An Introduction to Regional Planning, 2nd Edition is a book written by John Glasson in 1978 published by the University College London

Press. It is an urban planning textbook that discusses regional development plannings peculiar

characters of its own differing itself from planning of the national economic development as a whole.

This book is very informative especially to readers who are interested in Urban and Regional Planning theories like students like me. At the first part of the book, the author tried to define planning and its concepts in a very understandable manner. At the latter parts, the evolution of regional planning in United Kingdom was given as an example, for the readers to be able to see the application of the planning theories and concepts discussed at the first parts of the book.

Chapter 9 of the book discussed about the inter-regional planning in United Kingdom. The author related what happened to United Kingdom years ago, when problem regions were identified though some indicators. Because of

unemployment, low activity rates, low growth rates, and high level of out migration in some of the regions in UK, two main approaches were done to solve these problems. The first one is the Labor Migration Policy where workers go to the place where work was available, and the second one was the Industrial Location Policy where industries locate in these problem areas to give work to the workers. Because of these policies, there had been confusion whether to encourage the industries to move to problem regions or for them to concentrate aid on growth points, and also how they would be encouraged to move.

It was then understood that these policies were not enough to solve the imbalance in industrial structure. There is growth of other regions at the expense of depressed and underdeveloped regions. Also, the diversion of growth away from the developed regions would have beneficial effects to the problem regions. In the end, they found out that Industrial Location is better than Labor Migration and the geographical transfer of labor was a bad idea. They still have a long way to go though. I agree with one line I have read from the book, that every time new employment is being introduced, job opportunities in other sectors may be lost. During this period, it is still impossible for them to solve the problems, but I believe it had been a good start.

While reading chapter 9, I found out that these policies were still not able to solve their problems about the imbalance. But compared to the labor migration theory, I still prefer the industrial location. Labor migration would result to a greater imbalance. From what I have read, during the Inter-war Period, skilled workers were moved from the underdeveloped to the pressured areas, and most of these people returned. Also, I believe this is also being done in the Philippines where Special Economic Zones and Regional Industrial Centers are also present. So I think Industrial Location is better, but it should be evaluated more in terms of future income growth of the industries rather than giving jobs because these industries goal is to earn and not to give jobs to people. Giving jobs to people is the governments aim.

The authors effort to explain everything that happened in detail is commendable. Because of it, the theories and concepts were understood more.

If the Inter-Regional Planning in United Kingdom was related by the author in detail, the Intra-Regional Planning in Chapter 10 was more detailed. It seemed like relating the history of planning in United Kingdom where the years, dates, names of people, and the names of the acts and policies during those times were mentioned. During these periods, the government realized that extensive studies were needed to formulate plans and strategies to solve the regional imbalance in United Kingdom. Intra-regional planning, according to the author, means planning of individual regions. The planning of the Metropolitan South East and the Industrial Northwest were the given examples in this chapter. The problems in those areas resulted from urbanization and rapid population growth.

There are a lot of policies and acts mentioned in this chapter and I would not mention all of them in detail anymore. One of the important reports mentioned was the Barlow Report, which was said to be the foundation of British Planning. It is stated in this report that planning should be done regionally and also nationally so that the plans conformed to the national priorities. I also agree with that since all plans should conform to each other. If a region will be planned without considering the growth and underdevelopment of the adjacent regions, there is a possibility that their goals would oppose each other, and this will lead to more problems. It will result to a greater imbalance. In UK, they decided that regional studies and planning should be done by the central government and the sub-regional studies should be done by the local government. The studies also vary depending on the content. Some were focused on physical planning, like the Clyde Valley Plan by

Abercrombie and Matthew, which lacked economic content, but was still used as the framework for resolving the problems in Clyde Valley and Glasgow.

The studies showed that the formulation of regional and sub-regional plans was necessary for them to achieve their goal. But then it included a lot of technical innovations and complex strategies. One notable thing they learned was to do the survey-analysis-plan by Geddes. Of course, before deciding to do something, these decisions should be supported by documents. Examination and evaluation are needed for the formulation of goals and strategies. Testing these strategies would be the next move, followed by the conclusion whether these strategies were able to solve the problem. It is just like the typical problem solving method.

As I read chapter 10, I was able to understand the process of regional planning more. There were a lot of technical details said, but the author tried to explain everything in a way where everyone could understand. There were maps shown showing the plans and strategies. Honestly, I find some parts of it hard to understand. Some details were hard to remember and because of all the technical details said, I think that some details could be omitted. They all say the same thing anyway. But then, I admit I have learned a lot from this book. As I read it, I couldnt help but relate all the happenings with the condition here in the Philippines. The strategies done were also done here, and I believe that the Philippine Government is also doing its best to solve the regional problems in the country, just like what they did in United Kingdom. I think our government has good plans and has formulated good strategies but they are having problems in implementation probably because of poor leadership and corrupt government officials.

In Chapter 11, the UK regional planning was explained. UK Regional Planning with its institutional environment and reform was problematic. The problem existed during the gap between planning and implementation, because the power to manage the process of regional development laid in the hands of many departmental agencies either public or private. They had many perspectives in planning and in actions taken during implementation. There had been problems in coordination. In UK, Scotland, Wales, and Britain, all the authorities were really participating in the plans of having a good urban development as well as its environment. The different departments and agencies had their own tasks to improve their lives, industry and environment. I can say that they were not able to reach what they wanted at once. It was like a gradual process of development.

If chapter 10 was complex, then this chapter was more complex. It was more comprehensive. It stated more technical terms, which I would say, is not easy to understand, especially for someone who has just started studying regional planning. It deals with the institutional frameworks, bills, legislations, and other government documents. But because of this chapter, I understood the meaning of devolution and how it is done. Also, I understood the need for the regional planner to guide the whole process of regional development to see whether the plans are being implemented. The governments role in regional planning was shown in the given example. Maps showing the plans and the political boundaries made the chapter understandable.

Chapter 12 deals with the Regional Planning in Europe. It examines the practice of regional planning in France, Netherlands, and Eire, where France and Netherlands were densely populated and Eire was sparsely populated. In France, there were socio-economic disparities, physical, and environmental problems, which was a common problem for densely populated regions. In France, Paris was the central place. It is the political, intellectual, industrial, and business capital of France. Because of this, there had been disparities between Paris and the other parts of France. Also, in other areas in France, 50% of the total area of the country has less than 40% of the population. There was also a problem in unemployment. Industrial Location was also adopted to solve these problems. Financial aid was given to these areas in France. In Eire, since it is sparsely populated, the governments aim was to generate industrial development to attract people to go here. They gave incentives to industries that locate in these development areas and even gave tax exemption to industries with products for export only. There were gains in job creation in the problematic regions but losses in the East Region, mostly in the traditional manufacturing industries in the city. But the gains in the problematic areas help to deal with the regional imbalance and they are maintaining these through continuing policies. In their intra-regional planning, they developed their infrastructure to attract more people to the area. Even though the plans were implemented, problems in these areas were not completely gone.

The examples given in the last chapters of this book just prove that even urban and regional problems are always present for developed and underdeveloped areas. I finally understood that problems will never be gone that is why regional planning will always be a never ending process. I think all countries can relate to

what has happened to United Kingdom. And I understood why the author needed to relate all of these. It is for us to learn from what has happened to United Kingdom, adapt the strategies that worked there, and see if it will be effective.

In almost all of the plans said in this book, I noticed that most of them include the Industrial Location Policy. So probably, it was the most effective strategy to reduce the industrial imbalance in regions since it was the most widely used. Almost all of their strategies started with it and I understand why. Because of this, people in underdeveloped areas will be employed. The cost of transportation will also be lessened. And because industries attract people, like what happened to Eire, areas that are sparsely populated will have more people. This can also solve the overpopulation in densely populated areas.

I have learned a lot from this book, and maybe that is why they use it as one of the textbooks in London. It is very informative and is definitely a must-read book for aspiring urban planners.