Tim Marshall
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- September 2021
- ISBN:
- 9781447337201
- eISBN:
- 9781447337256
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
- DOI:
- 10.1332/policypress/9781447337201.001.0001
- Subject:
- Architecture, Architectural Theory and Criticism
The present time is one of considerable political and ideological turmoil. This affects urban planning, like all areas of public policy. This book sets out to analyse the political and ideological ...
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The present time is one of considerable political and ideological turmoil. This affects urban planning, like all areas of public policy. This book sets out to analyse the political and ideological dimensions of planning, focusing on the UK and particularly on England. These have been underplayed or obscured in the past, partly because professional planners have wished to present themselves as apolitical and non-ideological actors. The book proposes that good planning practice will be helped by a more explicit engagement with how planning is affected by political activity and by ideological thinking. The book therefore takes a series of cuts into the subject, starting with a survey of recent planning literature and proceeding to a historical overview of the relationship of planning to ideological currents, including a brief study of one recent UK government. There is then a survey of the main ideological composites active in Britain. There follows a chapter on the relationships between technical work, law and planning, to establish to what degree the political forces allow autonomy for technical skill and the force of legal thinking. Three chapters deal with dimensions of politics and ideology as they operate within government, pressure politics and the media, as well as the place of public deliberation in planning. Two chapters examine different facets and fields of planning, to identify variation across sub-fields of planning work. The final chapter explores some paths to improving the relationship between politics and planning, in current circumstances.Less
The present time is one of considerable political and ideological turmoil. This affects urban planning, like all areas of public policy. This book sets out to analyse the political and ideological dimensions of planning, focusing on the UK and particularly on England. These have been underplayed or obscured in the past, partly because professional planners have wished to present themselves as apolitical and non-ideological actors. The book proposes that good planning practice will be helped by a more explicit engagement with how planning is affected by political activity and by ideological thinking. The book therefore takes a series of cuts into the subject, starting with a survey of recent planning literature and proceeding to a historical overview of the relationship of planning to ideological currents, including a brief study of one recent UK government. There is then a survey of the main ideological composites active in Britain. There follows a chapter on the relationships between technical work, law and planning, to establish to what degree the political forces allow autonomy for technical skill and the force of legal thinking. Three chapters deal with dimensions of politics and ideology as they operate within government, pressure politics and the media, as well as the place of public deliberation in planning. Two chapters examine different facets and fields of planning, to identify variation across sub-fields of planning work. The final chapter explores some paths to improving the relationship between politics and planning, in current circumstances.
