ABSTRACT
What general lessons can be drawn from the history and contemporary experience of housing and planning? The question is apparently simple, the answer less so. History is open ended. It comprises a narrative that continues into the future. Giving history an end, a set of conclusions is a logical impossibility. The history of planning itself demonstrates the point. Abercrombie’s plans for London displayed far more certainty about the future than has been typical of recent thinking in planning. Even so, within about 15 years, the detail of Abercrombie’s proposals, though not its imagery was obsolete.
