In this issue of the Policy Review Section, Ian Scargill of the Department of Geography, University of Oxford, examines the manner in which French public administration is currently responding to the issue of local government fragmentation and has sought to address problems identified in the year long, 1993-94 debate on territorial planning. The article takes as its starting point the incompleteness of the French decentralization reforms of 1982-93 and looks at the current search for a new unit, the Pays, suitable for collaborative local planning. In the second article, Martin Jones of the School of Geography, University of Manchester, presents a critical appraisal of the Association of British Chambers of Commerce proposals for new style Chambers of Commerce and Industry designed to engage business in an effective partnership with government. In the third article, Colin Jones of the Department of Land Economics, University of Paisley, presents an assessment of the recently established regeneration agency English Partnerships. Finally, Ian Hodge, Jessica Dunn and Sarah Monk of the Department of Land Economy, University of Cambridge, examine the statistical basis for the Rural Development Commission's recent 1993 review of its Rural Development Areas.
