ABSTRACT
Since the 1970s, debates about growth control have captured the imagination and practice of the planning field in the United States. Moreover, they have been treated as epitomes of the conflict between the spatial order of modern urbanism, mainly expressed by suburbanization and auto dependency, and the newer (and growing) concerns about the environment and the preservation and construction of urban livability in the metropolises. This has been largely addressed by a growing body of normative planning philosophies such as smart growth, new urbanism, and others. Indeed, within a new cultural order that values ecology, sustainability, livability, and the creation of a sense of place and community, the rigid spatial premises of modernity have been severely questioned and contested by these philosophies. The result has been an ongoing, lively and polemic climate of planning debate, and metropolitan environments where conflicting planning views are reflected in contrasting urban design and architectural typologies. Contestations in the planning arena are reflected in the spatial realm of contemporary cities. The spatial practices ultimately enacted often represent ways by which urban elites compete to exercise political, economic, and symbolic power over their societies.
