Peter Self
Peter John Otter Self (7 June 1919 – 29 March 1999) was an English journalist, academic,
Peter Self | |
|---|---|
| Born | 7 June 1919 Brighton, England |
| Died | 29 March 1999 (aged 79) Canberra, Australia |
| Occupations | Professor of Public Administration; Journalist |
| Spouses | Diana Mary Blizard Pitt
(m. 1950; div. 1957)Elaine Adams
(m. 1959; div. 1981) |
| Children | Will Self; Jonathan Self |
| Academic background | |
| Education | Lancing College |
| Alma mater | Balliol College, Oxford, BA |
| Academic work | |
| Discipline | Town planning |
Notable works | Planning the Urban Region (1982) |
planning policy-maker and university teacher of planning.[1]
Early life
[edit]Self was born in Brighton, to Audrey (Otter) and Henry Self, a civil servant. Self was educated at Lancing College and Balliol College, Oxford, where he read Philosophy, Politics and Economics. In the Second World War, he was a conscientious objector, working on a farm. In his academic career, he became Professor of Public Administration at the London School of Economics, where he was a prominent member and leader of its Greater London Group research centre.[2] He was also a prominent member of the Town and Country Planning Association.[1] He then became Professor of Urban Research at the Australian National University.
Personal life
[edit]He was the father of Jonathan Self and Will Self.
Death
[edit]He died in Canberra on 29 March 1999.[3]

Bibliography
[edit]- Regionalism, 1949
- Whither Local Government?, 1950
- Cities in Flood: The Problems of Urban Growth, 1960
- The State and the Farmer, 1962 ISBN 0043380328
- Metropolitan Planning: Planning System of Greater London, 1971 ISBN 0817300902
- Planning the Urban Region: A Comparative Study of Policies and Organizations, 1982 ISBN 0043520995
- New Towns: The British Experience, 1972
- Administrative Theories and Politics: An Enquiry into the Structure and Processes of Modern Government, 1972 ISBN 0043510434
- Econocrats and the Policy Process: Politics and Philosophy of Cost-benefit Analysis, 1976 ISBN 0333180968
- Administrative Theories and Politics: An Enquiry into the Structure and Processes of Modern Government, 1977 ISBN 0043510531
- Political Theories of Modern Government - Its role and reform, Unwin Hyman, London, 1985 ISBN 0-04-320174-1
- Government by the Market? The Politics of Public Choice, 1993 ISBN 0333569725
- Rolling Back the Market, 1999 ISBN 0312226519
References
[edit]- 1 2 "Obituary: Professor Peter Self". Independent.co.uk. 14 April 1999. Archived from the original on 2022-05-26.
- ↑ Jones, George (2008). "The Greater London Group after 50 years". In Kochan, Ben (ed.). London government 50 years of debate: The contribution of LSE's Greater London Group. London School of Economics. pp. 15–22.
- ↑ "Obituary - Peter John Otter Self - Obituaries Australia". oa.anu.edu.au. Retrieved 2026-05-17.
Further reading
[edit]- SELF, Prof. Peter John Otter’, Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2014; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2014; online edn, April 2014 accessed 3 Sept 2014
- Freestone, Robert; Pullan, Nicola (2025). "Peter John Otter Self (1919–1999)". Australian Dictionary of Biography.
External links
[edit]- 1919 births
- 1999 deaths
- Academic staff of the Australian National University
- Academics of the London School of Economics
- People educated at Lancing College
- Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford
- English conscientious objectors
- English male non-fiction writers
- Self family
- 20th-century English male journalists
- 20th-century English journalists
- Political scientist stubs