ABSTRACT
Harloe, in another context, describes the nature of such constraints in the following manner: The urban functionaries, far from being an ‘independent’ variable, clearly acted within constraints determined by the wider economic, political and ideological structures of their society. Forces, particularly economic power, over which they had little or no control appeared to be far more crucial determinants of urban patterns and processes than the managers. A sharp peak in the early months of 1963, which was more marked in Stevenage than in the region as a whole, was the result of a bout of particularly severe weather which put several hundred building workers out of work for some weeks, and of course at that time building workers in Stevenage represented an abnormally high proportion of total employment as the Corporation was reaching its developmental peak.
