ABSTRACT
Uncertainty has become so pronounced as to render futile, if not downright counterproductive, the kind of planning traditionally employed by governments and corporations-forecasting based on probabilities. Planning for uncertainty increasingly poses the question, ‘What has already happened that will create the future?’, instead of asking, ‘What is most likely to happen?’ (Drucker, 1995). Experience, moreover, has shown us that no unique forecast can be relied upon. Yet, however good our research methods may become, we shall never be able to escape from the ultimate dilemma that all our knowledge is about the past, whilst all our decisions are about the future. Furthermore, studying futures is not really a question of knowledge and facts at all, but rather one of conjectures (de Jouvenal, 1967). A special approach towards projecting potential futures, so as to improve present decisions, is thus required. Scenario building is such a technique. This concluding chapter, therefore, attempts to identify some of the driving forces of change that will affect and depict the future form and function of cities around the Pacific Rim.
