Planning today is an increasingly complex system of specialisms, and this brand new introduction is the first textbook to offer both a broad overview of each core area in planning, alongside the skills necessary to combine each specialism in order to make sustainable and efficient planning decisions. In so doing, it gives students a unique glimpse into the realities of working in planning today. Planners need knowledge that goes beyond the history of planning decisions in order to reconcile competing demands, from corporate speculative property developers to environmental activists. This new role – aggregating specialisms – is at the forefront of this innovative approach, equipping students with the tools necessary to do planning; which today means being both expert and generalist, specialist and synthesiser.

Planners must now act as professional mediators of different (often conflicting or incompatible) interests. Planners are themselves working as specialists, whether that is in heritage, transport, ecology, economic assessment, or design. And this dual role reflects the organisation of this new text, introduced with a wealth of practitioner-informed chapters to enliven and inspire passion for the crucial role of planning.

This text is an ideal companion for all practitioners and students of planning and related disciplines – at undergraduate and master's level.