ABSTRACT
Spatial planning is about better place-making. Like previous forms of planning, it involves the courageous act of looking into the future to imagine what kind of development we need to plan for now on behalf of society. In terms of the academic and policy rhetoric surrounding it, spatial planning is seen to be something that goes further than traditional planning in its aspirations to serve as a mechanism for collaborative visioning, for overseeing implementation of development by a diverse range of actors, and ensuring that all this is delivered in ways that meet the diverse and sometimes contradictory expectations of society. Such expectations include forms of development that are efficient and equitable, respect individuality and privacy, have positive environmental impacts, and produce a variety of high-quality environments, especially neighbourhoods for living and working in and diverse recreational spaces to be exercised, inspired, connected and rested in.
