Routledge Rationalities of Planning: Development Versus Environment in Planning for Housing

What are the key rationalities that underpin planning policy discourses and how do they 'frame' seemingly irreconcilable conflicts around development and environmental protection? Providing a thorough assessment of these important questions, this stimulating book reviews planning policy in the UK and the rationality of 'sustainable development'. Supported by a wealth of empirical material collected over the past ten years, the study examines the national, regional and local tiers of planning for housing. It analyzes whether the rationality of planning for 'sustainable development' allows a new spatial sensibility to inform planning policy, and whether it still responds to the social demands that were previously incorporated within the developmental method. The overriding concern, which the authors respond to and expand upon, is whether planning for sustainable development can provide a satisfactory basis upon which to re-establish contemporary planning. Review 'This is an excellent book...to be warmly welcomed and should be essential reading for all planners and intending planners...it is refreshingly well written.' Town & Country Planning 'The case studies alone would ensure that this book finds its way onto many reading lists and bookshelves.' Urban Studies '...of interest not only to geographers but also to environmentalists, housing advocates, and planners.' Environment and planning C: Government and Policy 'Jonathan Murdoch and Simone Abram have provided a useful overview of current trends in planning in England.' Journal of Housing and the Built Environment 'The book is well structured and easy to follow, and coloured with rich empirical evidence...this piece of work has its merits in putting focus on an often-forgotten corner of environmental conflict - that of urban sprawl on valuable rural land...A well-grounded field study further underlines the complexity of implementing sustainable development policies.' Geografiska Annaler, Series B, Human Geography About the Author Jonathan Murdoch, Cardiff University, UK. Simone Abram is Reader in Tourism and Cultural Change at Leeds Metropolitan University, UK.