This report is one of a series of reviews, commissioned by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, to accompany the pre-Budget report 2006 (to be published 6 December 2006, Cm. 6984, ISBN 0101698429). It sets out recommendations to reform the planning system in England in support of sustainable economic growth and prosperity, whilst securing delivery of wider objectives including promoting community involvement, supporting local democracy and enhancing the environment. Key issues identified include the need: to ensure the planning system is more responsive to the market whilst delivering sustainable development; to ensure the appropriate use of land and to better manage the growing demand for development land; to streamline the planning system to increase certainty, reduce complexity and costs; to enhance the speed and quality of local authority decision-making; and to improve the appeals system to reduce delays. Recommendations include: the introduction of a new system for dealing with major infrastructure projects, based around national Statements of Strategic Objectives, and with a new independent Planning Commission to determine applications; the promotion of a positive planning culture within the plan-led system so that applications should be approved unless there is good reason to believe that the environmental, social or economic costs will exceed respective benefits; encouraging planning bodies to review their green belt boundaries to promote sustainable new development beyond towns and cities; and removal of the need for minor commercial developments that have little wider impact to require planning permission.

The 2006 Pre-Budget Report presents updated assessments and forecasts of the economy and public finances; the effects of policies on long-term governmental goals; and reforms being considered ahead of the Budget. It is organised under 6 main headings: maintaining macroeconomic stability; meeting the productivity challenge; increasing employment opportunity for all; building a fairer society; delivering high quality public services; protecting the environment. Amongst the measures discussed are: making Child Benefit available from week 29 of pregnancy; increasing enforcement measures for the National Minimum Wage; a target of 3% savings in central and local government; increasing capital investment in education from £8.3 billion in 2007-8 to £10.2 billion in 2010-11; taking forward recommendations of the Leitch Review on skills (ISBN 0118404865); and an increase in air passenger duty.

Urban and regional planning is increasingly central to public policy in Australia and internationally. As cities and regions adapt to profound economic, societal and technological shifts, new urban and environmental problems are emerging - from inadequate systems of transport and infrastructure, to declining housing affordability, biodiversity loss and human-induced climate change. Australian urban land use planning provides a practical understanding of the principles, processes and mechanisms for strategic and proactive urban governance. Substantially updated and expanded, this second edition explains and compares the legislation, policy- and plan-making, development assessment and dispute resolution processes of Australia's eight state and territorial planning jurisdictions as well as the changing role of the Commonwealth in environmental and urban policy. This new edition also extends the coverage of planning practice, with a new chapter on planning for climate change, a more detailed treatment of planning for housing diversity and affordability, and a comprehensive analysis of the New South Wales planning system and its evolution over the last 30 years. Nicole Gurran is an associate professor in the Urban and Regional Planning Program at the University of Sydney. Her research focuses on comparative planning approaches to housing, ecological sustainability and climate change. Prior to joining the University of Sydney, she practised as a planner in several state government roles, focusing on local environmental plan-making, environmental management and housing policy. She is on the Executive Board of the International Urban Planning and Environment Association.

While there are plenty of land law textbooks on the market, there is, in general, an absence of critical texts designed for law students to deepen their understanding of the subject. Great Debates in Land Law provides students with the contextual and critical aspects of this exciting topic. Each chapter introduces topics for debate such as “Is tenancy a property or a personal right?” and goes on to include features such as boxed discursive notes from the authors, important cases and suggestions for further reading. The Great Debates series provides engaging and accessible analysis of the more advanced legal concepts. For books in the major taught subjects, such as land law, the series is designed for use by ambitious students alongside a main course textbook. For books addressing subjects that are less often taught (such as family law), the series provides a clear and critical exposition of the key areas of debate. By focussing on particular questions and tensions underlying a subject, Great Debates titles encourage students to think critically, analyse a topic and gain additional insights. These skills and the discursive nature of the series, with an emphasis on contentious topics, are also useful for students when preparing their dissertations.

Throughout the world, city planners and governments grapple with the challenges of urban planning using remarkably similar land use regimes. Yet the realisation is increasing that real urban problems – crime, decay, drug abuse, inequality, depression and alienation – are not easily solved by the classic devices of a strategic plan and a zoning map. Planning regimes are therefore in constant flux, as planners and governments adjust and experiment to address these problems, often with little awareness as to what they are trying to accomplish. In Comparative Urban Land Use Planning: Best Practice, Leslie A. Stein digs deeper, drawing on examples from around the world to discover the best practice responses to the critical issues of planning and urban social problems. Although every city has its own cultural and political milieu, patterns of change and levels of success can be discerned and universal lessons learned. By comparing different urban planning approaches and considering their underlying ideologies and assumptions, he proposes a more insightful approach to the role of land use planning. This book is both scholarly and emotional, expressing a great love of cities and calling for a more clear-eyed approach for their care.

This 2007 edition of OECD's periodic economic survey of the British economy finds that the UK has embraced globalisation and has been rewarded with strong growth and performance, but that the near-term outlook is more uncertain, given recent ...

Allmendinger presents a thorough analysis of the planning system throughout the years of the Labour government, and what this means for the future of UK planning policy.