Throughout Europe there has been a major trend towards increased urban competition, national deregulation and greater private sector influence. Has this trend led to a common planning response? What is the scope for more social and sustainable planning? Urban Planning in Europe is the first book to comprehensively analyse the influences on urban planning in Europe. Urban planning is undergoing a period of transformation across Europe and the book identifies the international, national and local forces causing this change. It encompasses all countries in western and eastern Europe, providing both a comprehensive guide to the planning systems of each country, as well as detailed studies of a range of cities. The book is structured in two parts. The first outlines the forces impinging on planning in Europe at the international, national and urban level. Looking at the growing influence of the EU, a typology of countries is developed based upon legal and administrative divisions which forms the basis for presenting the similarities and differences of each country's national planning system.
Having set the broader context, the second part selects three contrasting countries - Britain, France and Sweden - and, through an analysis of the theories of urban decision-making, explores planning policies and projects in a range of cities: Birmingham, London, Paris, Lille, Malmo and Stockholm. The authors show that there is variety in urban planning due to differences in legal and administrative structures, local politics and the relative power of interest groups. These opportunities for innovation in the face of contemporary planning trends contain important lessons for the development of future European planning systems.