"Introduction to Rural Planning" provides an overview of rural (spatial) planning for students on planning, geography and related programmes. It charts the major patterns and processes of rural change affecting the British countryside, its landscape, its communities and its economies in the twentieth century. The authors examine the role of 'planning' in shaping rural spaces, not only the statutory 'comprehensive' planning that emerged in the post-war period, but also planning and rural programme delivery undertaken by central, regional and local policy agencies.The book is designed to accompany a typical teaching programme in rural planning and considers: the nature of rural areas and the emergence of statutory planning in England; the agents of rural policy delivery and the potential for current planning practice to become a 'policy hub' at the local level, co-ordinating the actions and programmes of different agents; economic change in the countryside and the influence planning has in shaping rural economies; social change, the nature of rural communities and recent debates on housing and rural service provision; environmental change, the changing fortunes of farming, landscape protection, and the idea of a multi-functional landscape made by forces that can be shaped by the planning process; key areas of current concern in spatial rural planning, including debates surrounding city-regions, the rural; and, the challenge of managing rural change in the twenty-first century through new planning and governance processes. "Introduction to Rural Planning" provides comprehensive coverage of the forces, processes and outcomes of rural change whilst keeping planning's influence and role in clear view at all times.

Nick Gallent is Professor of Housing and Planning and Head of the Bartlett School of Planning at University College London. He is a Cha rtered Town Planner and a Chartered Surveyor. His research focuses on UK planning policy as it pertains to housing delivery and as it affects rural communities. He has conducted research for a wide range of funding bodies and is the author or editor of several previous works on planning, housing and communities, the most recent being 'Community Action and Planning' (Policy Press, 2014, edited with Daniela Ciaffi)

Meri Juntti is a senior lecturer in the Department of Law and Politics at Middlesex University. Her research focuses on agricultural and environmental policy decision-making and implementation in the European Union. She has worked on both EU and domestically funded research projects focussing on a number of EU member states and has authored publications on the discursive construction of environmental policy, the role of the socio-material context in differentiating rural policy outcomes and the nature and role of ‘evidence’ in the policy process.

Sue Kidd is Head of Planning in the Department of Geography and Planning at the University of Liverpool. Her research interests focus around integrated planning and management. She has a particular interest in exploring ways in which environmental considerations may be more effectively with economic and social concerns in policy making. Sue is a chartered town planner.

Dave Shaw a Professor of Planning in the Department of Geography and Planning at the University of Liverpool. He is particularly interested in the way rural areas and rural places are being transformed and the role of planning in that process. He also participates in rural affairs and is currently the Chair of the Mersey Rural Leader programme, represents 'the rural' in the Liverpool City Region’s European Investment Fund Sub-group and is a Trustee of the Community Forest Trust.