Foreward

It is a pleasure and an honour to have been asked to write a foreword to this magisterial work. It is a pleasure because I have known Professor Stein for many years and have always found him a source of great erudition and enthusiasm for the subject, which holds such fascination for both of us. It is an honour because this is clearly destined to become one of the great books on planning law. It combines in equal measure a clear and comprehensive analysis of the planning law of Australia, a critical comment on the law and its underlying ideology, and a deep contextual understanding and discussion of what the corpus of the law is trying to do: provide a legal framework for and the legal tools to manage the city-the social and economic driving force in virtually all countries and societies now. It is also informed by a rich understanding of the realities of urban life, the product of Professor's Stein own movement between and participation in the urban cultures of Australia and North America, together with his comparative knowledge of many other cities and countries.

Australia is a highly urban society and in many respects has been a pioneer in developing a body of environmental and planning law, with appropriate institutions to match, to provide for the sustainable governance of its cities. Hitherto, there has been no single work that has brought together the significant body of law that has been developed in a comprehensive, coherent and scholarly manner in the way that Professor Stein has now done in this book. The book will not only be of inestimable benefit to practicing planners and lawyers, planning and law students, and others working and studying in the area of urban management, but also, I believe, will prove to be one of those books that will be of great benefit to society at large.

By laying out in a clear and holistic way not merely the rules but also the underlying reason for and purpose of the rules, Professor Stein has advanced the discipline of planning and planning law, which will in turn facilitate both a greater understanding of it and its better application in practice. There will always be those who decry the need for planning or advance the case for relying solely on the ‘market' to provide for the management of urban development. Their case will be much harder to make now that this work is available, for it shows how the law can and should be used (and occasionally not used) for the betterment of urban life for all.

Professor Stein is to be congratulated on this work. It will bring a knowledge of Australia's planning law to a wider audience not just in Australia but in the world at large, something which is long overdue. It is a triumph of scholarship and commitment to the subject. It deserves-and I have no doubt it will obtain-a wide and appreciative readership.