Visioning for transport practitioners

With increasing transport sector interest in vision-led rather than forecast-led planning, there is a growing need to think about what a good vision looks like, how a vision can be created, who should be involved in creating a vision, and, ultimately, what value a vision subsequently has. In the field of foresight and scenario planning, futures can be categorised as one of three types: probable, possible, and preferred. Preferred futures, or visions, characterise what we choose to work towards. They involve clarity around values, with the evident implication that values can be contested. The paper draws upon existing literature alongside the experience of the authors to examine considerations in the development of visions – as part of the vision-led approach to transport planning. It is framed by a set of ten guiding questions that, when taken in sequence, help to chart a course through the process of developing a vision (so-called ‘visioning’). The interdependent nature of the questions within the set is also highlighted.