Knighted in 1998 'for services to the Town and Country Planning Association', and in 2003 named by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II as a 'Pioneer in the Life of the Nation', Peter Hall is internationally renowned for the breadth and depth of his studies and writings on urban and regional planning. For the last 50 years, he has captured and helped to create the 'planning imagination'. Here the editors have brought together in five themes a series of critical reflections on Peter's vast and diverse contributions. Those reflections are provided by colleagues familiar with his work. The five parts are devoted to Peter Hall's breadth of academic work, covering the history of cities and planning, London, spatial planning, connectivity and mobility, and urban globalization. Finally, as a sixth part, the editors have asked Peter Hall himself to reflect on his career and the sources of his imagination. The story this book tells is not one of a singular, totally consistent theoretical and philosophical view elaborated over several decades. Rather it covers a set of views that necessarily admits signs of Peter's inconsistency and imperfection over the years - the insights and imperfections that inevitably accompany the exercise of a nonetheless remarkably fertile, restless and inspiring planning imagination.

Knighted in 1998 'for services to the Town and Country Planning Association', and in 2003 named by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II as a 'Pioneer in the Life of the Nation', Peter Hall is internationally renowned for the breadth and depth of his studies and writings on urban and regional planning. For the last 50 years, he has captured and helped to create the 'planning imagination'. Here the editors have brought together in five themes a series of critical reflections on Peter's vast and diverse contributions. Those reflections are provided by colleagues familiar with his work. The five parts are devoted to Peter Hall's breadth of academic work, covering the history of cities and planning, London, spatial planning, connectivity and mobility, and urban globalization. Finally, as a sixth part, the editors have asked Peter Hall himself to reflect on his career and the sources of his imagination. The story this book tells is not one of a singular, totally consistent theoretical and philosophical view elaborated over several decades. Rather it covers a set of views that necessarily admits signs of Peter's inconsistency and imperfection over the years - the insights and imperfections that inevitably accompany the exercise of a nonetheless remarkably fertile, restless and inspiring planning imagination.

The competition for inward investment among regions and within and between nations is intense, and the promotional agencies concerned are increasingly innovative in their competitive strategies. This book examines the new competition for inward investment and, in particular, discusses the interconnections between localities that this creates. Two key dimensions of this are pursued, with examples from the EU, North America and the Far East. First, the book deals with the new corporate investment dynamics such as time-based competition and the increasing significance of repeat investment. Second, the contributors explore the local and national institutional dynamics of increasingly creative efforts to attract mobile investments. These new corporate and institutional dynamics raise important issues regarding local and national democracy, and the sustainability of economic development. The New Competition for Inward Investment is an inter-disciplinary book with an international focus. As such, the book will appeal to scholars of international business and especially those interested in the economic dimensions of globalisation and the globalisation debate. It will also be of interest to scholars and practitioners of regional science and regional economic development, including economic geographers and town planners.