ABSTRACT
Planning has always had strong links to the market, or more precisely the various different land and property markets. In contrast to many other policy areas where policies are formulated purely within the public sector, planning policy has always had to address its relationship with the development process (Adams 1994). However, the exact balance in the relationship is not fixed and it can vary over both time and space, with parts of the development process being drawn into public control or influence. As Lindblom (1977) notes, in a liberal democracy there are two main interrelated centres of authority: the democratically accountable government and the asset-owning private sector. Although the public sector cannot control business decisions, it has various means to influence them. In the UK, public control has only ever been partial and the main motive force in development has been the market. However, the means available to the public sector to influence the market depends upon the powers provided through the political process (Smith 1988). Hence, the planning-market relationship is heavily influenced by the stance taken by a particular government. Thus, the analysis has to be extended to cover the political approach to the planningmarket balance at both a national and a local level. In this chapter I will discuss the way in which planning’s response to the market has varied in the period since 1979, when a strong market-orientated ideology was initiated. I will explore the changes in the statutory planning process but, as we shall see, much planning activity has taken place outside this process. A broader coverage is required and I will also explore approaches to urban regeneration. The way in which planning policy has changed over the period has been conditioned by broader forces. Very little illumination would be achieved by examining the planning processes in isolation and so the first part of the chapter sets out this broader context. I start with a discussion of the relationship between planning and the market.
