Everyone would agree that urban development, especially when involving the building of residential areas, should be accompanied by sufficient and good public infrastructure and facilities. We all want neighbourhoods with the necessary roads, green areas, social facilities, affordable housing and public spaces of high quality. At the same time, nowadays, governments are facing severe cuts in public expenditure. So who is going to pay for all that quality? In the Netherlands and in many other countries, achieving these public goals has become a problem, especially in the regeneration of deteriorated inner-city sites. This book offers insight in how the economic value increase that arises from urban development can serve to finance the quality we want, without the need for public subsidies. The findings and recommendations made in this book focus on Western Europe, mainly on successful and alternatively less successful recent experiences in Spain, England and the Netherlands. Public bodies can use the recommendations to create the necessary conditions to improve the involvement of property developers and landowners in the financing of infrastructure and facilities. Property developers and landowners can find formulas for private-public partnership that can lead to lower development costs and risks, allowing them to pay for good infrastructure and facilities while maintaining profitability. Scholars will find here the theoretical backgrounds for this relevant topic. The author has both an academic and a professional background in the practice of urban development.

This guide is intended as a companion to Planning Policy Guidance (PPGs) [and subsequent Planning Policy Statements (PPSs)] and aims to encourage better design and to stimulate thinking about urban design. The guide is relevant to all aspects of the built environment, from the design of buildings and spaces, landscapes, to transport systems; and for planning and development at every scale, from streets and their neighbourhoods, villages and cities, to regional planning strategies.

- A framework for design policies - The design dimension of planning - The process of design policy writing - The fundamentals of design policy - Key aspects of design policy coverage - Writing, implementing and monitoring design policies - Other influences on improving design quality - Selected sources of further advice

First Published in 1995. This book aims to consider the statutory planning policy system in Britain at the present time (1995) and predominantly takes as a starting point the development of the current processes in the period since 1989–90. The choice of time period for the study is deliberate and has been governed by two main issues. First, it coincides with the publication in 1989 of a government White Paper on the future of development plans. This paper had immense implications for the statutory planning system and effectively precipitated a new era for the future framework of planning policy. Secondly, 1990 marks the end of Margaret Thatcher’s period as Prime Minister and, since we are discussing British planning policy within the context of changing political climates, it is appropriate to assess the statutory planning process under John Major’s administration. The resultant essays which have been assembled therefore take the planning policy changes of the last five years as the focus of study and provide a context within which an in-depth analysis of inter-governmental planning relations may occur.

First Published in 1995. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

This important new book tackles the ongoing debate between market and government in planning. By applying transaction cost economics to an evaluation of land use systems, the author provides a fresh angle and a useful contribution to a growing field of study for researchers in urban planning, public administration and land economics. The book explains the relevance of the cost of land use decisions to planning practice and analyses institutions and transaction costs. The author offers evidence from three systematic empirical studies with detailed analyses of the planning of Nijmegen - Holland being known for its plan-led development; Bristol - where the UK planning system is characterised by being development-led and discretionary; and Houston - generally regarded as the city with no planning at all.

This book examines the design policies in current development plans. With design quality of growing importance to the public, consumers, developers and their clients, and high on the Secretary of State's agenda, this book makes an important practical contribution to improving design control. With the increasing importance attached to district-wide development plan policies since 1991, local planning authorities and community groups have an important opportunity to improve their control over the built environment. This research text explains how clear, comprehensive and effective policies can be researched, written and implemented.