Planning in the Public Domain [Paperback]

John Friedmann (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 229 pages
• Publisher: Princeton University Press (October 1, 1987)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0691022682
• ISBN-13: 978-0691022680
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.2 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #191,854 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The western tradition of planning and a radical proposal, May 3, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Planning in the Public Domain (Paperback)

Professor John Friedmann presented back in 1987 this complete review of the modern traditions of social planning: how did revolutionaries, engineers, politicians, sociologists and social prophets designed human groups and resources to meet diverse kinds of goals? And what has been the role of people themselves in this adventure during the last 200 years? The information in this book is complete, the analysis deep, and the author achieves the highest level in gaining the attention of the reader. The third part of the text is a zestful and documented proposal for the recovery of the political comunity, as the way to solve the contradictions of our modern market-driven world. Philosophers, sociologists, politicians, third-sector leaders (and inteligent social-driven individuals) will find this modern planning classic of enormous help in their tasks.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Planning has failed in capitalist societies, Poltical economy rules, August 17, 2005

By 

James Safranek "Holocene Meltwater" (Steinbeck Country) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Planning in the Public Domain (Paperback)

That was the message I took from this book. Planners, for the most part, are mandarins of the state, performing bureaucratic and policy functions to further the needs of capitalist political economies. The influence this book has had on practicing planners is clearly minimal: most college educated American planners are not radicalized by their university experiences and end up entering the sprawl industry (private or public sector). Friedmann's favorites, advocacy and radical planning, are essentially POWER politics in whatever realm one deems important (env., energy, urban, social, etc.). Friedmann never says it, but I think the GREEN movement comes closest to what he wants 'radical' planners to engage in-- rather than process permits for the real estate industry. Good for a history of planning, but a review of the last 20 years of what planning has accomplished (anything positive?)would be nice for the next edition.