ABSTRACT

In an era commonly viewed through the lenses of culture as much as those of the environment, ideology or politics a publication tackling the twin themes of culture and planning in conceptual, theoretical and practical terms would seem to be an essential requirement for academics, graduate students, public policy makers and planners. This volume is designed to address the challenge through its relevance to multiple disciplines, roles and sectors. In this introductory framing, however, while I present a brief outline of the book’s contents and refer to the theoretical and conceptual perspectives of the contributors’ chapters, my principal goal is to indicate an overall point of view on culture and planning. This not only serves to illustrate the perspective that shaped the volume from its inception, but also accommodates the considerable diversity, as well as inevitable similarities in points of view, that characterize an edited collection.