This course seeks to provide an overview of the legal system and environmental planning law with particular reference to the Australian experience. The course targets three main foci: planning law, planning administration and land/real property. Planning law considers historical, theoretical and administrative issues in law and jurisprudence, focusing on the NSW Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 and recent attempts by the Government to overhaul the Planning System. The administrative context within which planning operates as a function of government is addressed, principally looking at the role and function of statutory bodies in the planning and environment area. The property dimension covers fundamental issues of property rights, definitions of value, methods of valuation, and compensation and betterment.