This book is aimed at students on town planning and related courses, as well as practitioners who want to locate their practice within the broadening activity of town planning. It is written by practising town planners and academics with practice experience, and the chapters include many case studies which make connections for the reader between theory and practice. The book does not aim to be comprehensive, but to lay out the terrain in the key areas. It is a gateway to the exciting and varied world of town planning, which should stimulate the reader to want to find out more. It should heighten the appreciation of practice in all its forms and widen the horizons of the world of the professional town planner.

In this original approach to the world of planning theory, Robert A. Beauregard cuts across the many different ways to think about planning by organizing them around four core tasks: knowing, engaging, prescribing, and executing. In doing so, Beauregard explores how a basic concern with the relationship between knowledge and action has evolved into a complex discussion of democracy, inclusion, and justice.

John Friedmann addresses a central question of Western political theory: how, and to what extent, history can be guided by reason. In this comprehensive treatment of the relation of knowledge to action, which he calls planning, he traces the major intellectual traditions of planning thought and practice. Three of these--social reform, policy analysis, and social learning--are primarily concerned with public management. The fourth, social mobilization, draws on utopianism, anarchism, historical materialism, and other radical thought and looks to the structural transformation of society "from below." After developing a basic vocabulary in Part One, the author proceeds in Part Two to a critical history of each of the four planning traditions. The story begins with the prophetic visions of Saint-Simon and assesses the contributions of such diverse thinkers as Comte, Marx, Dewey, Mannheim, Tugwell, Mumford, Simon, and Habermas. It is carried forward in Part Three by Friedmann's own nontechnocratic, dialectical approach to planning as a method for recovering political community.

This is an exciting time for natural resources planning. There are amazing technologies available to planners and a wide and growing array of resources, problems, and opportunities that need attention. Private and public interests are taking up these issues all over the world and at all levels of involvement. At the same time, inefficient planning policies and procedures can threaten the art of successful planning. Demonstrating how to put effective planning theory into practice, Introduction to Natural Resource Planning introduces an iterative planning process with five steps and two ongoing processes. Suitable for any type of planning setting, the book describes each step of the planning process in extensive practical detail. Comprising field-tested strategies woven into a comprehensive and complete protocol, the book explores: Planners and the planning process Establishing the decision context, gathering evidence, plan formulation, and evaluating, comparing, and selecting plans The importance of public involvement Telling your story so that people understand and care about it Dealing effectively with uncertainty as part of the planning process Scenario planning when uncertainty obscures the future Economics for planners: cost estimates and economic analysis Fast planning and getting the most out of your planning process Practical tips from experienced natural resource planners Natural resources planning involves solving complex problems. Fascinating new issues continue to emerge as we seek to identify and preserve natural DNA, struggle with invasive and nonindigenous species, and worry about the well-being of native and managed pollinators. Meanwhile, we continue to struggle with familiar problems like water quality, developing resources for wise uses, loss of habitat, and floods, hurricanes, and other natural disasters. This volume will empower both experienced and new planners to plan more effectively for solutions to preserve and manage our natural resources.

An "introduction to planning that covers history, theory, and practice and shows how planning contributes to more sustainable, efficient, and equitable urban areas. Suitable for planning courses around the world, it reflects the increasingly cosmopolitan nature of planning practice and the similarity of issues faced by planners globally"--Amazon.com.