Effective planning requires two elements for its fulfilment: (A) machinery for integrated planning; (B) a policy framework to shape the direction. On the first score - machinery - "Shaping Melbourne's Future", which was launched in August 1987 by Hon. Jim Kennan, Minister for Planning and Environment, holds some promise. On the second score - policy direction - from an environmental and social viewpoint, the document does nothing to correct the undesirable features on the base on which it was built, and, to some extent, compounds the undesirable features, particularly in relation to conservation of energy resources and a reasonably humanised suburban life.