随着全球性生态环境问题的加剧，协调发展与自然环境的关系，寻求社会经济持续发展，已成为当今科学界所关注的一个重要课题。生态规划是实现持续发展的一个重要途径。通过生态规划来协调人与自然及资源利用的关系，可追溯到上世纪末的生态学思想家及区域规划的先驱者的著作及规划实践，并在二次世界大战前得到很大的发展。６０年代以来，随着环境问题的加剧，生态规划重新受到人们的重视，尤其ＭｃＨａｎｇ及其同事的杰出工作，使生态规划思想与方法得到广泛的应用。近年来，生态规划的发展在理论上更多地吸取现代生态学的新成果。在方法上广泛运用计算机技术与地理信息系统，从定性向定量分析与模拟方向发展。在实践上，生态规划从单一对象与目标的规划向城市、区域持续发展规划发展。可以预见，生态规划将成为持续发展研究与实践的重要工具和途径。

To coordinate the relation between man and the nature and resource exploitation through ecological planning can be traced back to the works and practices of the ecological thinkers and regional planning pioneers at the end of the 19th century, such as George Marsh, Patrick Geodes and John Powell. Ecological planning theory and practice developed very quickly during the period before World War Two but disappeared in the literature for nearly 20 years until the environmental movement in the 1960's. With the occurrence of more and more serious environmental problems and resource degradation ecological planning began its new development era since the late 1960's. Particularly I. L. McHarg's and his colleagues' outstanding work and planning practice made the ecological planning thinking and methods gain widespread application. Recent trends of ecological planning research and practice develop towards applying the modern ecological knowledge and achievements directly and establishing the theory and methodology based on ecology, development economics and other related disciplines. They shift from quality analysis to quantity simulation with powerful computer and geographic information system,and from the single goal planning to urban and regional planning in order to promote sustainable development. It is obvious that ecological planning will become one of the important aspects in sustainable development.