Showing papers in "Planning Practice and Research in 2009"
TL;DR: In this article, the authors focus on core aspects of the political economy of New Labour and survey the strategic priorities to which it is likely the planning process will have to adapt, showing how it is dependent on creating financialized economic agents who think instinctively as active saver-investors in their quest to accumulate assets to fund future consumption of welfare.
Abstract: This article focuses on core aspects of the political economy of New Labour and surveys the strategic priorities to which it is likely the planning process will have to adapt. As with other policy areas, the effects of enhanced Treasury micro-management of the Government's reform agenda has begun to impact upon the field of planning. The prime example in this respect is the Treasury's preference for replacing state provision of welfare-enhancing services with the move towards an individualized system of asset-based welfare. The article begins with an analysis of this shift, showing how it is dependent on creating financialized economic agents who think instinctively as active saver-investors in their quest to accumulate assets to fund future consumption of welfare. In contemporary Britain the housing market dominates the accumulation of assets amongst everyday saver-investors. The article concludes by analysing the possible tension that will be introduced into the planning process because of New ...
98 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors consider the evidence to support the notion that reurbanization is becoming an established trend and why, and conclude that there is evidence of reurbanisation, partly driven by the economic revival of the city centre economy.
Abstract: British cities appear to be moving from a period of counter-urbanization to a period of reurbanization. One reason for this appears to be the growth of residential development in city centres. At the same time as there has been a boom in city centre housing, many cities appear to have experienced housing market failure in parts of the inner urban area. Through a study of Liverpool this article considers the evidence to support the notion that reurbanization is becoming an established trend, and why. What is the relationship between this emerging central area housing market and the surrounding inner urban areas? What are the implications for planning practice? The article concludes that there is evidence of reurbanization, partly driven by the economic revival of the city centre economy. But this emerging housing sector caters only for a niche population and makes a relatively inefficient contribution to housing supply. However, with the exception of student housing, it appears to be segmented fro...
41 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, an analysis of recent and ongoing reform to English local planning through consideration of the structural contradictions of planning is presented, and an understanding of the contradictions within New Labour's 'Third Way' ideology is discussed.
Abstract: The paper offers an analysis of recent and ongoing reform to English local planning through consideration of the structural contradictions of planning. It goes on to relate these to an understanding of the contradictions within New Labour's ‘Third Way’ ideology. Finally, at greater length, it positions the attempts to ‘modernize planning’ since 1997 within this contradiction-laden political context. In so doing, the paper seeks to understand the ambiguous nature of the relationship between New Labour and planning, and how it has been interpreted within planning's policy and professional communities. The argument suggests that there is a need for re-evaluation of the often derided political value of planners' roles as street-level regulators within the complexities of the neoliberal state.
32 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a series of questions are addressed through analysis of resident perceptions of neighbourhood boundaries in an inner-city fringe suburb in Brisbane, Australia, and the research confirmed many previous concerns about defining neighbourhood boundaries and that many residents were uncertain of the physical boundaries of their neighbourhoods.
Abstract: The ‘neighbourhood’ holds an iconic position in planning, yet there has been longstanding empirical criticism and debates about both the use and intellectual underpinnings of the concept. Despite this, it continues to provide a focus for local area planning, local policy interventions and urban design approaches, including in new urbanism. Neighbourhoods may be given physical dimensions so the boundaries that distinguish what is within and what is outside each neighbourhood can be defined. This paper asks what we can learn about such localities through a better understanding of how residents themselves actually identify these boundaries. It derives a series of questions that are addressed through analysis of resident perceptions of neighbourhood boundaries in an inner-city fringe suburb in Brisbane, Australia. The research confirmed many previous concerns about defining neighbourhood boundaries and that many residents were uncertain of the physical boundaries of their neighbourhoods.
29 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examine the means by which government seeks to provide affordable housing, and increase general affordability, in rural areas, and argue that a strategic approach to achieving housing affordability (triggering additional land allocations) that gave villages their a 'fair share' of development, coupled with continuing support for planning and affordable housing polices and greater emphasis on working through com...
Abstract: Rural housing policies in England tend to focus on the generality of ‘rural areas’ or ‘rural regions’, leading to broad policy responses, or a concentration of effort (in dealing with the issue of rural housing affordability) in larger centres. Whilst there have been some attempts to focus on the needs of villages (notably through the planning exceptions approach), government has been accused of ‘lacking conviction’ in its response to recent dramatic changes in the ‘social composition of rural areas’, driven largely by concentrated gentrification in smaller village locations. This paper examines the means by which government seeks to provide affordable housing, and increase general affordability, in rural areas. It argues that a strategic approach to achieving housing affordability (triggering additional land allocations) that gave villages their a ‘fair share’ of development, coupled with continuing support for ‘planning and affordable housing’ polices and greater emphasis on working through com...
26 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examine the policy guidance on how to define HMAs and show that some can be resolved by critical examination of the policy logic, while others are more technical and call for further developmental work to be done.
Abstract: Recent major policy innovations require each English region to agree the allocation of new housing between sub-regional housing market areas (HMAs). Allocations are to be based upon Housing Market Assessments that consider variation between and within HMAs, which will often embrace both urban and rural areas. Measures of the supply/demand balance within HMAs are to determine the distribution of new housing supply but these measures will be sensitive to the way HMA boundaries are drawn. The policy is inclined to direct new housing into urban areas on sustainability grounds so the way the new housing policy affects a rural area can critically depend on whether the HMA it is in is mostly urban. Yet the policy guidance on how to define HMAs leaves many questions unanswered. This paper examines these questions and shows that some can be resolved by critical examination of the policy logic, while others are more technical and call for further developmental work to be done.
25 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present the results of new census-based analyses of differences between places in the distance that residents travel to work and indicate that a more nuanced approach is needed towards new development than a simple urban-rural dichotomy.
Abstract: While housing affordability and homelessness worsen in rural England, sustainability concerns are being used to reinforce the 60-year-old goal of urban containment. Yet there are claims that the evidence for rural communities being intrinsically unsustainable in terms of their carbon emissions remains weak. This paper aims to improve the evidence base through a focus on commuting behaviour. Following a review of recent studies of commuting that have included a rural dimension, it presents the results of new census-based analyses of differences between places in the distance that residents travel to work. Both indicate that a more nuanced approach is needed towards new development than a simple urban–rural dichotomy.
23 citations
TL;DR: In the context of improvements in mobility and changing patterns of retail, the importance of market town centres to rural residents has diminished, leaving many vulnerable to decline and their contemporary relevance questioned as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: In the context of improvements in mobility and changing patterns of retail, the importance of market town centres to rural residents has diminished, leaving many vulnerable to decline and their contemporary relevance questioned. Based on experience from 11 case-study towns located throughout England, this paper considers the prospects for regenerating the fortunes of market town centres. It is argued that this can be achieved through an integration of functional concerns with an appreciation of the desire to develop ‘spaces of consumption’ where there is focus on the leisure aspects of town centre visits. Although a number of the issues are beyond the direct remit of spatial planners, an awareness of the implications of development management and the context within which decisions are occurring is crucial.
21 citations
TL;DR: The authors assesses the impact of a decade of New Labour reforms on English local government, focusing on three key areas of reform: policies intended to improve the performance of local government services; measures aimed at reviving local democracy; and significant "non-decisions" made in relation to crucial aspects of central-local relations, particularly local government finance.
Abstract: This paper assesses the impact of a decade of New Labour reforms on English local government. It focuses on assessing the outcomes of three key areas of reform: policies intended to improve the performance of local government services; measures aimed at reviving local democracy; and significant ‘non-decisions’ made in relation to crucial aspects of central–local relations, particularly local government finance. It is argued that New Labour's modernization agenda, inspired by notions of ‘the Third Way’, has had greatest impact where it has gone with the grain of New Right reforms. As a result, the most distinctive impact of New Labour policy on English local government has been that it has succeeded where Conservative administrations had failed in implementing a distinctively New Right agenda for English local government.
20 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the government has signalled its intention to move towards the application of lifetime homes standards to all new housing in the future, firstly by encouraging take up of these design standards in the private sector, but with the option to review progress and the possible need for regulation in 2013.
Abstract: A key aspect of planning for the future housing supply in rural areas of England is the demographic context of an ageing society. Older people have a very diverse range of aspirations and needs in relation to their housing and wider sense of well-being. Planning is part of a wider policy response to facilitate a range of housing options for older people, including age-specific housing and in the mainstream housing stock. A key factor in responding to future aspirations and needs is the design of new housing. The government has signalled its intention to move towards the application of lifetime homes standards to all new housing in the future, firstly by encouraging take up of these design standards in the private sector, but with the option to review progress and the possible need for regulation in 2013. This very positive policy development would help to enable older people to exercise greater choice and control over their circumstances. However, a consideration of the prospects for increasing t...
19 citations
TL;DR: In this article, an institutional analysis of the relationship between environmental management and planning in the KwaZulu-Natal province is used to understand the tensions that arise in the two systems.
Abstract: In South Africa, environmental management is a separate legal and institutional system parallel to planning, and the two are poorly integrated. This paper uses an institutional analysis of the relationship between environmental management and planning in the KwaZulu-Natal province to understand the tensions that arise. The basis for tension is identified in the divided legal and institutional systems; duplication in the regulatory systems; their overlapping but also divergent purposes; inadequate strategic plans; institutional divides; lack of capacity; as well as in divides arising from less tangible elements, including different discourses, practices, policy communities and identities. Movements towards integration need to consider both the formal system and these intangible dimensions.
TL;DR: This article examined recent evidence on affordability, the need for affordable housing and patterns of housing supply across the urban-rural spectrum in England and found that rural areas are more affordable than urban areas, within broad regions and overall.
Abstract: This article examines recent evidence on affordability, the need for affordable housing and patterns of housing supply across the urban–rural spectrum in England. It uses adapted versions of several models derived from previous research but incorporating relatively recent data to illuminate these issues. It is found that, whether measured at the local authority or ward level, rural areas are more affordable than urban areas, within broad regions and overall. Rural areas in the North and the Midlands have greater net needs mainly because of migration and a lack the supply of social housing. Rural areas (especially further north) have seen much more new building and net gains in housing stock over the past 10–20 years, and prices grew less in rural areas over the whole market cycle, despite evidence of continuing demand.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors discuss ways of understanding the ideology of New Labour, and argue that it would be better to explicate its "rationality": the conceptual tools and frameworks that are employed in government thinking.
Abstract: This article discusses ways of understanding the ideology of New Labour, and argues that it would be better to explicate its ‘rationality’: the conceptual tools and frameworks that are employed in government thinking. It shows that this rationality is primarily concerned with ‘modernizing’ the state, the economy and people, all of which must be enabled to act in ways imagined to be appropriate for the new ‘knowledge economy’. The article then considers the specific policy domain of planning and argues that, here, reforms are primarily concerned to modernize planners and to ‘govern’ their visions of what planning must be.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that the dominance of these myths owes to their support networks of power relations that govern the availability and use of key resources, amongst them land, and that community land trusts therefore emerge as sustainable models for tackling the question of land availability.
Abstract: Land availability for affordable housing in rural areas is tied to competing discourses of sustainability that are set in the context of constructed idylls. This paper argues that the dominance of these myths owes to their support networks of power relations that govern the availability and use of key resources, amongst them land. The paper questions what happens to power relations when the land tenure regime changes and how this change impacts on the discourses of sustainability. It interprets the results of an initial investigation of community land buy-outs. The paper suggests that community purchase leads to a continuous renegotiation of power relations and to a rebalancing of the dimensions of sustainability. Community land trusts therefore emerge as sustainable models for tackling the question of land availability.
TL;DR: This paper reviewed New Labour's planning legacy in Scotland to the Scottish National Party that was elected to office in May 2007 and highlighted the significance of devolution in providing the political context and impetus for re-designing and reforming a more distinctive Scottish planning system.
Abstract: This paper reviews New Labour's planning legacy in Scotland to the Scottish National Party that was elected to office in May 2007. It highlights the significance of devolution in providing the political context and impetus for re-designing and reforming a more distinctive Scottish planning system. Significant factors also include the influence of European spatial planning principles and the technocratic–democratic tensions of the (New) Labour–Liberal Democratic coalition government that had promoted economic growth in Scotland during this period. The paper speculates on how the change to a Scottish National Party administration will take forward this inheritance.
TL;DR: In this article, a rural landscape centred on the last surviving covered bridge in Ontario is used to illustrate how focus groups and web-based participation can be used to establish the significance of an area and to build recommendations for its designation and protection.
Abstract: The identification and conservation of cultural heritage landscapes (CHL) is becoming a standard part of planning practice. In Ontario, Canada, the provincial government issued a directive in 2005 to mandate protection of CHLs. Since that time, local and regional planners have been active, operationalizing CHL identification and developing appropriate land use regulations for their preservation. This article uses the study of a a rural landscape centred on the last surviving covered bridge in Ontario to illustrate how focus groups and web-based participation can be used to establish the significance of an area and to build recommendations for its designation and protection.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors focus on the post-1997 period of the UK, New Labour, and recent planning, focusing on the successes and failures of planning during these years.
Abstract: The period since 1997 is long enough to start to take stock of the experience of planning under the New Labour governments. It is long enough to be able to make some judgements about the successes and failures of planning during these years. This theme issue is designed to start this process. It seeks mainly to be a situating exercise, as the most important task now appears to be discussing the terms of debate. We are not in fact tackling, to any significant extent, the evaluative task mentioned above—that is beyond our means here. Our aim is much more modest, to bring together the two sides of the equation in the UK, New Labour and recent planning. We have found in setting about this task that very little has been written about this question. In comparison with the considerable reflection on Thatcherism/the New Right and planning that was emerging by the late 1980s, the absence of consideration of the relationships between this current pair is striking. Of course the present moment, in the midst of a major global economic crisis, may not be the best time to make any judgements about anything, as planning, along with everything else, looks to confront the new landscape emerging. These papers were written in their underlying forms before the unfolding of this crisis, so there is no risk here of any rewriting of the post-1997 period in the light of the crisis. This should be borne in mind in reading this theme issue. This introduction has four tasks. The last one, to sketch a few issues for further work, is predictable enough. (I will not try to summarize the papers here; the abstracts in themselves will give readers a flavour of where each is starting from and where it is going.) Before that, the three main tasks are to think a bit further about the situation we are in and the questions which orient this particular enquiry (certainly every planning academic and planner would approach this differently), to discuss briefly some of the issues missing from the following papers, and to pick up some of the cross-cutting themes arising from a reading of the papers. A separate commentary is provided by Klaus Kunzmann from an international perspective, giving a more distanced view of what has been going on in the UK backyard. This should prove a useful corrective to the insider views presented elsewhere in this issue.
TL;DR: The planning reforms, introduced within the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 and the Planning Reform Bill, are set within this wider context as mentioned in this paper, with planning charged with coordinating the spatial aspects of a range of policy agendas being brought to bear at the local and regional levels, and providing a mediation forum for various interests that is responsive and flexible to changing conditions.
Abstract: Over the past two decades at least, local government functions have diversified from direct service provision to a much broader range of activities involving regulation, leadership and enabling. New Labour has promoted an agenda of state infrastructure revitalization, decentralization and local responsiveness, cooperation and partnership with civil society, together with social responsibility. The planning reforms, introduced within the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 and the Planning Reform Bill, are set within this wider context. Planning is now charged with coordinating the spatial aspects of a range of policy agendas being brought to bear at the local and regional levels, and to provide a mediation forum for various interests that is responsive and flexible to changing conditions. As such, the reformed planning system under New Labour reflects both continuities with and radical departures from the past. It suggests that planning can no longer be understood as a single entity but as ...
TL;DR: The authors assesses the mechanisms used to steer urban growth in the metropolitan fringe of two multi-million city regions in the Northwest of America, with populations growing at a staggering rate that control urban expansion in a liberal planning culture.
Abstract: Cities throughout the world continue to physically expand, complicating access to regional open space for the ever-larger share of the world population that lives in cities. As the importance of a green living environment receives increasing attention, the implementation of strategies for controlling where the urban fringe can and cannot move becomes a prominent issue. European governments face the challenge of designing instruments to effectively guide spatial development against the backdrop of neoliberalism. In search of examples of market-based open space preservation, this paper assesses the mechanisms used to steer urban growth in the metropolitan fringe of two multi-million city regions in the Northwest of America—metropoles with populations growing at a staggering rate that control urban expansion in a liberal planning culture, managing to retain a reputation of liveable and green places. Market-based planning appears to be of limited importance. Explanations and relevance for the Europea...
TL;DR: This article explored how the aspirations of the retiring Japanese "baby boomer" generation are being harnessed by depopulated rural areas as drivers for revival, by blending the dreams of the rural idyll with the harsher realities of rural life.
Abstract: This paper explores how the aspirations of the retiring Japanese ‘baby boomer’ generation are being harnessed by depopulated rural areas as drivers for revival. Drawing upon case studies and key actor interviews undertaken in Hokkaido prefecture, the paper makes three points. Firstly that, as in the UK, the baby boomer generation in Japan is creating opportunities for the regeneration of rural areas. Secondly that proactive local authorities can act as facilitators in meeting both the aspirations of incomers and the growing needs of existing communities. Finally that, by blending the dreams of the rural idyll with the harsher realities of rural life, new, inclusive rural values can be framed that provide a positive strategy for the future survival, and indeed growth, of rural areas.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors explore the implications of this in the areas of spatial planning for biodiversity, and spatial plans for climate change (both mitigation and adaptation) and examine how far global commitments have enabled actors at different levels of governance to increase their scope for action and influence on outcomes through appealing to different scales of framing issues and their solutions.
Abstract: Since the election of the Labour government in Britain in 1997, there has been a noticeable change in the scales of governance for spatial planning for the environment. The European scale of planning for biodiversity has been reinforced, but there has been a wider shift to one in which the integration of the environment into planning is strongly influenced by global environmental issues and international obligations. This paper explores the implications of this in the areas of spatial planning for biodiversity, and spatial planning for climate change (both mitigation and adaptation). It examines how far global commitments have enabled actors at different levels of governance—national, regional and local—to increase their scope for action and influence on outcomes through appealing to different scales of framing issues and their solutions. The picture that emerges is a complex one. While the commitments to internationally agreed targets for biodiversity and energy generation have partially reinfor...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examine the experience of five communities in Dundee, Scotland, who were given devolved responsibility for the use of regeneration funding to improve their neighbourhoods, and demonstrate positive benefits of adopting a localist approach, but also reveal challenges that will need to be overcome if the approach is to be adopted more widely.
Abstract: A new understanding of the complexities of multi-level governance has emerged in the UK in recent years that emphasizes the importance of devolving power to localities. Many of the most innovative examples of community decision-making can be found in the field of community regeneration. This paper examines the experience of five communities in Dundee, Scotland, who were given devolved responsibility for the use of regeneration funding to improve their neighbourhoods. While the paper demonstrates positive benefits of adopting a localist approach, it also reveals challenges that will need to be overcome if the approach is to be adopted more widely.
TL;DR: The authors argue that social democracy has always been liable to internal tensions, if not contradictions, so that any tensions and contradictions in New Labour's record over planning should not surprise us. On the contrary, they were as predictable as were the contradictions in Conservative government policy through the 1980s and 1990s.
Abstract: This article situates the disappointments of New Labour's record over environmental planning within the longer historical perspective of British post-Second World War social democracy and planning. It makes two main claims. First, that New Labour ideology should be viewed (as proponents of so-called ‘Third-Way’ ideology have held) as a version of social democracy, albeit a new, more liberalized version than that propounded by ‘old Labour’. And second, that, in its commitment to some combination of both state and private action within the context of market capitalism, social democracy has always been liable to internal tensions, if not contradictions, so that any tensions and contradictions in New Labour's record over planning should not surprise us. On the contrary, they were as predictable as were the contradictions in Conservative government policy through the 1980s and 1990s.
TL;DR: In this article, a methodology for environmental planning using a geographic information system-based medium is proposed. But the method is based upon a modelling of expert knowledge in which the opinions of an interdisciplinary group of experts is integrated and continuously refined in the determination of protection zones.
Abstract: This paper puts forward a methodology for environmental planning using a geographic information systems-based medium. It explains how the method has been employed in the decision-making process of a land-use plan for the Tuz Lake Special Environmental Protection Area. The methodology is based upon a modelling of expert knowledge in which the opinions of an interdisciplinary group of experts is integrated and continuously refined in the determination of protection zones. The results from this model are then compared with the results of a biological diversity project carried out in the special environmental protection area using a different method. The final decisions on the limits of the protection zones are made using the results of both independent studies.
TL;DR: A review of successes and failures of planning during these years, I believe, can only be done in the motherland of planning, and this venture documents the leading role that British academic writing has in the field of planning.
Abstract: It is an ambitious project to review the extent to which New Labour governments in the UK, first under Tony Blair and then more recently under Gordon Brown, have changed planning in a country where Thatcherite policies in the late 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s dominated public policies. Such a review of successes and failures of planning during these years, I believe, can only be done in the motherland of planning, and this venture documents the leading role that British academic writing has in the field of planning. The outcome is a very broad reflection of what has been going on in Britain under more then two terms of New Labour government, although some dimensions are missing in this assessment. While local government is covered quite extensively, and housing and environment are treated, the implications for local economic development and for transport have not been covered. This is unfortunate as any account of the impacts of Labour policies on local economic development and mobility would hav...
TL;DR: A review of the accomplishments and shortcomings of Florida smart growth management and smart growth policies in the past four decades is presented in this article, where three history sections on Florida growth management: the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s.
Abstract: This article reviews the accomplishments and shortcomings of Florida growth management and smart growth policies in the past four decades. It begins with three history sections on Florida growth management: the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. After a slow beginning due to incomplete legislation in the 1970s, Florida innovative growth management moved quickly forward to the forefront of the planning profession in the 1980s, but then faced its most critical implementation dilemma in the 1990s. The article continues with three sections on Florida smart growth in the 2000s: a general one on politics followed by two specific ones on legislation. The 2000s smart growth legislation was a positive accomplishment, but it was overshadowed by political deadlock and a troubled intergovernmental system, which ultimately contributed to Florida's decline as a national growth leader. The concluding section offers long-range policy implications for Florida and other states that contemplate or implement growth management...
TL;DR: The authors examines approaches to biodiversity assessment for environmental impact assessment in the context of an increasing emphasis on the conservation of biodiversity beyond the confines of protected sites, and the role of ecosystem services in sustainable development.
Abstract: This paper examines approaches to biodiversity assessment for environmental impact assessment in the context of an increasing emphasis on the conservation of biodiversity beyond the confines of protected sites, and the role of ecosystem services in sustainable development. The paper argues that while the matrix approach adopted in the UK for environmental impact assessment has some value in providing a consistent national framework, for ecological impact assessments it lacks sensitivity and focuses attention on notified sites and species. It therefore under-values those ecological resources at local scales. Three case studies are briefly considered where evaluation employed local assessment criteria, including an appraisal of the impacts on ecosystem integrity and the functioning of ecological networks. Attention is drawn to the importance of national and local biodiversity action plan habitats and species where trend data provide one of the key criteria for inclusion in the action plans and the ...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigated the attributes that affect perceived students' safety in the Jordanian Badia, so as to inform the planning and design processes, and suggested solutions such as provision of school buses and construction of one comprehensive school for each cluster of villages by the Ministry of Education.
Abstract: Schools are vital points of trip origin and destination. Their location affects children's safety on their daily rounds. Because of the lack of effective planning, most of Jordan's Northeast Badia schools are located in dispersed areas away from residential communities, which force most children to walk for more than 5 minutes on dangerous traffic spines. This paper presents findings of a study to investigate the attributes that affect perceived students' safety in the Jordanian Badia, so as to inform the planning and design processes. The data were mainly collected using a random sampling technique of 263 teachers from 72 schools representing 50 villages of the Northeast Badia, in addition to interviews and field observations. The findings suggest that some public safety measures can positively affect perceived children's safety. Suggested solutions include provision of school buses and construction of one comprehensive school for each cluster of villages by the Ministry of Education, and the sc...
TL;DR: The papers presented in this special edition were all prepared, in an earlier form, for a session at the 2007 Royal Geographical Society (RGS) Conference in London supported by the Rural Geography...
Abstract: The papers presented in this special edition were all prepared, in an earlier form, for a session at the 2007 Royal Geographical Society (RGS) Conference in London supported by the Rural Geography ...
TL;DR: Town planning definitions and policies are discussed in this paper and some discussion of the theoretical and practical issues involved is entered into, as well as a discussion of some theoretical issues involved in town planning.
Abstract: From the 1940s to the early 1970s there was a dominating and pervasive set of town planning policies and practices that instigated and promoted decentralization and dispersal from Britain's major cities. These policies and practices were partially reversed in the mid-1970s but were never comprehensively repudiated. Nor were adequate measures put in place to try to ensure that people and economic and other organizations wanting to stay in the cities in reasonable conditions were able to do so. Town planning definitions and policies are offered to this end and some discussion of the theoretical and practical issues involved is entered into.