Pennine Lancashire Squared aims to find the best landscape architects and public realm designers in the world to create outstanding high profile spaces at the heart of six towns in Pennine Lancashire – Burnley, Accrington, Blackburn, Bacup, Clitheroe and Nelson.

More than 300 design practices have already registered their interest and requested the brief.

The competition is the brainchild of Yvette Livesey and her late partner the music promoter Anthony H Wilson, who proposed the competition as a means of attracting talent to the area, raising its profile and creating outstanding public spaces in each town.

Their report, Dreaming of Pennine Lancashire, coined the term Pennine Lancashire for the former mill towns of East Lancashire, which are now undergoing a physical and cultural renaissance.

Yvette was engaged by Elevate, the regeneration agency for Pennine Lancashire, which works with partners from the public and private sectors to improve the housing market.

The Landscape Institute, the chartered body for landscape architects, is running the competition, with the endorsement of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). The competition has received funding from the Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA) and is being implemented by the Boroughs of Blackburn with Darwen, Burnley, Hyndburn, Pendle, Ribble Valley and Rossendale, with support from Lancashire County Council. CABE Space is providing ongoing support for the development of Pennine Lancashire Squared.

For more details, visit www.penninelancashire.com/landscape <http://www.penninelancashire.com/landscape>