Recently, I was traveling with an old college friend who owns an architecture firm in London. After finishing a long and frustrating call with a local planning officer regarding a new housing project, he vented that the UK planning process has led to a general lack of respect for the architectural profession. When I mentioned that New York has no formal design review process at all for new buildings, he was blown away. It made me wonder: How did we come to have completely different systems for our city planning, and is one better than the other?

In the UK, the 1947 Town and Planning Act nationalised the right to develop land. Planning authorities oversee local development plans which serve as guidelines and inform decision-making in relation to scale and visual impact. Applications are reviewed by the Planning Officer and approved by a Planning Committee.

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