Theory, practice and professionalism

This book has tried to explore and develop a critical approach to the theory and practice of town planning. The underlying thesis has been that the production, reproduction and planning of a city are dependent on the dominant economic and political interests within the society. Attempts to abstract the theory and practice of planning from that material base are seen as ideologies, which repress self-understanding, including that of their proponents. Since the book has focussed on places dominated by the capitalist mode of production, the critique of planning it contains has stemmed from theoretical critiques of capitalism and the capitalist state.