This book is for all who are interested in how our urban surroundings have become what they are and how they are liable to change. No other introduction to the subject reveals, step by step, this complex field in easily understood language. It explores all functions making up an urban area: Economic Activities (industry, commerce); Domestic Activities (housing); Public Activities (open space, institutions); and Flow Systems (transportation, infrastructure). Special attention is also paid to the Metropolitan centre. The appendices open the reader to a values approach to planning, afford a basis for examining their own community; introduce two classics in Canadian planning literature, (along with review and précis writing); provide three contrasting views of a recent Canadian book on planning (to encourage independent, critical thinking); a case study of inadequate planning contrasted with a more enlightened approach. Innovative grass roots planning is explored; and lastly, a critical look at poor thinking about an important subject: "a non-sexist sustainable city."