This book takes a Lacanian, and related post-structuralist perspective to demythologize ten of the most heavily utilised terms in spatial planning: rationality, the good, certainty, risk, growth, globalization, multi-culturalism, sustainability, responsibility and 'planning' itself. It highlights that these terms, and others, are mere 'empty signifiers', meaning everything and nothing. Based on international examples of planning practice and process, Planning in Ten Words or Less suggests that spatial and urban planning is largely based on the construction and deployment of ideological knowledge claims.

This book develops an innovative system, in the form of an "app", that harnesses the power of the internet to predict which sorts of people will prefer which policy in ANY planning situation. It chronicles the accumulated research wisdom behind the system’s reasoning, along with several less successful approaches to policy making that have been found wanting in the past – including the myth, usually peddled by strategic planners, that it is possible to find a "best" plan which optimally satisfies everybody. The book lays out an entirely new kind of Planning Support System (PSS). It will facilitate decision-making that is far more community-sensitive than previously, and it will drastically improve the performance of anyone who needs to plan within socially-sensitive contexts – which is all of us. A standout feature of the system is its commitment to “scientific rigour”, as shown by its predicted plan scores always being graphically presented within error margins so that true statistical significance is instantly observable. Moreover, the probabilities that its predictions are correct are always shown – a refreshing change from most, if not all other Decision Support Systems (DSS) that simply expect users to accept their outputs on faith alone.

Politics and Conflict in Governance and Planning offers a critical evaluation of manifold ways in which the political dimension is reflected in contemporary planning and governance. While the theoretical debates on post-politics and the wider frame of post-foundational political theory provide substantive explanations for the crisis in planning and governance, still there is a need for a better understanding of how the political is manifested in the planning contents, shaped by institutional arrangements and played out in the planning processes. This book undertakes a reassessment of the changing role of the political in contemporary planning and governance. Employing a wide range of empirical research conducted in several regions of the world, it draws a more complex and heterogeneous picture of the context-specific depoliticisation and repoliticisation processes taking place in local and regional planning and governance. It shows not only the domination of market forces and the consequent suppression of the political but also how political conflicts and struggles are defined, tackled and transformed in view of the multifaceted rules and constraints recently imposed to local and regional planning. Switching the focus to how strategies and forms of depoliticised governance can be repoliticised through renewed planning mechanisms and socio-political mobilisation, Politics and Conflict in Governance and Planning is a critical and much needed contribution to the planning literature and its incorporation of the post-politics and post-democracy debate.

In the near future the appearance and spatial organization of urban and rural landscapes will be strongly influenced by the generation of renewable energy. One of the critical tasks will be the re-integration of these sustainable energy landscapes into the existing environment—which people value and want to preserve—in a socially fair, environmentally sound, and economically feasible manner. Accordingly, Sustainable Energy Landscapes: Designing, Planning, and Development focuses on the municipal and regional scale, where energy-conscious interventions are effective, and stakeholders can participate actively in the transition process. This book presents state-of-the-art knowledge in the exciting new field of sustainable energy landscapes. It bridges the gap between theory and fundamental research on the one hand, and practice and education on the other. The chapters—written by experts in their fields—present a selection of interdisciplinary, cutting-edge projects from across the world, illustrating the inspiring challenge of developing sustainable energy landscapes. They include unique case studies from Germany, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, Canada, Denmark, Austria, Italy, and the United States. The editors and team of contributing authors aim to inspire readers, providing a comprehensive overview of sustainable energy landscapes, including principles, concepts, theories, and examples. The book describes various methods, such as energy potential mapping and heat mapping, multicriteria decision analysis, energy landscape visualization, and employing exergy and carbon models. It addresses how to quantify the impact of energy transition both on landscape quality and energy economy, issues of growing importance. The text infuses readers with enthusiasm to promote further research and action toward the important goal of building energy landscapes for a sustainable future.

Urban planning on the five Lusophone African countries, has so far been relatively overlooked in planning literature. This book fills the gap by providing an in-depth analysis of key issues in the history of urban planning and discussing the key challenges confronting contemporary urban planning in these countries. A team of leading scholars confirm previous research in the colonial and postcolonial periods in Lusophone African countries and at the same time break fresh ground and offer additional insights.

This volume presents empirical studies and theoretical reflections on Evolutionary Governance Theory (EGT), its most important concepts and their interrelations. As a novel theory of governance, EGT understands governance as radically evolutionary, which implies that all elements of governance are subject to evolution, that these elements co-evolve and that many of them are the product of governance itself. Through this book we learn how communities understand themselves and their environment and why they create the complex structures and processes we analyze as governance paths. Authors from different disciplines develop the EGT framework further and apply it to a wide rage networks of power, governance of agricultural resources etc. The contributors also reflect on the possibilities and limitations of steering, intervention, management and development in a world continuously in flux. It bridges the gap between more fundamental and philosophical accounts of the social sciences and applied studies, offering theoretical advancements as well as practical recommendations.

Contemporary cities face phenomenal risks, and they face particularly high levels of mounting social and environmental risks, including social polarization, urban conflicts, riots, terror, and climate change threats. This book suggests that climate change and its resulting uncertainties challenge the concepts, procedures, and scope of conventional approaches to planning, creating a need to rethink and revise current planning methods. Therefore, this book suggests a paradigm shift in our thinking, interrogation, and planning of our cities. Based on the contemporary conditions of risk at cities, this book conceptualizes the risk city as a construct of three interlinked concepts of risk, trust, and practice. It is a construct of risk and its new evolving conditions and knowledge of uncertainties stem from climate change and other risks and uncertainties. As a construct of practices, the risk city produces social and political institutional framework and promotes practices accordingly in order to reduce risk and risk possibilities and to increase trust. In light of the complex challenges and risks to the human habitat that have emerged in recent years, many cities have prepared various types of plans aimed at addressing the challenges posed by climate change. Nonetheless, despite the importance of these plans and the major public resources invested in their formulation, we still know little about them and have yet to begin studying them and assessing their contributions . From the innovative perspective of the risk city, this book asks critical questions about the nature, vision, practices, and potential impact of the recent climate change-oriented plans. What kinds of risks do they attempt to address, what types of practices do they institute, and what types of approaches do they apply? Do they adequately address the risks and uncertainties posed? How do they contribute to the worldwide effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions? This book uses the methodologically innovative Risk City framework to examine the nature, vision, outcomes, practices, and impact of these crucial plans, as well as their contribution to the resilience of our cities and to global efforts toward reducing greenhouse gas emissions.