ABSTRACT
The aim of this chapter is to outline an approach to strategic urban planning, combining ideas developed in planning theory and in science and technology studies. I will illustrate my theoretical insights by presenting a case from a small Eastern-Finnish town called Nurmes (population approximately 8,500). First I will present the case, then I will discuss the nature of planning problems with reflections on the Nurmes case. Following Forester (1993), I categorise planning problems as technical problems of uncertainty and political problems of ambiguity. Strategic urban planning has to accommodate the ‘wicked problems’ that stem from both problem categories. In this chapter, more emphasis is put on strategic planning as a mechanism for coping with political ambiguity. With reference to the Nurmes case, I will discuss the potentiality of built heritage in such coping.
