Urban, Regional and National Planning (UNRENAP): Environmental Aspects contains the proceedings of a Workshop on Urban, Regional and National Planning held in Kyoto, Japan, on August 5-6, 1977 under the auspices of the International Federation of Automatic Control. The workshop provided an opportunity to address the environmental aspects of urban, regional, and national planning. The discussions are organized around the themes of modeling, evaluation, simulation, and optimization. Comprised of 34 chapters, this book begins by outlining an alternative approach to environmental modeling in which comprehensive models are replaced by a network of simpler models, focused on specific aspects of the reality and sponsored by corresponding decision-making organizations. The reader is then introduced to some socio-economic aspects of health care planning; structural modeling in a class of systems by fuzzy sets theory; and the role of legal measures in the orientation of urban growth. Subsequent chapters deal with the use of Environmental Assessment Scale as a technique for environmental evaluation; computer simulation of economy management systems; and optimal control models of regional economies. A model for pollution reduction and control is also described. This monograph will be of interest to urban planners and environmental policymakers.

Widely accepted principles and assumptions of American planning theory come under heavy fire in this refreshing and provocative book. The author's main contention is that, contrary to current supposition, development planning is, in practice, a highly political activity. Professor Rondinelli maintains that it is because the dynamics of the policy-making process are not properly understood that current planning prescriptions are inadequate when they are applied within organizationally complex urban regions. To illustrate his argument, he offers a case history of federally aided redevelopment programs for an urban region in northeastern Pennsylvania that experienced three decades of economic decline. He further believes that existing programs of planning education do not provide the skills, knowledge, and experience necessary for effective management of urban change. Curricula must be reoriented, he says, if planners are to have an impact on future urban and regional development. Finally, he sets forth positive alternatives to current planning processes, stressing the need for planning theory and practice that recognize and cope with the characteristics of the complex policy-making system.

City and Regional Planning provides a clearly written and lavishly illustrated overview of the theory and practice of city and regional planning. With material on globalization and the world city system, and with examples from a number of countries, the book has been written to meet the needs of readers worldwide who seek an overview of city and regional planning. Chapters cover the history of cities and city and regional planning, urban design and placemaking, comprehensive plans, planning politics and plan implementation, planning visions, and environmental, transportation, and housing planning. The book pays special attention to diversity, social justice, and collaborative planning. Topics include current practice in resilience, transit-oriented development, complexity in planning, spatial equity, globalization, and advances in planning methods. It is aimed at U.S. graduate and undergraduate city and regional planning, geography, urban design, urban studies, civil engineering, and other students and practitioners. It includes extensive material on current practice in planning for climate change. Each chapter includes a case study, a biography of an important planner, lists of concepts and important people, and a list of books, articles, videos, and other suggestions for further learning.