ABSTRACT
The chapters in this volume display a multitude of settings, developments and outcomes related to planning and development work in small and medium-sized towns (SMSTs). Geographically, the studies presented range from cities and towns in the Mediterranean to urbanized settlements in the ultimate Arctic. However, reading the chapters will convey an impression of if not commonalities, then recognizable dimensions and scales, as well as cultural, economic and political dynamics across the towns that are studied. What emanates from this volume then is potentially something different from merely observing deterministic trends related to globalization – or multitudes and complexities. As editors, we have observed something of importance, i.e. characteristics of processes taking place in the space between structural constraints and individual entrepreneurial motives. In the following pages, we will try to extract some generic aspects from the creativity and innovative moves in a number of towns and places. Finally, we will discuss how the findings may inform both theory and practice in planning. Hopefully, our contribution can be valuable to emerging and ongoing processes of urban development and transformation at the level of the SMST – within their respective national and regional contexts.
