ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the history and operation of strategic planning in the South Yorkshire metropolitan area from the late 1960s onwards. The chapter is based on confidential interviews with past and present local government officers and other private and public bodies. It considers the evolution and performance of strategic planning in the period up to 1986. The emergence and elaboration of strategic guidance is outlined and evaluated. The chapter traces the preparation and implementation of the unitary development plans. It presents more recent events in the history of strategic planning in South Yorkshire and offers a view forward. The metropolitan county of South Yorkshire was created by the Local Government Act of 1972 and a County Council for the area was in existence from 1974 to 1986. South Yorkshire is a county with a population of 1.3 million but has four separate and distinctive towns in Sheffield, Doncaster, Rotherham and Barnsley.
