They include statements about techniques, principles, theories, and practice by those who helped to create a new professional specialization. This new field of city planning grew out of the land-based professions of architecture, engineering, surveying, and landscape architecture, as well as economists, social workers, lawyers, public health specialists, and municipal administrators.
Some essays describe or illustrate an ideal physical pattern for cities.
Several survey broadly the state of planning at the time of writing. A number use a single city as an example of how improvements should be made. Others discuss legal issues of land use regulations. These are but a few of the many general topics that readers can explore. A topical bibliography provides more than a dozen headings, and alphabetical and chronological bibliographies guide you to authors and time periods.