ABSTRACT
The urban planner working in an American city is often pulled along by forces beyond his control. 1 The civil rights debate, for instance, had important repercussions on urban renewal in Montclair. The Federal Housing Act of 1954 provided the encouragement for rezoning New Brunswick. The automobile revolution changed the com position of population in Clifton and Incited govern mental reform. Even decisions presumably within the planners control can create unexpected problems. The at tempt to Insert the commercial zone In the New Branswick code caused unanticipated consequences concerning the need for readjustment of tax rates in the Industrial complex. Yet, given the limitations on choice created by outside forces, it is clear that some planners do succeed more frequently than others In urban policy-making. For the planner, as for other decision-makers in urban com-
munities, the problem is, as Nelson Polsby has suggested, to determine "what distinguishes those who succeed from those who fail in gaining their preferences."2
