The first volume in this three volume series, Foundations of the Planning Enterprise, includes articles and papers which offer a unique general introduction to planning theory. The authors review the subject's development, its recurrent themes, its contemporary preoccupation as rational scientific management and its relations to other fields.

Contents: Introduction; Part I The 'Project' of Planning Theory: Introduction; 2 centuries of planning theory: an overview, John Friedmann; What is planning theory?, Andreas Faludi; If planning is everything maybe it's nothing, Aaron Wildavsky; Dilemmas in a general theory of planning, Horst Rittel and Melvin M. Webber; Comparison of current planning theories: counterparts and contradictions, Barclay M. Hudson, with comments by Thomas D. Galloway and Jerome L. Kaufman; Theoretical debates in planning: towards a coherent dialogue, Patsy Healey, Glenn McDougall and Michael J. Thomas; Towards a new typology of urban planning theories, O. Yiftachel; Without a net: modernist planning and the postmodern abyss, Robert A. Beauregard; New directions in planning theory, Susan S. Fainstein. Part II Inspirational Precursors: Introduction; The town-country magnet, Ebenezer Howard; Civics: as concrete and applied sociology, part II, P. Geddes; The myth of megalopolis, Lewis Mumford; TVA and democratic planning, Philip Selznick; Planning and democracy F.A. Hayek ; The concept of social control: planning as the rational mastery of the irrational, Karl Mannheim. Part III Planning as Rational Scientific Management: Introduction; A choice theory of planning, Paul Davidoff and Thomas A. Reiner; The science of 'muddling through', Charles E. Lindblom; The guidance and control of change: physical planning as the control of complex systems, J.Brian McLoughlin; The rationale of planning theory, Andreas Faludi; Advocacy and pluralism in planning, Paul Davidoff ; Social planning, social planners and planned societies, John W. Dyckman; A ladder of citizen participation, Sherry R. Arnstein; Examining the policy-action relationship, Susan Barrett and Colin Fudge; Foundations, John Friend and Allen Hickling; Re-examining the international diffusion of planning, Stephen V. Ward; Name index.