Rapid regeneration of city areas has placed the quality of urban design high on public and policy agendas worldwide. Planning for Urban Quality examines the achievement of quality in the urban environment, in a planning context. Tracing urban design from its roots, the authors draw on both historical and current practices to examine the key physical, political and economic forces at play and the social pressures and impacts brought about by both failures and achievements in urban design. This highly illustrated critique of towns and cities draws on examples from across Western Europe, South Africa and USA to examine both public and private sector development practices, controls and fiscal policies within a diverse range of localities. The authors indicate the need for a reinstitution of region-provincial approaches, for closer co-ordination bewteen sectors, and revised fiscal policies in planning and development in order to enhance the quality of urban social experience and environments. Providing a deeper understanding of the many diverse strands of Urban Quality, the authors provide a firm basis from which to analyse urban planning achievements and to assess the relevance and value of urban scapes.

This extensively revised and updated fourth edition of Planning in the USA continues to provide a comprehensive introduction to the policies, theory and practice of planning. Outlining land use, urban planning, and environmental protection policies, this fully illustrated book explains the nature of the planning process and the way in which policy issues are identified, defined, and approached. This full colour edition incorporates new planning legislation and regulations at the state and federal layers of government, updated discussion on current economic issues, and examples of local ordinances in a variety of planning areas. Key updates include: a new chapter on planning and sustainability; a new discussion on the role of foundations and giving to communities; a discussion regarding the aftermath of Katrina in New Orleans; a discussion on deindustrialization and shrinking cities; a discussion on digital billboards; a discussion on recent comprehensive planning efforts; a discussion on land banking; a discussion unfunded mandates; a discussion on community character; a companion website with multiple choice and fill the blank questions, and ‘test yourself’ glossary terms. This book gives a detailed account of urbanization in the United States and reveals the problematic nature and limitations of the planning process, the fallibility of experts, and the difficulties facing policy-makers in their search for solutions. Planning in the USA is an essential book for students, planners and all who are concerned with the nature of contemporary urban and environmental problems.

This title was first published in 2003. Over the last 30 years, Liverpool has undergone more economic restructuring and urban change than virtually any other city in Britain and Europe. It has also been a testing ground for almost every experiment and innovation in modern urban policy. City of Change and Challenge analyses the urban planning and regeneration experience in Liverpool over this period. In doing so, it considers the extent to which the pressure to create jobs has led to economic development aims consistently taking precedence over environmental and social concerns, and the degree to which regeneration has been dominated by centralised and top-down approaches without a strong strategic planning framework. It also discusses why some policies and programmes have been more successful than others and what lessons might be learned, not only by Liverpool's future policy makers, but also by planners, politicians and academics throughout the world.