What do planners do? "Address issues of power, politics, and persuasion in their efforts...to pursue the public good," writes the author in the first chapter of this powerful work.

Hoch first interviewed 29 practicing planners. Then he observed each one of them at work, interacting with staff, citizens, or public officials. In What Planners Do, he tells their stories. He exposes the tension between the authority of the professional planner and the politics of the public good by taking you inside the "real world" of planning practice.