Metropolitan Planning in Britain

Based on research conducted for the Department of the Environment and the activities of a study group, this text presents a comparative analysis and assessment of nine major metropolitan areas and their strategic planning for a period of almost two decades. The book focuses upon five themes: the evolution, form and content of metropolitan strategic planning, which now faces problems despite the growth of urban regeneration programmes; the shift in the type of challenges facing metropolitan areas, due to such factors as the increasing relocation of industry and retail outlets away from city centres; changing forms of governance of metropolitan areas; spatial planning for metropolitan areas within the new context of a changed planning system and a changed urban condition; and metropolitan regions as part of a European and global spatial system.