Updated in a new 9th edition, Contemporary Urban Planning provides readers with in-depth coverage of the historic, economic, political, legal, and environmental factors affecting urban planning.

Reflecting the author's many years' experience as a working planner, this text focuses on public planning at the substrate level -- that which is done by and for cities, counties, towns, and other units of local governments -- and examines much more briefly planning for metropolitan regions, the states, and the question of national planning. Throughout, it emphasizes politics, economics, ideology, law, and the question of who benefits and who loses by particular decisions.

With updated coverage of the Obama administration’s response to the 2009 economic downturn, Levy also addresses the most pressing issues in urban development today - including the subprime mortgage crisis and home foreclosures, federal funding for public transportation, and new standards for “green” buildings.