read.
- Prepare pages for print.
- Liaise with printers.
- Oversee quality control throughout.
Change and innovation
Town & Country Planning has been produced in its current format for many years. The TCPA recognises that to retain its existing readership and grow a larger audience the journal needs to evolve. We would welcome suggestions regarding:
- Content and design that broaden the appeal and readership.
- Making the publication easier to access via a range of digital platforms.
- Making it easier to promote (whole issues or individual articles) via social media.
- Other suggestions for practical and inexpensive innovation.
All of the above would need to be done bearing in mind that the TCPA is a relatively small charity with limited resources, both in terms of finance and staff time.
In line with the TCPA’s strategy, we are keen to engage more with communities that want to have real influence over decisions about their environments.
The journal should reflect the TCPA’s vision, mission and values:
The TCPA’s vision is for homes, places and communities in which everyone can thrive. Our mission is to challenge, inspire and support people to create healthy, sustainable and resilient places that are fair for everyone. Our values are that we are:
- inclusive
- collaborative
- practical
- creative and bold.
Timescale
Our current editor will retire at the end of 2023. We would like to appoint a new editor or editorial team as soon as possible to ensure a smooth transition so that six issues of Town & Country Planning can be published in 2024.
For more information
For an informal chat about this opportunity, please email Julia Thrift, Director of Healthier Place-making and Operations at the TCPA on Julia.thrift@tcpa.org.uk.
