1. Urban and Regional Planning and Development: Introduction and Overview

This book is a festschrift in honor of Frank James Costa, a distinguished urban planner. The volume considers the urban and regional planning and development practice and experience in the twentieth century and ways in which it is being transformed in the first few decades of the twenty-first century. This volume considers the big question—what are some of the factors affecting planning dynamics globally and locally? With the push to adopt market paradigm in land development and infrastructure, the relationship between resource management, sustainable development, and the role of governance has transformed. Centralized planning is giving way to privatization not only in the traditional regions, but also in the newly emerging regions of Asia, Africa, and Latin America. There is an attempt to get planning decision making closer to the people who are most affected by it. This volume engages in this conceptual discussion and intends to be a collection of studies from scholars around the world highlighting recent advances in the field.