Promoting Economic Development Urban Planning in the United States and Great Britain

Abstract Within the United States and Great Britain, the focus of planning has switched from regulating to promoting development. The causes of this change have been economic restructuring, conservative national administrations, and a learning process resulting in a pro-active approach. Planners now engage primarily in dealmaking and negotiation rather than land use designation. The result is a planning mode that is realistic and flexible but primarily oriented to the needs of private capital. The cases of London's Strategic Planning Guidance, New York's housing plan, Battery Park City, and London Docklands, as well as some instances of neighborhood planning, are analyzed in this article to illustrate the argument.