Town and Country Planning in the UK

Town and Country Planning in the UK provides one of the most authoritative and comprehensive accounts of British planning history, institutions, legislation, policies, processes and practices. This 16th edition has been substantially revised and re-organised to provide an up-to-date overview of the planning systems in the four nations of the UK, supported by analyses, interpretations, illustrations and examples from planning practice.

The new edition features:

• details of the legislative and policy changes since 2015 and discussion of their implications, including the early stages of the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act, 2023
• discussion of environmental policies and programmes and the impact of Brexit on environmental regulatory landscape in Britain
• changes to climate change and resilience policies, notably the government’s ‘Net Zero’ agenda and their implications for planning
• updates to the substantive issues in plan-making, especially the responses to the shortage of affordable housing and the development of major infrastructure
• changes to the processes involved in plan-making and development management
• an expanded and revised chapter on design to include the growing significance of public health in the built environment
• major revisions to the chapter on rural planning
• revisions of the text on planning theory especially in relation to management of conflicts over the use and development of land
• extended discussion of politics, professionalism and participation in planning

The 16th edition of Town and Country Planning in the UK is an ideal starting point for those who are studying or working in the planning field, and for other professionals who need to locate their work in the planning context.

"Town and Country Planning in the UK is the go to resource for planning students in the UK. It also provides a great resource for others from beyond the UK who want to know about UK planning systems, policy and background. The 16th edition continues the tradition of the previous iterations in providing the definitive guide."

Professor Gavin Parker, University of Reading, UK.

"Barry Cullingworth’s Town and Country Planning has become a go-to resource for practitioners and students of planning since the first edition appeared in 1964. The newest edition - four times longer than the original and produced by a team with a wealth of research, teaching, and practice expertise - details the expanding intricacies and broadening duties of the UK's planning systems and local practice whilst also providing an essential discussion of the wider purpose and spirit of planning: why we plan what good planning might look like. It remains the definitive conceptual and practical guide to planning across the UK."

Nick Gallent, University College London, UK.

"Town & Country Planning in the UK, now in its 16th Edition, continues to deliver the definitive and most comprehensive analysis of the UK’s planning system. It provides a unique account of how the UK planning system functions, unrivalled in its breadth of topics and in-depth critique. Quite simply, this book is essential reading for planning students and practitioners not only in the UK, but for planners around the globe interested in understanding the complexity and evolution of planning."

Mark Scott, Professor of Planning & Dean of Architecture, University College Dublin, Ireland.

"Barry Cullingworth’s Town and Country Planning has been a must-read classic for successive generations of planning students, including myself, and stood the test of time in the last 60 years! The content and scope of the book has been broadened and enriched by the contributors who are experts and passionate of the UK Planning Systems. The 16th edition of this classic text successfully pulls the threads of historic and current development of the planning systems and highlights both challenges and opportunities of the field."

Cecilia Wong, University of Manchester, UK.

Barry Cullingworth (1929–2005), University of Cambridge, UK and University of Delaware, USA.

Simin Davoudi, David Webb, Geoff Vigar, John Pendlebury and Tim Townshend, Newcastle University, UK.

Menelaos Gkartzios, Newcastle University, UK and Izmir Institute of Technology, Turkey.

Trevor Hart (1946–2017), Newcastle University, UK and York Natural Environment Trust.

Vincent Nadin, TU Delft, the Netherlands, and South China University, China.

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