Urban transformations and management practice has always been complex,
ambiguous and unstable, and therefore difficult to set into fixed and
shared concepts. Through the decades, theoretical debate has formed an
eclectic set of possible perspectives, without finding, in our opinion,
a coherent paradigmatic framework which can adequately guide
interpretation and action in urban planning. The hypothesis of this book
is that the attempts of founding an autonomous planning theory are
inadequate if they do not explore two interconnected fields:
architecture and public policies. In this sense, reconsidering urban
planning practices assuming the angle of architecture and public
policies is a proper choice in order to better understand critical
points and possibilities for governing urban and spatial
transformations. Planning theory can be considered as a field crowded
with issues and questions of great interest, but still undetermined in
terms of principles and exemplary experiences. Exploring the
architecture/public policy crossway could allow the reframing of
planning problems in a more convincing and shared way, overcoming the
eclecticism typical of current planning theory.
The distinctive contribution of this book is a documented critique of
the eclecticism and abstraction of the main international trends of
current planning theory. The dialogical relationship with the traditions
of architecture and public policy is proposed here in order to
critically review planning theory and practice. The outcome is the
proposal of a paradigmatic framework that, in the authors' opinion, can
adequately guide reflections and actions. A pragmatic and interpretative
heritage and the project-orientated approach are the basis of this new
spatial planning paradigm.
