This collective volume investigates the multi-scalar and international manifestations of planning models, projects and policies from the 1930s onwards. The publication aims to delineate the notion of welfare planning and situate its historical emergence in its application to social, environmental and spatial policies. Taking a global perspective – including study cases from France, Netherlands, Denmark, Sri Lanka, the USSR and the USA – the book interrogates how physical design played an essential role in social and economic modernization by way of state–market balance, from liberal to socialist systems. The articles examine how planning policies addressed well-being and living standards as devices to shape a welfare society. The authors gather planning, social and urban historians from France, Denmark and Netherlands to offer new insights into transnational research in architectural and urban welfare studies. Open Access ChaptersThe Introduction, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, and Chapter 8 are available as Open Access. Download here