Urban Planning Under Thatcherism

The philosophy and practice of urban planning has been transformed over the last decade. This book provides an evaluation of both political and planning theory and practice during the Thatcher period and throws new light on the quality of urban life.

Originally published in 1991, Urban Planning Under Thatcherism links theory and practice to assess the changes to the planning system since 1979. It analyses the major trends by investigating the individual modifications in the legislation and the new initiatives which have introduced procedures to by-pass the normal system. Such changes are fundamental not only to the built environment but to the quality of urban life and ultimately to the nature of society. The book argues that this orientation is the result of a policy shift from local democracy to centralisation and from the criteria of the public interest to those of the market.

First published in 1997, this volume explores how, seventeen years after the election of the first Thatcher government, it is clear that despite the attacks, land use planning has survived. Talk during the 1980s of the death of planning and a bonfire of controls seem in hindsight distant and alarmist. Planning now has a new lease of life and is once again firmly on the government’s agenda. So what happened during the 1980s? How did planning come to experience such a radical change in fortune? Philip Allmendinger explores the impact and influence of the New Right’s intentions for planning through arguably the most Thatcherite approach of all: Simplified Planning Zones (SPZs). In doing so he identifies the contradictions and confusion at the heart of Thatcherism that led to vague legislation and objectives allowing localities to interpret Thatcherism for themselves often using policies such as SPZs for reasons very different than those intended.

Did the 1980s and 1990s see the death of planning? Exposing the myth that has grown up around Thatcherism, leading experts from a wide range of land-use policy areas examine the changes that were brought about in planning and the environment during the 1980s and 1990s, and argue that much less was achieved than expected. Urban Planning and the British New Right questions common assumptions about planning practices under Thatcherism, concluding that the complex relationship of power between central, local and national government requires a sensitivity to change that is inclusive rather than doctrinal. This is a book that says as much about the administration, institutions and processes of planning as it does about Mrs Thatcher's attempts to change it.

Horizons -- Planning -- Architecture -- Community -- Consulting -- Housing.

This book challenges the view that planning under the Thatcher governments has simply been abandoned to market forces, aiming to show that the interrelation of state and market is central to all current styles of planning. Case studies ranging across the country are also presented.

The volumes in this set, originally published between 1970 and 1998, draw together research by leading academics in the area of urban planning, and provide a rigorous examination of related key issues. The volumes examine teaching, urban markets, planning, transport planning, poverty, politics, forecasting techniques and an examination of the inner city in Europe and the US, whilst also exploring the general principles and practices of planning. This set will be of particular interest to students of sociology, geography, planning and urbanization respectively.

Taylor describes the development of urban planning ideas since the end of the Second World War, outlining the main theories from the traditional view of planning as an exercise in physical design to recent views of planning as 'communicative action'.