FAILURE OF PLANNING

By 1970 uncontrolled growth plagued San Diego County suburbs and threatened to destroy the paradise of postwar San Diego which had attracted a flood of immigrants since 1945. Fortunately Mayor Pete Wilson fresh from a Rockefeller Brothers land-use policy forum and armed with the latest progressive planning vision sponsored a big picture planning solution which has since been institutionalized as smart growth. Despite the triumph of progressive planning however and the multimillion-dollar-planning effort that continues to characterize suburban development suburban sprawl continues. Freeway gridlock continues. Already exorbitant housing costs keep rising. In short progressive planning has failed. This book explains how and why this has happened not only in San Diego but more generally and considers conservative liberal and radical paths toward a more successful future.<b>Richard Hogan</b> is associate professor of sociology and American studies at Purdue University.