Development Planning and Local Economic Growth

For more than three decades, Bracknell has been one of Britain's most rapidly expanding towns. Between 1949 and 1982 it was an officially designated New Town. The purpose of this monograph is to examine the background and nature of the development programme in Bracknell, to evaluate the economic outcome of the New Town and the specific impact of the Development Corporation, and to explore the underlying processes that contributed to this. It examines the narrowing of the Corporation's objectives and its increasing commercial orientation, but shows that the scheme was a qualified success in spite of this. The growth of local employment can be attributed to favourable national economic conditions, generous government procurement programmes, the internal strength of individual firms, and the conducive locational circumstances, brought about in part by coordinated planning and public investment. The book also seeks to make a more general contribution to the literature on urban and regional planning and economic development.
 
For more than three decades, Bracknell has been one of Britain's most rapidly expanding towns. Between 1949 and 1982 it was an officially designated New Town. The purpose of this monograph is to examine the background and nature of the development programme in Bracknell, to evaluate the economic outcome of the New Town and the specific impact of the Development Corporation, and to explore the underlying processes that contributed to this. It examines the narrowing of the Corporation's objectives and its increasing commercial orientation, but shows that the scheme was a qualified success in spite of this. The growth of local employment can be attributed to favourable national economic conditions, generous government procurement programmes, the internal strength of individual firms, and the conducive locational circumstances, brought about in part by coordinated planning and public investment. The book also seeks to make a more general contribution to the literature on urban and regional planning and economic development.