Ben Clifford & Susannah Gunn 
Future for Planners [PDF ebook] 
Commercialisation, Professionalism and the Public Interest in the UK

Spatial planning is at a crossroads, with government reform undermining the traditional vision of state-employed planners making decisions about urban development in a unified public interest. Nearly half of UK planners are now employed in the private sector, with complex inter-relations between the sectors including supplying outsourced services to local authorities struggling with centrally-imposed budget cuts. Drawing on new empirical data from a major research project, Working in the Public Interest , this book reveals what it s like to be a UK planner in the early 21st century, and how the profession can fulfil its potential for the benefit of society and the environment.