ABSTRACT
In this chapter I discuss the factors which facilitated the development of the current women and planning movement. In the first section I give a short overview of the nature of planning education since the Second World War because it provided opportunities for women, and a means for other ideas, to enter the profession. In the next section I discuss the types of women who are the most effective as zone zappers to implement women and planning policies. But the circumstances for change had to be right too. It would seem that the raising of ‘women and planning’ issues became more acceptable within the context of the rise of new left politics, particularly within certain Labour-led local authorities in the 1980s. In the last section I describe the development of the current women and planning movement, as manifested in policies and initiatives adopted by planning offices, my intention being to give an over-view, not a detailed account, using selective examples. As stated in chapter 1, I consider it is very important to include the names of wonen planners to redress the balance of the historical record which has mainly excluded women. Town planning is a classic example of a specialist profession that developed as a composite discipline, drawing elements from surveying, architecture, civil engineering, public health and housing. At first, no one was admitted unless they were prior members of such professions (p. 108). As planning became established as a separate profession, to formalize its status it went through a process of credentialization, which is the process of limiting access to specialized professional enclaves by increasing the educational requirements (Collins, 1979:90-1).
