Planning by Consent: The Search for Public Interest in the Control of Urban Development (Planning, History, and the Environment Series)

••Please note this is an unedited paperback reprint of the hardback, originally published in 2003••The British system of universal development control celebrated its 50th anniversary in 1997. Remarkably, the system has survived more or less intact but the experience of the 1980s has left large questions unanswered about the relevance and effectiveness of the system. This book traces the history of the development control system in Britain from early modern times to the present day. The Purpose Of Planning By Consent Is To Find Historical Explanations For The Way In Which The Development Control System Has Evolved. Starting With A Discussion Of Attitudes To Property And To The Problem Of Nuisance In The Middle Ages, The Book Charts The Development Of Control Mechanisms, First As Exercised By Landlords Through Leasehold Agreements And Then Later, Through The Gradual Development Of Bylaws To Control Building. It Then Turns To The Way In Which Development Control Was Introduced Into The Planning System And, From Being An Expedient Device, Became A Central Part Of British Planning.--jacket. The Glory Of The British Planning System -- Property, Contract And Regulation -- The Search For Flexibility -- Towards Universal Control -- Control By Consents : The 1947 Act And After -- Development Control In A Market Economy -- Towards The New Millennium -- Future Glory? Philip Booth. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [195]-205) And Index.