ABSTRACT
There have been a number of distinct thematic shifts in urban policy since the Second World War, which are illustrated in general by Table 2.1. This shows the periodisation used to frame successive periods covered in this textbook, which illustrates continuities and changes in UK urban policy over more than 60 years. This set of chapters will chart urban policy chronologically over the decades through to the present day, stopping on the way to analyse particular policies in detail, and focusing on case studies in urban areas of the UK. It should be cautioned that these historical periods are not mutually exclusive. As Hall and Barrett (2012, p. 151) warn, ‘While it is tempting to characterize urban policy in a series of distinct periods of development, this tends to underemphasize the degree of continuity between periods and overemphasise a clear sequential trajectory to policy development.’ Despite this reservation, Hall and Barrett (2012, p. 151) go on to suggest that ‘as a pedagogic device the periodization of urban policy does have some merit when viewed in broad terms’. For alternative categorisations of the evolution of urban policy, see those of Roberts and Sykes (2000, p. 14) and Pacione (2009, pp. 174-175).
