Book Review: The purpose of planning: creating sustainable towns and cities

Authors

Andrew H. Kelly, University of WollongongFollow

RIS ID

78108

Publication Details

Kelly, A. H. (2012). Book Review: The purpose of planning: creating sustainable towns and cities. Local Government Studies, 38 (1), 136-137.

Abstract

This is an intelligent book. The author's statement in her preface that it is 'not a heavy academic treatise' is apt. Instead, we have a readable and enjoyable book dealing with the complexities of urban, suburban and rural planning on various scales. These are presented simply (but far from simplistically), covering a wide range of related issues, including urban decline, landscape conservation, private investment, gated communities and the selfishness of NIMBYism, to name but a few. It is enlivened by the occasional case study and engaging vignette. In this way, Rydin illustrates the very nature of the planning system: its fragmentation and complexity, its political character, and the role of the citizenry in relation to its potential.