This course provides an introduction to the origin and evolution of planning and its implementation through the growth and development of towns and cities. In so doing, it aims to give you an understanding of how planning originated and developed over time, and how it has influenced cities and regions.

The history of planning is one of grand ideas, idealism, institutionalism and activism. It also reflects wider social movements, utopian ideals, pragmatic reform, beneficial legacies and great mistakes. You will explore the origins and implications of the most significant ideas in the history of planning, some key developments in society, and be provided with a good understanding of the development of cities and urban settlement.