January 2001, Volume 52, Issue 1, Pages 4 - 13

Strategic Paper

OR in strategic land-use planning CJL Yewlett Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK     Correspondence to: CJL Yewlett, Department of City and Regional Planning, Cardiff University, Glamorgan Building, King Edward VII Avenue, Cardiff CF10 3WA, UK. E-mail: yewlett@cf.ac.uk

Keywords

development;   environmental studies;   history of OR;   planning;   strategic planning;   urban studies

Abstract

An important historic strategic application of OR has been in the field of land-use and development plan production. Changes in Government policy and legislation have led to varying levels of interest in plan production. Three post-war cycles of ‘enthusiasm for plans’ can be identified. Whilst the first was rooted very much in the Architectural Design tradition, the second led to significant developments in OR, with far wider application. Subsequent reduced Governmental enthusiasm for ‘Development Plan production’ led to considerable atrophy of relevant skills in the planning community, including those derived from OR. However, the current ‘third period of post-war enthusiasm for planning’, reinforced by environmental concerns, has revived the need for relevant skills. It is suggested that, whilst the deficit in skills and their application remains high, there are some encouraging signs. Moreover, substantial progress in the field of ‘soft OR’ offers opportunities to both the OR and planning communities.

Received February 1999; Accepted October 2000

^© Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2001