Book Cover -- Half-Title -- Title -- Copyright -- Contents -- Preface -- CHAPTER 1 Controlling development -- The purposes of development control -- Regulatory and discretionary control -- Public action and private interest -- Certainty, flexibility and accountability -- CHAPTER 2 Britain -- The origins of the British development control system -- Aesthetic and social control under the Stuart monarchy -- The London Building Acts and leasehold control -- Public health legislation -- The early planning legislation -- The 1932 Act and interim development control -- The pressure for universal control of of development -- The 1947 Town and Country Planning Act -- The principles of universal control -- The maturing of the control system -- The system under scrutiny: Dobry and the Expenditure Committee -- Development control and local government reform -- Reform under the Conservative government -- Legislative and policy change -- The change of heart: the Planning and Compensation Act -- British development control in a wider context: the development industry, central-local relations and administrative law ... -- Development control and the development industry -- Local discretion and central control -- Planning legislation, administrative law and discretionary power -- CHAPTER 3 France -- The origins of the French development control system -- Royal intervention and regulatory control -- The Haussmann era -- Suburban development and the creation of the lotissements -- The first planning legislation -- The Loi Cornudet -- The administrative context for the control of development -- Planning control in the Fourth Republic -- Reform: refining the control system -- Decentralization of planning powers -- The syndicat de communes -- The desire for local control and the Loi Defferre -- The problem of uncertainty.

CHAPTER 4 Zoning control in Europe, the USA and Hong Kong -- Development control in Europe -- State, law and policy in Europe -- Germany -- The Netherlands -- The USA and zoning ordinances -- The origins and purpose of US zoning control -- Zoning or planning: the US dilemma -- Making changes: The possibilities for modifying zoning ordinances -- Hong Kong: government as landlord -- The origins of land-use control in Hong Kong -- The Hong Kong system in perspective -- Conclusion -- CHAPTER 5 The question of certainty -- Developers and certainty -- Certainty of outcome -- Certainty and delay -- Certainty and the decision-makers -- France: upholding the law -- Britain: the limits to flexibility -- Landowners and certainty -- Planning control and land values -- Protecting intangible values -- The rights of third parties -- France: third-party rights and practice -- Britain: the right to object -- Conclusion: the need for certainty and the availability of certainty -- CHAPTER 6 Flexibility, discretion and accountability -- Discretionary power -- Defining discretion -- Discretion and local government -- Discretion and administrative law -- Britain: discretion accorded by law -- Limitations to discretionary power -- Planning agreements and obligations -- Problems with discretionary planning -- Discretionary power in practice -- France: the control of discretion -- Types of agency discretion -- Officer discretion: applying and departing from rules -- Flexibility in us and Hong Kong zoning plans -- Variances -- Zoning techniques -- Hong Kong -- Discretion: some conclusions -- CHAPTER 7 Accountability -- Forms of accountability -- Accountability in regulatory systems -- Accountability in Britain -- Hong Kong -- Ensuring accountability: some conclusions -- CHAPTER 8 Conclusion -- Glossary -- References -- Index.