Barrie Needham is a professor of urban planning at the University of Nijmegen.. He is also editor of the Series Planning, the Journal of Property Research and Planning Practice and Research and teaches several courses for students of Social Geography and Planning.

• Preface; Acknowledgments; Chapter 1 Setting the Scene; Chapter 2 How the Dutch Want Their Land to be Used; Chapter 3 The Planning Agencies, their Land-use Plans, and How They Use Them; Chapter 4 The Statutory Powers for Realising those Land-use Plans; Chapter 5 Realising the Land-use Ambitions in Practice; Chapter 6 Pro-Active Planning in Practice; Chapter 7 Obligations on Planning Agencies; Chapter 8 An Assessment of Dutch Spatial Planning;

’Rightly or wrongly, Dutch planning is the object of international acclaim. A Cambridge-educated economist, planner and long-term resident in The Netherlands, Barrie Needham combines a critical view with insider knowledge gained as the distinguished Dutch academic and adviser on matters of land policy and planning which he is. Importantly, his assessment addresses the fundamental changes which Dutch planning is undergoing.’ Andreas Faludi, Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands ’To the outsider Dutch land use, urban and environmental planning both amazes and confounds. In this incisive volume Barrie Needham - a scholar, participant, and long-time foreign resident - explains its why, how and what, both with empathy and a critical eye. An invaluable contribution in an era where the Dutch model offers many lessons for the practice of sustainability.’ Harvey M. Jacobs, University of Wisconsin, Madison, USA