I am a relative newcomer to Brighton and I have been told that every possible site for Brighton and Hove Albion's new stadium has been considered and Falmer is the only place it can be located.

I'm not convinced and I can understand why the planning inspector is less than enthusiastic.

Falmer is the wrong locale and the football club is heading down the wrong track and could make an expensive mistake.

The proposed site is miles from the urban community it purports to serve and in consequence it may become a white elephant used by diehard supporters and largely ignored by the rest of Brighton's population.

Stadia in the 21st Century should be an integral part of the city fabric, helping to regenerate the city and provide community facilities.

Think of the most successful stadia of recent years. The Millennium Stadium in Cardiff is in the centre of Cardiff and 100 metres from the railway station. Its economic impact has been immense and has prompted additional investment in the infrastructure - the council funded improvements to rail transport while the Welsh Development Agency and Railtrack improved access and circulation at the central railway station and central square.

In Melbourne, the Telstra Dome is located alongside Flinders Street railway station and has a 2,000 capacity car park under the playing surface.

It has sparked intensive new building and the adaptive re-use of old property in the area. The Dome is at the heart of a £1.25 billion redevelopment of 220 hectares of the former dockland that includes seven kilometres of waterfront near the centre of Melbourne. New apartments and restaurants are springing up along New Quay Promenade, Pigott Street and North Wharf Road.

The new Arsenal Stadium at Ashburton Grove in London is part of an integrated urban planning exercise that is one of the largest urban regeneration projects in the UK.

In the overall proposal there are a number of community sports centres, community healthcare facilities and a children's nursery.

The Ashburton Grove Stadium is intended to regenerate Lower Holloway Road, currently one of the poorest districts in London. It is accessible from three underground stations.

In the developed world, new stadia are frequently located on brownfield sites - derelict industrial or railway land that is often polluted and in need of reclamation - in depressed areas most in need of revitalisation.

In addition to the examples quoted above, this has been the case with Huddersfield's Alfred McAlpine Stadium built on a former ICI dye works, Baltimore's Oriole Park in the USA and Wellington's Westpac Stadium in New Zealand, both constructed over redundant rail yards, Pittsburgh's Heinz Field built on the site of former steel works and Sydney's Telstra Stadium built on polluted wasteland at Homebush, west of the city centre.

Consequently, stadia are often catalysts for the revival of the physical fabric of cities and provide the impetus for economic growth. The space around the stadium also makes a contribution to public life in much the same way the medieval market or cathedral square formed a focus of daily life.

The best place for Brighton's stadium is in the city centre, alongside the railway station bounded by the rail track, London Road and New England Road, a site that has already been allocated to a supermarket although that would simply increase traffic congestion in London Road. Put simply, that is bad planning.

Think big, Brighton, and don't stick your stadium out in the sticks.

-Robert Powell, architect and urban planner, Marine Drive, Brighton