This book, originally published in 1988, provides an account of an
analysis of British planning in practice, as observed through empirical
research including a range of case studies. It shows how the procedures
of the system have been used in the political processes through which
policies come to be defined and implemented, and related these to the
interests in land and environmental issues generated by urban and
regional change. Its distinctive contribution lies in the linking of the
procedures and practices of planning to the political economy of urban
development, and in the way empirical evidence and theoretical argument
are interlaced to advance our understanding of planning as a political
process.