Based on research conducted for the Department of the Environment and the activities of a study group, this text presents a comparative analysis and assessment of nine major metropolitan areas and their strategic planning for a period of almost two decades. The book focuses upon five themes: the evolution, form and content of metropolitan strategic planning, which now faces problems despite the growth of urban regeneration programmes; the shift in the type of challenges facing metropolitan areas, due to such factors as the increasing relocation of industry and retail outlets away from city centres; changing forms of governance of metropolitan areas; spatial planning for metropolitan areas within the new context of a changed planning system and a changed urban condition; and metropolitan regions as part of a European and global spatial system.
Part 1 Background and framework: Metropolitan planning - the context, Peter Roberts et al; The evolution and purposes of metropolitan strategic planning, Peter Roberts; The metropolitan framework for planning and governance, Gwyndaf Williams. Part 2 Metropolitan case studies: Greater London, Daniel Graham, Michael Hebbert; The west Midlands, Graham Pearce; Merseyside, Peter Batey; Greater Manchester, Gwyndaf Williams; West Yorkshire, David Whitney; South Yorkshire, Derek Senior; Tyne and Wear, Tim Shaw; The Cardiff metropolitan region, Jeremy Alden; West central Scotland, Greg Lloyd, Bill Edgar. Part 3 Taking stock and looking forward: The metropolitan planning experience, Kevin Thomas; Retrospect and prospect, Peter Roberts.