ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book discusses the importance of the complexity sciences, and the lessons we can deduce from it should spur spatial planners to rethink their conceptions of reality and reconnect these with issues in both planning theory and practice. It engages with the hybrid nature of entities and the non-linearity of relations. In other words, they consider a complexity that is produced by sustained heterogeneity. This sustained heterogeneity conditions planning and decision-making and it frames planner's contributions and their degrees of freedom. The book considers an empirical case of participatory strategic planning in the North-East of England, in which multiple relational strategies were mobilized with regard to urban regeneration. It examines issues relating to urban design and complex systems. It explores the lessons that planners can learn from the rapid growth of virtual realities, building on considerations from complexity thinking and complex systems.
