ABSTRACT
The German local authority appears to enjoy far more autonomy than the British and operates within a dispersed and decentralised structure of government. German planning system is a four-tier hierarchy: Federal spatial planning, Land planning, Regional planning, Local development controls and building regulations. Many German local authorities maintain town development plans which extend beyond straightforward control of building and the use of land, although this is not a legal requirement. The process of town development planning has resulted in the preparation of more or less detailed statements of goals embracing inter alia economic activity and the promotion of employment. Where the economic policy function remains organisationally separate from the town planning responsibilities there has been a tendency for it in turn to acquire direct involvement in the determination of land uses. There is no doubt that local economic policy-making depends crucially for its effectiveness on the behaviour of those agents in the economy to whom incentives and facilities are offered.
