Lecture 1: Course introduction + Positioning spatial planning: a definition and first exploration
of the discipline (part 1) / Chapter 1 - Spatial planning
Definition: Spatial Planning is the planning of how and where space/land is used, by whom
and for what purposes. Such as the natural environment, the build environment. The people
and social facilities they use, the economy and legislation and policies.
“Spatial planning encompasses the search process for spatial design in a changed society
and making choices about how and where functions can be used (long term focus) plus the
reflection on this” & “Spatial planning: a ‘mirror’ of societal developments” (Kreukels, 1986)
Three elements seem to be crucial for an understanding of planning: public activity, future,
and space (in a wider or narrower sense)
Some relevant planning concepts: public activity, future, space
- Planning is always a public activity - but this is increasingly up for discussion
- Planning is always future-oriented - but is increasingly being equated with urban
management (you see a lot of short term)
- Planning is always about space - but is increasingly bound-up with socio-political
processes
1. Spatial planning and the future
The further away the future, the more uncertainty there will be. One of the tensions that are
encountered is the tension between inevitable uncertainties and necessary certainty.
Certainty is necessary in planning because it provides stability (mortgage for housing). This
certainty is in contrast with strategic ambiguity: allow organizations to deny certain
interpretations of their policy.
➔ So, there is a tension between certainty and flexibility in planning.
To deal with this tension, several methods and techniques are available to help the planner.
One of them is scenario planning. There are two types of scenario planning:
Future orientation: flexibility vs. (legal) certainty (Pagina 5 & 85)
- Dilemma: “a problem offering two possibilities, neither of which is unambiguously
acceptable or preferable”
- Planning needs flexibility because the future is to a large part uncertain
- Planning needs (legal) certainty because spatial interventions often have long-term
effects
- Strategic ambiguity: sometimes actors benefit from vagueness and procrastinating
choices
Projective vs prospective scenarios
● Projective is forecasting and short-term (This scenario is based on the past and the
present. Starting from here and now, analyzing how the future could look like) - 2 yrs
Related to this is the time lag effect, events which occur later
● Prospective is backcasting and long-term (This starts with a vision of a desirable
future. We want to end up there… reasoning backwards) - 30 years
Both types of scenario methods are normative – but in different ways. Projective scenarios
can be manipulated by using different data and prospective scenarios are more progressive
in their normative character.
, Figures: Using future visions to determine a course of current action
➔ Systematic thinking about the future is an inherent part of spatial planning.
➔ It is a future oriented discipline: looking far ahead (long term!) and articulating a
desirable future. Motto: placing current action in the light of future objectives
➔ We don’t know the future… but we can think of one. So, we (spatial planners) think of
one, or even more
➔ Designing future courses of action (‘scenario’s) helps us making decisions NOW
An important factor in deciding the desirable future is public interest. Public interest is also
dynamic and constantly changing. Things like the Corona crisis or the economic collapse of
2008 have a massive impact on spatial planning. This implies that planning is never
‘finished’. Society and its interests (population, the numbers and types of housing) are
constantly changing: adaptation to a changing society is constantly needed. However,
balancing in planning is difficult.
● Even the future is to some extent already ‘bounded’: the past and the present
elements of the future. So, we are always ‘in transition’, and need to anticipate these
changes
● Planning exists because we can think of a future, and (reasonably…) govern towards
that
● Planning = future + design + governance
of the discipline (part 1) / Chapter 1 - Spatial planning
Definition: Spatial Planning is the planning of how and where space/land is used, by whom
and for what purposes. Such as the natural environment, the build environment. The people
and social facilities they use, the economy and legislation and policies.
“Spatial planning encompasses the search process for spatial design in a changed society
and making choices about how and where functions can be used (long term focus) plus the
reflection on this” & “Spatial planning: a ‘mirror’ of societal developments” (Kreukels, 1986)
Three elements seem to be crucial for an understanding of planning: public activity, future,
and space (in a wider or narrower sense)
Some relevant planning concepts: public activity, future, space
- Planning is always a public activity - but this is increasingly up for discussion
- Planning is always future-oriented - but is increasingly being equated with urban
management (you see a lot of short term)
- Planning is always about space - but is increasingly bound-up with socio-political
processes
1. Spatial planning and the future
The further away the future, the more uncertainty there will be. One of the tensions that are
encountered is the tension between inevitable uncertainties and necessary certainty.
Certainty is necessary in planning because it provides stability (mortgage for housing). This
certainty is in contrast with strategic ambiguity: allow organizations to deny certain
interpretations of their policy.
➔ So, there is a tension between certainty and flexibility in planning.
To deal with this tension, several methods and techniques are available to help the planner.
One of them is scenario planning. There are two types of scenario planning:
Future orientation: flexibility vs. (legal) certainty (Pagina 5 & 85)
- Dilemma: “a problem offering two possibilities, neither of which is unambiguously
acceptable or preferable”
- Planning needs flexibility because the future is to a large part uncertain
- Planning needs (legal) certainty because spatial interventions often have long-term
effects
- Strategic ambiguity: sometimes actors benefit from vagueness and procrastinating
choices
Projective vs prospective scenarios
● Projective is forecasting and short-term (This scenario is based on the past and the
present. Starting from here and now, analyzing how the future could look like) - 2 yrs
Related to this is the time lag effect, events which occur later
● Prospective is backcasting and long-term (This starts with a vision of a desirable
future. We want to end up there… reasoning backwards) - 30 years
Both types of scenario methods are normative – but in different ways. Projective scenarios
can be manipulated by using different data and prospective scenarios are more progressive
in their normative character.
, Figures: Using future visions to determine a course of current action
➔ Systematic thinking about the future is an inherent part of spatial planning.
➔ It is a future oriented discipline: looking far ahead (long term!) and articulating a
desirable future. Motto: placing current action in the light of future objectives
➔ We don’t know the future… but we can think of one. So, we (spatial planners) think of
one, or even more
➔ Designing future courses of action (‘scenario’s) helps us making decisions NOW
An important factor in deciding the desirable future is public interest. Public interest is also
dynamic and constantly changing. Things like the Corona crisis or the economic collapse of
2008 have a massive impact on spatial planning. This implies that planning is never
‘finished’. Society and its interests (population, the numbers and types of housing) are
constantly changing: adaptation to a changing society is constantly needed. However,
balancing in planning is difficult.
● Even the future is to some extent already ‘bounded’: the past and the present
elements of the future. So, we are always ‘in transition’, and need to anticipate these
changes
● Planning exists because we can think of a future, and (reasonably…) govern towards
that
● Planning = future + design + governance
