Rob Cowan is the author of The Dictionary of Urbanism and director of the consultancy Urban Design Skills. He is editor of Context, the journal of the Institute of Historic Building Conservation. He invented Placecheck, and was the joint author of By Design, the UK government's ground-breaking urban design guidance. He is a cartoonist and illustrator, and he presents the Plandemonium series of online videos.

1. Place, Pioneers and Practitioners

2. Urban Design in Action

3. Context, Character and Quality

4. Politics, Collaboration and the Role of Local Authorities

5. Strategic Urban Design and Masterplanning

Appendix: Checklist for Assessing Context and Character