Craig Watkins & David Adams 
Greenfields, Brownfields and Housing Development 

The location of new housing development has become one of the most
intractable controversies of modern times. This book provides a
powerful critique of the growing tendency to reduce the debate on
the development of new housing to a mere choice between greenfield
and brownfield locations. It calls for full account to be taken of
such factors as the structure and organisation of the housebuilding
industry, supply and demand pressures in the housing market, the
contested nature of sustainability and the political character of
the planning process if a truly effective housing land policy is to
be devised.

Drawing on theories from economics and political science, this
book will provide an important reference point on the institutional
context within which residential development takes place and on the
concerns of planning authorities, environmentalists, housebuilders,
and their customers in relation to the apparent choice between
greenfield and brownfield development.

Table of Content

Part 1: THE POLICY CONTEXT – Introduction; The changing
context of housing development; The sustainability of new housing
development; The residential planning process;.

Part 2: MARKET, ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL CONTEXT – The
speculative housebuilding industry; The politics of planning and
housing development;.

PART 3 POLICY EVALUATION – Greenfield housing
development; Brownfield housing development; The economics of
planning and housing development; Conclusions and policy
implications; Bibliography; Index

About the author

David Adams is Ian Mactaggart Professor of Property and Urban Studies, University of Glasgow.

Craig Watkins, Reader, Department of Town and Regional Planning, University of Sheffield.