The Urban and Regional Planning Reader draws together the very best of classic and contemporary writings to illuminate the planning of cities and metropolitan areas. Forty-seven generous selections include contributions from Lewis Mumford, Jane Jacobs, Ian McHarg, Paul Davidoff, Charles Harr, Susan Fainstein and Charles J. Hoch through to Timothy Beatley; Jonathan Barnett, Alex Garvin, Tom Daniels, Andres Duany and Barbara Faga. The variety and wide selection of readings offers one of the most innovative amalgamations of planning research and practice.

The Reader lays out the context, range of concerns, history, methods and key topics for twenty-first century urban and regional planning. Sections on the world of planning, history and theory, classic readings, practice and current issues include writings with a focus on the distribution of space and place, essays on housing, transportation design, environment, community development, the effects of cultural diversity and information technology on land use and other topics. It displays the techniques used to direct and control growth, including zoning, master planning, public budgeting and citizen participation. It explores different types of plans distinguished by their scale and reference type. It references analytical and presentation techniques and outlines ethical issues confronting planners.

This Urban and Regional Planning Reader provides an essential resource, for students of planning, drawing together important but widely dispersed writings and the associated bibliography is a resource which enables deeper investigations. The synthesis is also valuable for lecturers and researches in the area and the pertinent editorial commentaries preceding each entry not only demonstrate its significance, but also outline the issue surrounding the topic.

About the Author

Eugenie L Birch FAICP, Lawrence C. Nussdorf Professor of Urban Research and Education, Department of City and Regional Planning, School of Design, University of Pennsylvania.

Reviews

"Educators unfamiliar with Routledge's Urban Reader series will find The Urban and Regional Planning Reader to be a refreshing collection for introductory planning classes. Birch's reader goes beyond the typical compilation of articles organized by topic and introduced by short prefaces to become a truly artful anthology of seminal and forward-looking writings about urban and regional planning." -Journal of the American Planning Association, March 2010

"[Birch] should be commended for navigating such a broad field to assemble this generally representative survey."-Michael R. Glass, Urban Studies Program, University of Pittsuburgh, in The Pennsylvania Geographer 48, 1

Book Information
ISBN 9780415319973
Author Eugenie Birch
Format Hardback
Page Count 494
Imprint Routledge
Publisher Taylor & Francis Ltd
Weight(grams) 1220g