Planning the Emergent and Dealing with Uncertainty: Regulations and Urban Form

A significant and intractable problem in urban planning in Western capitalist democracies—virtually unchanged since the birth of the profession a century ago—is the following: how is it possible to implement visions of a desired future outcome for cities while at the same time (a) remaining flexible and open to refinement; and (b) grappling with the larger structural—e.g., economic—forces that transform cities. The first problem concerns planning’s inability to express changing preferences and needs; the second problem concerns planning’s futility. In both senses, the potential for negative and unintended effects is substantial.