Planning is not a technical and value free activity. Planning is an overt political system that creates both winners and losers. The Planning Polity is a book that considers the politics of development and decision-making; and political conflicts between agencies and institutions within British town and country planning. The focus of assessment is how British planning has been formulated since the early 1990s; and provides an in-depth and revealing assessment of both the Major and Blair governments terms of office. The book will prove to be an invaluable guide to the British planning system today and the political demands on it. Students and activists within urban and regional studies; planning; political science and government; environmental studies; urban and rural geography; development; surveying and planning; will all find the book to be an essential companion to their work.
#4060033 in eBooks 2005-06-27 2005-06-27File Name: B000OI19M6
Review
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. An easy tapping of Arch History and TheoryBy Frederick GrierI came across this book while taking a series of history and theory classes (a four semester analysis of the essence of architectural beauty); and found it incredibly helpful - an easy to read/understand breakdown of some fairly high-level analysis concepts in architecture! I only discovered it towards the end of my classes; and found that it synthesized my four semesters nicely.Smith blends historical examples and thought with modern theories and understandings of the brain - even quoting Semir Zeki! He analyzes what the cause for beauty is (this; of course; is the theory part); but making a pretty good case....Read it if you are interested in the theories of beauty in architecture; or are looking for an overview of architecture theory. Its a very good read; and can help with many different types of papers ;)0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Relevance of aesthetics and beauty as a determining contextBy Adrian C.Debating about the aesthetic properties can be a fruitless endeavor. Although on a macro scale; it can be agreed; that some objects are certainly more pleasing than others. Peter Smith argues that borrowing form and algorithmic functions from nature can be an equation for pleasing aesthetics. He brings in quite a few architectural examples between modernist functionality and post-modern contextual designs and breaks them down at an easy to follow level. There are points that are more conceptual than others but he certainly puts a tangible form on something that has been debated vehemently for ages.This book fits nicely as a companion guide to Christopher Alexanders Pattern Language.