'Anyone who is seriously interested in the subject of London's governance -- and that should include any serious Londoner -- ought to look inside Duncan Bowie's book and try to distil its lessons' - Professor Sir Peter Hall, Bartlett Professor of Planning and Regeneration, UCL 'It is essential reading for students of government and planning, not only in London and more widely in the United Kingdom but in other great cities across the world' - Professor Sir Peter Hall, Bartlett Professor of Planning and Regeneration, UCL 'This text is special in that it links the principles of land use planning with the author's practical experience of making spatial planning and housing strategies work in Livingstone's London. As a result the reader is not only helped to understand planning theory but also to gain insight into the ways in which a law based discipline can effectively (and sometimes ineffectively) interface with political reality' - Professor Christine Whitehead, Professor of Housing Economics, London School of Economics