Planning as Profession in Uncertain Times

Changing times, changing planners?

The early part of the new millennium has been marked by attempts to reform planning systems and practices in many parts of the world (e.g. Campbell, 2003). One significant

dimension of such efforts has been the suggestion that to transform planning it is necessary to transform the planner (Inch, 2010). In this context the planner emerges

both as a key to successful reform, embodying the promise of a new planning, but also as a problem, herself needing to be reformed to enable new ideas and ways of working

to emerge. This Special Issue of Town Planning Review brings together recent research on planners’ experiences and identities from within this context of reform, thereby

addressing questions about the changing nature of professionalism in planning, and its constitutive practices and relationships. The issue also places writing on planners

within a wider context of attempts to transform the state.