Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book presents historically and materially grounded analyses of the interactions between racialised members of British society and the planning system, to reveal how the dynamics of these interactions are themselves enmeshed in processes of racialisation, whether to compound them or – more rarely – to unravel and transform them. It provides a detailed historical account of the racialisation of British public policy, including planning, which provides an overview of the central problematic in terms of how racial thinking insinuates itself into the mechanisms and decision-making of public bodies. The book explores the socio-spatial marginalisation experienced by Gypsy and Traveller communities and how this experience has been mediated and concretised by the planning system. It outlines some of the significant demographic changes in Britain since Race and Planning was published.