Contemporary Urban Planning, 12e provides students with an unvarnished and in‑depth introduction to the historic, economic, political, legal, ideological, and environmental factors affecting urban planning today.
Planning is a highly political activity. Urban and regional planning decisions often involve large sums of money, both public and private, with the potential to deliver large benefits to some and losses to others. The extensively revised edition of this beloved text tackles the most pressing recent issues in urban development, including:
- current demographic, technological, and lifestyle changes and the possibility for a major turn toward reurbanization/urban revitalization after decades of decentralization
- an expanded consideration of contemporary means of public participation in planning
- the impact of contemporary social movements on planning, and the rising importance of social equity as a major planning objective
- the affordable housing shortage facing cities in many large U.S. metropolitan areas
- making cities more adaptable to micro‑mobility
- environmental goals and the role of planners in responding to global climate change, current public‑health challenges, and major environmental catastrophes and
- the effect of varied applications of land use controls and other planning policies in different countries and under different political regimes, with case study examples from the UK, France, Eastern Europe, China, Asia, Africa, and Latin America
This thoroughly updated new edition also benefits from resources to help classroom instruction, both in the text and online. These include discussion and multiple‑choice questions, and links for students to online supplemental readings, websites, and media sources. Contemporary Urban Planning is an essential resource for students, city planners, and all who are concerned with the nature of contemporary urban development problems.
Visit the Instructor and Student Resources website: www.routledge.com/cw/levy
John M. Levy is Professor Emeritus at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg, Virginia, United States.
Sonia A. Hirt is Dean and Hughes Professor in Landscape Architecture and Planning at the College of Environment + Design at the University of Georgia, United States. She has served as Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Planning History and has been on the editorial boards of nine other scholarly journals. She was a Guggenheim Fellow (2023–2024). Her research focuses on culture, cities, and space, especially in Europe and the United States.
Casey J. Dawkins is Professor of Urban Studies and Planning in the School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, and a faculty member of the National Center for Smart Growth, at the University of Maryland, United States. He serves as an Associate Editor of the journal Housing Policy Debate and is an appointed member of the Maryland Board of Architects. His research focuses on U.S. housing policy; manufactured housing; the causes, consequences, and measurement of residential segregation; and the link between land use regulations and housing affordability.
