ABSTRACT
Although cities have always grown and developed through a complex interaction of the public and private sectors, the current trend towards coalition-building in urban regeneration has only emerged in the past 30 years. During the post-war period, planning and urban development were carried out through a relatively clear division of responsibilities between central and local government. The dominant policies included the containment of urban growth, in part through the designation of green belts, the dispersal of population to new towns and a system of regional planning in order to prevent overdevelopment in the South East and to ensure an even distribution of employment. Local authorities had powers to guide and control development through statutory planning legislation, as well as the resources to carry out comprehensive redevelopment, which included house-building and the provision of community and leisure facilities. Central government retained strategic powers to operate the regional planning system, designate new and expanded towns and to appoint development corporations. A broad political consensus about the purpose of the planning system remained intact for the first three decades after the Second World War.
