Introduction to Rural Planning: Economies, Communities and Landscapes provides a critical analysis of the key challenges facing rural places and the ways that public policy and community action shape rural spaces.The second edition provides an examination of the composite nature of ‘rural planning’, which combines land-use and spatial planning elements with community action, countryside management and the projects and programmes of national and supra-national agencies and ...

This book examines the flow of investment into rural land assets in Europe, particularly farmland, woodland and wineries, but extending also to leisure uses such as golf courses and theme parks. It explores the characteristics of investors in rural land and their motivations before undertaking an analysis of the place impacts of investment, viewing ‘new money’ as a potential development opportunity, delivering a variety of outcomes for local landscapes and communities. After providing intr...

Under the banner of corporate social responsibility (CSR), corporations have become increasingly important players in international development. These days, CSR's union of economics and ethics is virtually unquestioned as an antidote to harsh neoliberal reforms and the delinquency of the state, but nothing is straightforward about this apparently win-win formula. Chronicling transnational mining corporation Anglo American's pursuit of CSR, In Good Company explores what lies behind...

A collection of stimulating essays exploring the wide-ranging debates surrounding the relationship between business and society in 21st century Ireland.Wide-ranging, diverse and thought-provoking contributions from leading business researchers, economists, sociologists and political scientists from Ireland and abroad probe five central themes: the making and unmaking of the Celtic Tiger; governance, regulation and justice; partnership and participation; the nature of Irish borders ...

"Michael Woods has taken on the formidable task of giving an overview of rural places and society in advanced economies as a single author and has presented a book that rightly deserves to be called state-of-the-art."- Geographische Rundschau"With Rural Geography Michael Woods remedies the often underestimated dynamism of rural places and rural society by providing the much-needed synthesis of the European and North American literature on r...

Austerity has left local government struggling to meet the demands for local services. In this context, this book asks ‘what are the fundamental principles that should guide decision-making by local councillors and officers?’ It seeks to move the agenda from ‘what works?’ to ‘what should local government do?’ and ‘how will its policies impact on social justice and local democracy?'.Reclaiming local democracy examines the politics of human need and argues that local government shoul...

Regional Planning provides a comprehensive introduction to the concepts and theory of regional planning in the UK. Drawing on examples from throughout the UK, it provides students and practitioners with a descriptive and analytical foundation for understanding this rapidly changing area of planning.The book includes four main sections covering:the context and history of regional planningtheoretical approachesevolving practicefutu...

Today, for the first time in the history of Humankind urban dwellers outnumber rural residents. Urban places, towns and cities, are of fundamental importance – for the distribution of population within countries; in the organization of economic production, distribution and exchange; in the structuring of social reproduction and cultural life; and in the allocation and exercise of power. Furthermore, in the course of the present century the number of urban dwellers and level of global urban...

Sustainable Development is now firmly on the planning agenda and is an issue neither practitioner nor academic can afford to ignore. Planning for a Sustainable Future provides a multi-disciplinary overview of sustainability issues in the land use context, focusing on principles and their application, the legal, political and policy context and the implication of sustainable development thinking for housing, urban design and property development as well as waste and transport. The ...

The world as we know it needs a new economics. Climate change, financial crisis and out-of-control globalization - all the major problems facing the world have their root in the dominant economic system. The globalised marketplace is the prevailing force in our lives, undermining the real importance of our human communities and our planet. Green Economics argues that society should be embedded within the ecosystem, and that markets and economies are social structures that should respond to...

The roots of the recent financial crisis can be found in the substantial changes which have affected British economy and society over the last three decades. In economic terms, the UK has transformed from a predominantly industrial to one led by services and creative industries, whilst society has also became less industrial with new class 'networks' emerging. Post-war Social Democracy in its original form - as advocated by Tony Crosland - relied heavily on an industrial economy and societ...

Politics and the Environment has established itself as one of the most comprehensive textbooks in this area. This new edition has been completely revised and updated whilst retaining the features and the theory-to-practice focus which made the first two editions so successful.This text is designed to introduce students to the key concepts and issues which surround environmental problems and their political solutions. The authors investigate the people, movements and organi...