In Planning in the Face of Power, John Forester argues that effective, public-serving planners can overcome the traditional—but paralyzing—dichotomies of being either professional or political, detached and distantly rational or engaged and change-oriented. Because inequalities of power directly structure planning practice, planners who are blind to relations of power will inevitably fail. Forester shows how, in the face of the conflict-ridden demands of practice, planners can think politically and rationally at the same time, avoid common sources of failure, and work to advance both a vision of the broader public good and the interests of the least powerful members of society.This book provides a systematic reformulation of the politics of professional practice in the arena of city planning, public policy making, and public administration and management. It has immediate implications for the study of administration and management and for students of administration and planning in schools of social work, education, and public health. While focusing concretely on problems of planning practice (e.g. planners' sources of influence, their difficulties of listening critically, their understandings of the politics of organizations), Planning in the Face of Power brings to bear a wide range of theoretical insights and so integrates social and political theory with the demands of actual practice. Accordingly, the book will be important to practitioners who seek to understand the pressures they face at work as well as social theorists who wish to integrate theory and practice more powerfully, but will also appeal to the general reader interested in gaining an understanding of the practice of planning in the face of the realities of social equality and power.

    It explains the tools of local regulation and the technical, bureaucratic, and organizational skills planners need to be effective. Solnit shows how to work with developers, evaluate projects, and use fiscal impact analysis. Includes a section on planning ethics, checklists, and tips on negotiating. Chapters by contributing authors cover subdivision plats, site plans, appearance codes, and writing zoning reports. The Job of the Practicing Planner is a perfect introductory textbook in classes for planners and a practical handbook for people already on the job.

    For decades, this book has helped small towns and rural communities plan for change. It is a step-by-step guide to drafting and implementing a comprehensive plan through zoning ordinances, subdivision regulations, and capital improvements programs, with sensitivity to local character and limited resources.The third edition shows how technologies such as GIS and the Internet can improve the planning process. This edition contains a wealth of information on ways to maintain or improve the design of small towns and explains how to create a small town economic development plan. The authors emphasize strategic planning for economic, social, and environmental sustainability both in remote towns and in towns on the edge of metropolitan regions.The authors are planners with more than six decades of experience in small towns, rural counties, and planning departments-including hundreds of evenings before rural planning commissions.