Growth Centres in Spatial Planning examines the role of growth centers in spatial planning in terms of achieving the intended objectives. Intended objectives include improving a region's potential for adopting innovations, a saving in public investment on infrastructure, a more efficient pattern of service provision, a dissemination of growth impulses throughout the problem region, and the interception of would-be migrants from the region. More specifically, this book analyzes the extent to which growth-center policies are likely to attain these objectives and how such policies might be modified accordingly. This text consists of eight chapters and begins with an appraisal of growth-center theory and growth-center policy, along with the fundamental issues that are involved in putting such policies into practice. This is followed by a discussion on regional policies with a clear growth-center element in Scotland, Ireland, and France. The reader is then introduced to the link between urban centers and the diffusion of innovations; the degree to which the spatial concentration of investment is desirable in order to achieve the most economic pattern of service provision; and the role of spatial agglomeration in stimulating economic growth. The spatial impact of growth centers and the role of growth centers in generating, intercepting, and attracting migrants are also considered. This text concludes with a chapter that proposes some policy guidelines and directions for research. This book will be of interest to planners and policymakers involved in urban planning and regional development more generally.

Planning for Growth: Urban and Regional Planning in China provides an overview of the changes in China’s planning system, policy, and practices using concrete examples and informative details in language that is accessible enough for the undergraduate but thoroughly grounded in a wealth of research and academic experience to support academics. It is the first accessible text on changing urban and regional planning in China under the process of transition from a centrally planned socialist economy to an emerging market in the world. Fulong Wu, a leading authority on Chinese cities and urban and regional planning, sets up the historical framework of planning in China including its foundation based on the proactive approach to economic growth, the new forms of planning, such as the ‘strategic spatial plan’ and ‘urban cluster plans’, that have emerged and stimulated rapid urban expansion and transformed compact Chinese cities into dispersed metropolises. And goes on to explain the new planning practices that began to pay attention to eco-cities, new towns and new development areas. Planning for Growth: Urban and Regional Planning in China demonstrates that planning is not necessarily an ‘enemy of growth’ and plays an important role in Chinese urbanization and economic growth. On the other hand, it also shows planning’s limitations in achieving a more sustainable and just urban future.

In September 1977 a 'Regional Science Symposium' was held at the Faculty of Economics of the University of Groningen in the Netherlands. Organized because of the recent establishment at the Faculty of Economics of a group that is engaged in teaching and research in the field of regional science, the aim of the symposium was to make university members more familiar with regional science and to introduce the newly created group to the national and international scene. Two separate topics were selected, of potential interest to both re searchers and policy-makers. The first, spatial inequalities and regional development, was chosen because of its central place in regional science. Authors from several disciplines were asked to approach this theme from a general, policy orientated point of view. This ensured the enlightenment of the various dimensions of spatial inequality and its implications for regional policy. The results have been collected in the volume Spatial Inequalities and Regional Development. The second theme focused on spatial statistical analysis. This branch of statistics is a relatively new one which receives growing attention among researchers in the field of applied regional science. The meeting on this topic concentrated on new results of research on the use of appro priate statistical and econometric methods for analyzing spatial data. The papers concerned have been collected into another volume, Explora tory and Explanatory Statistical Analysis of Spatial Data.

The expansion of the European Union in 2004 has had significant consequences for both existing and new members of the Union. New member states are assimilating into a new institutional and policy framework, while the changing geography of Europe provides a different context for policy development in pre-2004 member states. One of the more important fields in which these changes are impacting is regional development. The admission of the new countries changes patterns of economic and social disparities across the territory of the European Union, which in turn demands that existing approaches to regional development are reconsidered. An approach which has proved to be one of the most innovative is spatial planning. This book brings together a team of academics and policy makers from across the new Europe involved in regional development and spatial planning. Providing insights into different approaches, it offers a valuable opportunity to compare experiences across European borders.

This book provides a unique synthesis of concepts and tools to examine natural resource, socio-economic, legal, policy and institutional issues that are important for managing urban growth into the future. The book will particularly help the reader to understand the current issues and challenges and develop strategies and practices to cope with future pressures of urbanisation and peri-urban land, water and energy use challenges. In particular, the book will help the reader to discover underlying principles for the planning of future cities and peri-urban regions in relation to: (i) Balanced urban development policies and institutions for future cities; (ii) Understanding the effects of land use change, population increase, and water demand on the liveability of cities; (iii) Long-term planning needs and transdisciplinary approaches to ensure the secured future for generations ahead; and (iv) Strategies to adapt the cities and land, water and energy uses for viable and liveable cities. There are growing concerns about water, food security and sustainability with increased urbanisation worldwide. For cities to be liveable and sustainable into the future there is a need to maintain the natural resource base and the ecosystem services in the peri-urban areas surrounding cities. This need is increasing under the looming spectre of global warming and climate change. This book will be of interest to policy makers, urban planners, researchers, post-graduate students in urban planning, environmental and water resources management, and managers in municipal councils.

This book documents and analyses spatial planning in Ghana, providing a comprehensive and critical discussion of the evolving institutional and legal arrangements that have shaped and defined Ghana’s spatial planning system for more than seven decades; the contemporary policy instruments and mechanisms for articulating and implementing policies and proposals at multiple scales; and the formally established procedures for development management. It covers important themes in contemporary spatial planning discourse, including the evolving meaning, scope and purpose of spatial planning globally; the scales of spatial planning (i.e. national, regional, sub-regional and local); multi-level integration within spatial planning; public participation; the interface between urbanization, sustainable growth management and spatial planning; spatial planning and housing development; integrated spatial development and transportation planning; and spatial planning and the urban informal economy. Intended for undergraduate and graduate students, and academic researchers and practitioners/policy-makers in the multidisciplinary field of spatial planning, it appeals to readers seeking an international perspective on spatial planning systems and practices.