ABSTRACT
This paper reviews English experience with design review and conservation. It begins by outlining the key differences between the role of design control in English development control and design review within the American zoning-based planning system. The early history of design control is explored along with its development as part of a comprehensive system of control. The development of conservation policy is shown to be both a key expression of the desire for greater controls and the means by which design control became increasingly more sophisticated. During the 1980's attempts by Central Government to restrain design control became more pronounced leading to royal and professional campaigns for improved practice, and conservation designations continued apace. The key contemporary issues in design control - government restraint on design intervention but tolerance of conservation designations, anti-modernism versus contextualism, "preoccupation with architecture at the expense of the broader environment, difficulties with policy formulation and implementation skills, and the problems posed by a largely speculative development process are briefly summarised and shown to be similar to those experienced in the United States.
