ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the changing nature of professional practice in planning in the 1980s and 1990s. The chapter explores the history of the planning profession and some characteristics of its membership and working environment. It describes changes in planning at national and local governmental level including in the latter some speculative remarks about the changing experiences of street-level planners. The chapter defines changes in planning at national and local governmental level including in the latter some speculative remarks about the changing experiences of street-level planners. Town planning became professionalised during the twentieth century. Central government actions have influenced the manner in which town planning is organised and conducted at a local level in broadly several ways. Many or even most local planning authorities have reconsidered the way in which they undertake their core planning functions. The bureaucratic or post-bureaucratic distinction has never fitted planning very comfortably.
