Leslie Stein launches best practice planning book
Leslie Stein, Adjunct Professor of Urban Planning, has brought together 7 years of research into the planning practices of 80 countries in his new book, Comparative Urban Land Use Planning: Best Practice.
Left to right: Professor John Redmond, Adjunct Professor Les Stein, The Hon. Rob Stokes, MP, Dr Michael Spence, Professor Peter Phibbs
Published by Sydney University Press the book was launched last month at the University by the Hon. Rob Stokes, M.P, Minister for Education and former New South Wales Minister for Planning.
Dr Michael Spence, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Sydney was also present to launch the book, saying:
“Land use planning is an intrinsically multidisciplinary activity. We know that good land use planning is about economics, it’s about the social sciences and law, it’s about psychology and the aesthetics of the urban environment. You can see that in Leslie Stein’s book but also in what the School of Architecture, Design and Planning and the Henry Halloran Trust are doing as they bring people together across the University.”
Professor Stein’s research draws some interesting conclusions from international examples of the inadequate urban planning. Stein found that the social urban problems, including depression, alcohol and drug addiction, crime, income inequality, poverty, racism, alienation and family dysfunction, are not aided by strategic planning, a zoning map or development controls. Stein asserts that best practices are emerging to address some of these issues and that the road forward requires changes to the ways that urban planning is conceived.
Comparative Urban Land Use Planning: Best Practice is available through Sydney University Press.
