ABSTRACT
Town planning in Britain has often been held up as an example of virtue to the world, yet in recent years the activity has been subject to extreme criticism. Planners themselves have expressed self-doubts about the nature and purpose of the activity in which they engage, while recent economic and financial conditions have severely strained the operational ability of the planning system. In a period of economic decline and financial uncertainty, planners have learned how difficult it is to persuade others to do the things necessary if a plan is to be fulfilled. In a nutshell, while planners produce plans, others implement them, and to a large extent it is this lack of control over their environment, and over the other agencies and actions whose support is necessary if plans are to be successfully implemented, that lies at the heart of what may be regarded as the current crisis in planning.
