ABSTRACT
This chapter demonstrates that the scope of town planning and the emphasis in its concerns has tended to be restructured in response to changing economic conditions. Political action is based on incomplete theories and incorrect indicators merely demonstrate the strength of indicators in determining political action. The three indicators are the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), Government Capital Expenditure and New Orders for Development. The Gross Domestic Product, which measures the total value of final economic output, represents the level of economic activity. The basic post-war British town planning framework, established under the 1947 Town and Country Planning Act, comprises legislation and national guidance for the control over land use change which is exercised largely at the level of local government. Town planning has also responded to short term fluctuations in economic activity. The spatial organisation of state policies was, following the Barlow Report of 1940, central to the post-war economic reconstruction.
