ABSTRACT
Although Friedmann’s assessment of planning’s recent history may not fully account for the fluctuating fortunes of regional policy and planning in England, it comes quite close to doing so. The strong central state which could oversee the implementation of some radical attempts to rework the regional and urban geography of the country, seeking to intervene directly to control the movement of jobs and people, is no longer willing and able to operate in that manner. But there is a danger of over-reading the ‘strong central state’ argument here, and likewise a danger in overemphasising the current supposedly hegemonic grip of the market-based approach to managing the economy.
