Book review of Local Economic Development: A Guide to Practice

John Mullin, University of Massachusetts - Amherst

Article comments

This is an electronic version of an article published in the Journal of the American Planning Association 1986 Copyright The American Planning Association reprinted by permission of (Taylor & Francis Ltd, http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals on behalf of the National Communication Association.; Journal of the American Planning Association is available online at http://www.informaworld.com

Abstract

In community after community the local planner is becoming increasingly involved in the economic problems facing our cities and towns, with at least partial responsibility for guiding the retention, enhancement, and expansion of the community's economic base. At times he or she takes the lead, serves on economic development committees, or merely provides the data for other organizations. In most cases, however, the planner is being asked for answers to questions that he or she is ill prepared to answer. How many planning directors or senior staff planners are formally trained in, for example, proforma analysis, marketing evaluation, job retraining, real estate feasibility, and project leveraging? The answer is very few. Indeed, both university-based planning programs and the American Planning Association-sponsored short courses are regularly filled wityh planners attempting to develop these new skills. The materials used in these courses are usually borrowed from real estate sources or case examples. For too long there has been no basic introductory, comprehensive text that is designed to educate and train planning practitioners, board members, and students involved in local economic development. Emil E. Malizia's book Local Economic Development: A Guide to Practice makes a solid contribution to that end.