This volume examines the current state of planning theory and the new directions it has taken in recent years. Rather than developing a model planning process, the editors have selected a set of classic and contemporary writings to address a central question: What role can planning play in making the good city and region within the constraints of a capitalist political economy and a democratic political system? The volume draws upon a wide range of authors who address planning history, challenges to public planning, competing planning styles, planning ethics, the public interest, and important case studies of planning. Some contributors also challenge conventional planning theory from postmodernist, communicative and feminist perspectives.The book will be of interest to planners, policy makers, students of planning, geographers and anyone who wishes to understand the challenges to planning at the end of the twentieth century. It is a companion volume to Readings in Urban Theory, also published by Blackwell.