Can the British plan? Sometimes it seems unlikely. Across the world we see grand designs and visionary projects: new airport terminals, nuclear power stations, high-speed railways, and glittering buildings. It all seems an unattainable goal on Britain’s small and crowded island; and yet perhaps this is too pessimistic. For the British have always planned, and much of what they have today is the result of past plans, successfully implemented. Ranging widely, from London’s squares and the new city of Milton Keynes, to ‘High Speed One’, the motorways, and the secret first electronic computers, Ian Wray’s remarkable book puts successful infrastructure plans under the microscope. Who made these plans and what made them stick? How does this reflect the defining characteristics of British government? And what does that say about the individuals who drew them up and saw them through? In so doing the book casts refreshing new light on how big decisions have actually been made, revealing the hidden sources of drive and initiative in British society, as seen through the lens of ‘plans past’. And it asks some searching questions about the mechanisms we might need for successful ‘plans future’, in Britain and elsewhere. Includes foreword by the Right Honourable the Lord Heseltine CH.

Local Plans in British Land Use Planning provides an analysis of the nature, purpose, and operation of development plans in British planning practice. Comprised of 10 chapters, the book discusses about the use of development plans as procedural tools used by government agencies as an element in programs for intervening in the way a land is used and developed. Chapter 1 discusses land policy, land use planning, and development plans, while Chapter 2 covers the British land policy and land use planning. Chapter 3 and 4 tackle structure and local plans, respectively. The fifth chapter attempts to answer the question "Why prepare a local plan? and the next three chapters tackle local plan production, form and content, and use. Chapter 9 covers the need of explanation regarding the planning system, and Chapter 10 discusses the recommendation to tackle the issues of the British planning system. The book will be of great interest to readers who are curious about the British planning system and in the analysis of public programs.