The Political Culture of Planning is written for two quite distinct readerships. The main body of the book synthesizes a mass of information to provide an overview of a complex and amorphous field. This material is designed to meet the needs of students who require a succinct account of the American system of land use planning. These readers can ignore the notes. For those who are embarking upon a much wider and deeper study of land use planning in the US the notes are crucial: they provide the guideposts to an immensely rich literature. The first four parts of the text present the main issues of land use planning in the US. Part 1 assesses the US zoning system. The introductory chapter discusses the meaning of zoning (and its difference from planning), the primacy of local governments, the constitutional framework and the role of the courts. Chapter two provides the historical background to zoning and an outline of the classic Euclid case. Chapter three discusses the objectives and nature of zoning and the use which local governments have made of its inherently inflexible character. Chapter four acts as a corrective to this view, describing how lawyers and planners have shown remarkable ingenuity in adapting zoning to the demands of a changing society. Part 2 deals with the perennial issues of discrimination, financing infrastructure for new development and the process for negotiating zoning matters. Part 3 presents a discussion of two overlapping issues of increasing significance - aesthetics and historic preservation. Part 4 focusses on the main issue facing land use planners: attempting to channel the forces of development into spatial forms held to be socially desirable. Part 5 consists of a series of broad-ranging essays which discuss land use planning in the US, its institutional and cultural framework and the reasons for its particular character. Part 6 discusses the limited possibilities for land use reform in the US - drawing on the author's considerable experience in both Britain and Canada - in order to interpret the limitations and potentialities of land use planning in the US.

At a time when pollution, urban sprawl, and condo booms are leading municipal governments to adopt prescriptive laws and regulations, this book lays the groundwork for a more informed debate between those trying to preserve private property rights and those trying to assert public interests. Rather than asking whether community interests should prevail over the rights of private property owners, Public Interest, Private Property delves into the heart of the argument to ask key questions. Under what conditions should public interests take precedence? And when they do, in what manner should they be limited? Drawing on case studies from across Canada, the contributors examine the tensions surrounding expropriation, smart growth, tree bylaws, green development, and municipal water provision. They also explore frustrations arising from the perceived loss of procedural rights in urban-planning decision making, the absence of a clear definition of “public interest,” and the ambiguity surrounding the controls property owners have within a public-planning system.

where Jeremy Richardson, Albert Weale and Hugh Ward were excellent hosts at the Department of Government and Thomas Christiansen a very good roommate. Having included the UK as a country where decision processes were far less participatory (and thus ‘worse’ in my own view) than those in the Netherlands, I started doing my first interviews there, which were mainly intended to identify suitable case studies for research. But then I read a highly critical review of a book that had a similar topic as my study. The critique was that cases of hazardous waste siting cannot adequately be studied without understanding their national context. This made me decide to devote some attention to the legal context of hazardous waste siting in the three countries of interest (which is of course only a part of the national context) and its development through the years. The study of the UK system of environmental regulation and land use planning was not a simple issue, and I was warned various times (for instance by Andrew Blowers at the Open University) that the legislation was highly complex and easily misinterpreted. I felt personally touched by such warnings and decided that I should perhaps approach the UK system a bit less as an evil empire and maybe be a bit more ‘objective’ in my appraisals.

"This is your key to a confident understanding of the structure, organization and authority of municipal and planning law in Canada. The book analyzes the purpose and role of municipal councils, courts and provincial agencies, giving you the basis for the interpretation of municipal legislation. It includes references to the planning and municipal statutes of a number of Canadian jurisdictions, keeping you abreast of the most current legislative developments in this area of law. This new edition is fully updated to reflect the changes and developments that have occurred over the last 20 years, and since the advent of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms."--Publisher.

Originally published in 1987, this book presents a wide-ranging review of urban, regional, economic, and environmental planning in Canada. A comprehensive source of information on Canadian planning policies, it addresses the wide variations between Canadian provinces. While acknowledging similarities with programs and policies in the United States and Britain, the author documents the distinctively Canadian character of planning in Canada. Among the topics addressed in the book are: the agencies of planning; on the nature of urban plans; the instruments of planning; land policies; natural resources; regional planning at the federal level; regional planning and development in Ontario; regional planning in other provinces; environmental protection; planning and people; and reflections on the nature of planning in Canada. The author documents how governmental agencies handle problems of population growth, urban development, exploitation of natural resources, regional disparities, and many other issues that fall within the scope of urban and regional planning. But he goes beyond this to address matters of politics, law, economics, social organization. The book is pragmatic, eclectic, interpretive, and critical. It is a valuable contribution to international literature on planning in its political context.

Derived from the renowned multi-volume International Encyclopaedia of Laws, this book provides ready access to legislation and practice concerning the environment in Canada. A general introduction covers geographic considerations, political, social and cultural aspects of environmental study, the sources and principles of environmental law, environmental legislation, and the role of public authorities. The main body of the book deals first with laws aimed directly at protecting the environment from pollution in specific areas such as air, water, waste, soil, noise, and radiation. Then, a section on nature and conservation management covers protection of natural and cultural resources such as monuments, landscapes, parks and reserves, wildlife, agriculture, forests, fish, subsoil, and minerals. Further treatment includes the application of zoning and land-use planning, rules on liability, and administrative and judicial remedies to environmental issues. There is also an analysis of the impact of international and regional legislation and treaties on environmental regulation. Its succinct yet scholarly nature, as well as the practical quality of the information it provides, make this book a valuable resource for environmental lawyers handling cases affecting Canada. Academics and researchers, as well as business investors and the various international organizations in the field, will welcome this very useful guide, and will appreciate its value in the study of comparative environmental law and policy.