Rob Cowan

Rob Cowan is a writer, editor, speaker, consultant, cartoonist, illustrator and lexicographer. He is editor of Context, the journal of the Institute of Historic Building Conservation, and has been editor of Town and Country Planning, editor of Shelter's housing magazine Roof, and deputy editor of the Architects' Journal. His many books include Essential Urban Design, The Dictionary of Urbanism, By Design (the UK government's ground-breaking urban design guidance, co-authored with Kelvin Campbell), and Designing Places (the Scottish Government's equivalent); Urban Design Guidance; and London After Dark (with the photographer Alan Delaney). He gave the Royal Town Planning Institute's masterclasses on urban design for many years, devised Placecheck and was the first director of the Urban Design Group. He presents the Plandemonium series of online videos.