ABSTRACT
It is the purpose of this chapter to give a general introduction to the character and nature of planning. This may appear to be a philosophical or theoretical matter, and it is not the purpose of this book to review or engage with theory to any significant extent: this is more appropriately done elsewhere and some reading suggestions are given at the end of this chapter. However, if we are to engage successfully with the practical details of planning – an overarching purpose of this book – we at least need to know how the various elements of purpose and process connect to each other, so considering the framework within which they sit is an important foundation for making use of the rest of the contents. Therefore, in the next few pages we will consider what it is that planning is trying to do, the context in which it is trying to do it and the means it has developed to achieve its objectives. Having considered these matters, we then go on to indicate how the various specific elements of content in the rest of the book relate to these questions.
