It is widely appreciated that policies, however carefully formulated, too often fall down at the implementation stage. This collection, originally published in 1981 and which includes a number of case studies illustrating the roles and workings of the agencies involved, focuses on implementation in public policy. Part 1 reviews the literature on implementation and provides a theoretical context for examining the ten case studies in Part 2, which cover such policy areas as public expenditure, employment, housing, social services, health, planning and land. The editors also examine the main issues raised by the case studies and suggest a way of reconstructing an understanding of the implementation of public policy.

Colin Fudge is an Architect and Town Planner, Professor of Urban Futures and Design, RMIT University and Visiting Professor at numerous universities around the world. At the same time he has maintained his academic and public policy work in relation to sustainable urban futures through research, postgraduate innovations, partnership working, advisory roles and actions on the ground. He was Vice President of RMIT University, Melbourne, and set up a new university, RMIT Europe from scratch in Barcelona in 2012. This major innovation for RMIT University has involved major partnership and collaborative engagement across Europe with governments, universities, industries, cities, and not for profit organisations and substantial linkages between Europe and Australasia. As well as working in universities he has worked in government in the UK (Central Government and cities: Camden, London, Bath) and Sweden, (SIPU and SIDA, The development of the civil service in Zimbabwe) the European Commission, and for the State Government in Victoria, Australia.

Professor FudgeHe chaired the EU Urban Environment Expert Group (1993 – 2005), was the main author of the European Commission book, ‘European sustainable cities’ (1996), wrote the EU Fifth Framework for Research, chaired the EU Urban Research panel and has been awarded 12 EU research grants. He was appointed as the Urban Environment Special Advisor to the European Commission President, Jacques Delors in 1994. He worked as a Special Adviser to the EU Climate KIC in 2016/17. Professor Fudge has contributed through interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research on public policy formulation and implementation; cities; sustainable development, adaptation, and transition to climate change; public health; demographic change; and urban design. He has won over 45 research grants and has examined 36 PhDs. He has led European and Australian university and city transformations to sustainable, low carbon futures. This has been recognised through the awarding of the King Carl Gustav XVI Royal Professorship of Environmental Science by the Swedish Academy of Sciences in 2002 and the award of an Honorary Fellowship of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). He has been awarded Honorary Doctorates for his work on public policy and sustainable cities.

He has written eleven books, more than 160 articles and reports, numerous book chapters and presented more than 150 conference papers. In 2020 he edited a Special Issue of Cities&Health Journal on Transforming cities and health; with Holger Wallbaum he wrote the keynote paper for the World Sustainable Built Environments Conference, and has followed that with research, International workshops and foresight publications on transformation to meet the UN SDGs; and will publish a book in 2026 “Architecture+Nature+Climate+Cities : regenerative thinking, transforming policy and practice.”

He has led major building, urban design and city transformation projects in London, Melbourne, Saigon, Singapore, Hong Kong, Bath, Bristol, and Stockholm. He was the Southwest of England Commissioner for CABE and set up the SW England Design Review Panel. He has also led estates strategies and their implementation for universities in Bristol, Melbourne, Saigon and Hanoi, Hong Kong, Barcelona, and Singapore.