Visioning and planning the city in an urban age:

Abstract

Visions are useful and valuable for their ability to contribute to democratic debate about appropriate directions forward; visions may have been much more directorial in past times than is called for today, but they do allow us to make sense of where we are and where we would like to be, even if the route to that destination is uncertain. As both city governments and urban planning powers have diminished, at least in the global north, and branded as unfashionable for the twenty first century, questions remain about the usefulness of city visioning for planning, in a context where a multitude of organisations, sometimes in harmony but often fragmented, shape and reshape the city. This chapter examines the changing shape of cities, their complexity and transformational changes. It sets out the case for the development of city visions and for urban planning to be seen and utilised as a stock of knowledge and methods that can assist cities in assessing and managing both present day challenges, and carve out paths for the future.