The Future for Planners

Commercialisation, Professionalism and the Public Interest in the UK
Spatial planning is at a crossroads, with nearly half of UK planners now employed in the private sector. This book reveals what it's like to be a UK planner in the early 21st century and how the profession can fulfil its potential for the benefit of society and the environment.

Winner of the Royal Town Planning Institute Patsy Healey Award for Academic Excellence 2025.

Spatial planning is at a crossroads, with government reform undermining the traditional vision of state-employed planners making decisions about urban development in a unified public interest. Nearly half of UK planners are now employed in the private sector, with complex inter-relations between the sectors including supplying outsourced services to local authorities struggling with centrally-imposed budget cuts.

Drawing on new empirical data from a major research project, ‘Working in the Public Interest’, this book reveals what it’s like to be a UK planner in the early 21st century, and how the profession can fulfil its potential for the benefit of society and the environment.

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