A digital future for NPF4
The world of tech, AI and digital tools is moving at a remarkable pace, and there are interesting digital planning projects happening across the UK. Much of the focus of that digital planning work is at the local level – in local authorities and in consultancies - but we need to utilise digital planning technologies in all parts of the planning system.
In this think piece we are looking forward to a future ideal world and the possibilities that could come from embracing digital tools at the national level.
What if NPF4 was a lot more than just a policy document? What if it was a single source of truth for practitioners, where all the latest guidance, all the policy links, all the supporting toolkits and linked strategies were presented together?
For several years RTPI Scotland has been advocating for a digitally enabled version of NPF4 which is updated in real time. Doing that could realise a vision of NPF4 as a proactive tool which supports planners to navigate the path towards a sustainable, liveable and productive future. In the 3 years since NPF4 was adopted we have seen the publication of lots of supporting guidance for specific policies, Chief Planner letters plus new legislation and strategies, for example on housing and biodiversity. Since one of the strengths of NPF4 when it was published was the very clear mapping of the relationship with other government strategies and policy goals like the Sustainable Development Goals, it would be fabulous to keep those linkages up to date. Given that NPF4 is intended to be a 10 year plan we really need it in a format that allows for those links to be updated and for new content to be highlighted.
The recent publication of three PARD blogs outlining the updated policy links is a very welcome and excellent step in this direction – but we are imagining putting all of this into one place so everything is seamless.
Our second what if is about data and delivery. What if this digital NPF4 also included national level data and maps? Then the digital portal would make visible progress on national projects and the implementation of specific policies. Updates on national planning projects are already being reported elsewhere – for example in the NPF4 Delivery Programme reports – but wouldn’t it be fab to link it directly? Again, providing a single and seamless source of truth about planning in Scotland.
NPF4 was ground breaking when it was finalised and we’d love to see that innovation continue. A digital NPF4 could be a template for the publication of other national spatial plans, and for other national policy documents.
What else could an NPF4 portal do? What other what ifs are there? What do you think? Let us know by emailing scotland@rtpi.org.uk.