ABSTRACT
Focusing on practical judgment enables the pragmatist to adopt and use the insights of other theorists rather than struggle for rational supremacy. The complexity of places will not submit to a single conceptual viewpoint. Pragmatism searches for ways to integrate and adapt ideas to specific situations as problems emerge. But how might this work? In this chapter I offer thumbnail theoretical reviews that show how applying ideas from very different planning theorists – Emily Talen, Bob Beauregard and Lew Hopkins and Garret Knapp – uncovers interesting and useful insights about the quality of two suburban municipal plans. Talen uncovers how cumulative impact of incremental subdivision and zoning rules contribute to sprawl. Beauregard shows how the material form of construction and use produces decentralized suburban landscape. Hopkins and Knapp argue that effective anticipation of future suburban development requires attending to coordination and conflict among many plans.
