It is with great sadness that we report of the death of one of the leading lights of adult education of the 20th and 21st century, Professor Chris Duke. Chris, amongst many other positions was a visiting professor at the University of Glasgow, and made extensive practical and conceptual contributions to PASCAL over the past two decades.

As pressures increase for (re)development in urban areas in the face of demand for affordable housing, environmental concerns and changing patterns of employment, open public spaces are constantly having to compete against other land uses. As cities also face calls for reclaiming public space for public use as crucial to the social sustainability and wellbeing of urban living, urban planners and developers seek to find a balance between economic development, environmental challenges and social expectations of residents.