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Planning and Urban Change S. V. Ward
Paul Chapman, London, 1994, 312 pp, L14.95 (pbk) ISBN 185396218X
Planning and Urban Change hy Stephen Ward is a thoughtful and critical account of the history of British town and country planning. The book provides the reader with a well informed, comprehensive and analytical account of the advancement of planning theory and a historical outlook which traces the origins and implementation of planning policy and practice over the past 100 years. The explicitly historical approach adopted by Ward is the real strength to the book and is accessible for any student, practitioner or general observer who wishes to gain a full and frank account of the development of town planning in Britain. The book certainly ranks as one of the key texts on past and contemporary problems and issues surrounding planning theory and practice. Ward's contribution has to be considered alongside other key planning texts by the likes of Hall (Urban and Regional Planning); Culling worth and Nadin (Town and Country Planning) and Cherry (Cities and Plans). As Gordon Cherry remarks in the introduction to his book Cities and Plans;l "the historical background helps towards an understanding of the evolving story of the urban environment in Britain over the last two centuries" (Cherry, 1988, p. 14). Ward, like Cherry, favours the historical account as a powerful and often emotive tool of analysis. This aspect of Ward's work is best reflected in the conclusion, where tre he reflects on the influence of planning on urban change and he disappointingly states that, "in contrast to the comprehensive approach that was characteristic of planning's heyday, the whole activity has become more fragmented as its political saliency has diminished" (Ward, p. 277).
The link between the past, present and the future is clear throughout the book and, as Ward reminds us, town planning, as a tradition of thought and policy intervention, has a breadth and depth of diversity that may not be apparent and explicit in the practice of town planning today. It is the ability of the author to cover the breadth and depth of issues which, over time, have influenced the operation of the...