County planning is an activity scattered throughout county government. Every county department, agency, or official does some county planning either when looking beyond the activity of today to the need of tomorrow or when seeking to relate an action to the many simultaneous county activities and county plans being made.
If such daily planning could ensure effective progress toward a sound county, “county planning” in the formal sense would have no place. Experience has shown, however, that unifying objectives and central coordination are both needed to give direction and harmony to the daily multitude of county activities. Though certainly no substitute for departmental foresight, central county planning is an indispensable aid to it.
With this definition in mind, the Regional Plan Association can report significant advances in county planning, but must also report an awareness of serious shortcomings as a major finding of its present county planning roundup.
