You'd think "strategic planning" would be obvious. It has long been a common practice in the corporate world. It has, however, only recently been applied to the public sector. Local governments find such planning increasingly useful as they strive to overcome the constraints imposed by traditional, short-term government planning practices. These 24 articles examine sound (proven) public sector strategic planning theories. They demonstrate the different kinds of planning used in 16 successful governments, and provide assessments of the future of this important tool.