The Rise of the Private Sector in Fragmentary Planning in England

Abstract

English planning system reforms can be understood as part of a broader reorganisation of public services involving private sector providers supplying new markets and taking on functions previously delivered by public servants. While planning activity has long featured a number of different actors, there has been limited discussion of the role that private sector actors play in an increasingly fragmented, and task-oriented system which requires knowledge and skills-sets which local planning authorities (LPAs) typically do not possess. Thus the paper discusses how a ‘fragmentary planning’ has emerged in England, and the implications for governance and research in this area.