This innovative introduction to environmental planning is designed for an international readership. Each of the book's chapters focuses on a key question in environmental planning and works through principles which are appropriate in any national context. Case studies from around the world show how the principles apply in practice.

As a vital human need, water has been absolutely critical to decisions as to where cities originate, how much they grow and the standard of living of the inhabitants. The relationship is complex however; we need both continual availability and protection from its potential impacts. Over recent decades flooding and scarcity episodes have become commonplace in even the most advanced countries - and these events cannot be disassociated from the socio-economic context within which they occur; being directly related to how we live, where we live and how we govern.

This book draws together information on a host of connected subjects from population growth to water scarcity to the relationship between humanity and nature, then demonstrates how utilizing notions of risk and resilience could help improve the relationship between the city and its most precious resource. Combining discussions of risk, water and spatial planning it provides an invaluable text for planning, geography and urban studies students on how to address urban water problems within a rapidly changing world.

As a vital human need, water has been absolutely critical to decisions as to where cities originate, how much they grow and the standard of living of the inhabitants. The relationship is complex however; we need both continual availability and protection from its potential impacts. Over recent decades flooding and scarcity episodes have become commonplace in even the most advanced countries and these events cannot be disassociated from the socio-economic context within which they occur; being directly related to how we live, where we live and how we govern.

This book draws together information on a host of connected subjects from population growth to water scarcity to the relationship between humanity and nature, then demonstrates how utilizing notions of risk and resilience could help improve the relationship between the city and its most precious resource. Combining discussions of risk, water and spatial planning it provides an invaluable text for planning, geography and urban studies students on how to address urban water problems within a rapidly changing world.

Why do we plan? Who decides how and where we plan and what we should value? How do theories and ideologies filter down into real policies and plans which affect our lives? Written in a deliberately practitioner-friendly manner, this useful guide answers these questions and reveals planning theories to be simply new ideas that can help one see the world differently. Thinking about them enables us to take a step back to appreciate the wider context. The guide discusses the value of planning, how rationales for planning have changed, and whether we have too much, too little, or just the wrong kind of planning. It then sets out 25 key concepts central to professional practice, ranging from participation and complexity to post-politics and state theory, from risk and resilience to governmentality, from assemblage to ecosystems and sustainability.

This Companion presents a distinctive approach to environmental planning by: situating the debate in its social, cultural, political and institutional context; being attentive to depth and breadth of discussions; providing up-to-date accounts of the contemporary practices in environmental planning and their changes over time; adopting multiple theoretical and analytical lenses and different disciplinary approaches; and drawing on knowledge and expertise of a wide range of leading international scholars from across the social science disciplines and beyond. It aims to provide critical reviews of the state-of-the-art theoretical and practical approaches as well as empirical knowledge and understandings of environmental planning; encourage dialogue across disciplines and national policy contexts about a wide range of environmental planning themes; and, engage with and reflect on politics, policies, practices and decision-making tools in environmental planning. The Companion provides a deeper understanding of the interdependencies between the themes in the four parts of the book (Understanding 'the environment', Environmental governance, Critical environmental pressures and responses, and Methods and approaches to environmental planning) and its 37 chapters. It presents critical perspectives on the role of meanings, values, governance, approaches and participations in environmental planning. Situating environmental planning debates in the wider ecological, political, ethical, institutional, social and cultural debates, it aims to shine light on some of the critical journeys that we have traversed and those that we are yet to navigate and their implications for environmental planning research and practice. The Companion provides a reference point mapping out the terrain of environmental planning in an international and multidisciplinary context. The depth and breadth of discussions by leading international scholars make it relevant to and useful for those who are curious about, wish to learn more, want to make sense of, and care for the environment within the field of environmental planning and beyond.

This innovative introduction to environmental planning is designed for an international readership. Each of the book's chapters focuses on a key question in environmental planning and works through principles which are appropriate in any national context. Case studies from around the world show how the principles apply in practice.