This report, prepared by Dr John Abbott for the Australian Centre of Excellence for Local Government (ACELG) in collaboration with the Council of Mayors SEQ and the Queensland Department of Local Government and Planning (Growth Management Queensland), provides a brief history of metropolitan planning in SEQ from 1996 to 2010, focusing on the factors behind the move from a voluntary to a statutory planning model and drawing out the lessons for other states and multi-level planning regions from the analysis.