Planning Imperative and Human Behavior

Defining planning as an inherent aspect of human life, Branch presents conclusions reached from 20 previous volumes dealing with different aspects and applications of planning, as well as from actual professional planning experiences. He shows how planning has been a directive force during human evolution and an intrinsic element in human reactions, actions, and activities.

Focusing on the existing situation in the United States, he examines the major difficulties confronting the country with respect to planning: problems of communication, poor legislative performance, educational deficiencies, and cultural materialism. Branch presents the fullest explanation available in the literature today of planning and its place in society, and he concludes with an examination of the potentialities and limitations of existing planning in America and its relation to human behavior.

MELVILLE C. BRANCH is Distinguished Professor of Planning Emeritus at the University of Southern California. He was introduced to planning as a staff member of the U.S. National Resources Planning Board in the executive offices of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. A pioneer in the field, he was instrumental in establishing the Bureau of Urban Research at Princeton University, the Graduate Program of Education and Research in Planning at the University of Chicago, and the School of Urban and Regional Planning at the University of Southern California. Professor Branch has published 20 earlier books on planning, including Simulation, Planning and Society (1997), Telepower, Planning, and Society: Crisis in Communication (1994), Planning and Human Survival (1992), Planning: Universal Process (1990), and Regional Planning: Introduction and Explanation (1988), all published by Praeger.