In these uncertain times of continuing climate change impact and the recent global pandemic, it is now more important than ever that we look long-term and provide the right tools for people to decide what sort of future they want for their cities across the world. ‘Urban futures’ thinking is based on the notion that we need a practical and formal framework to imagine what our cities could and should be like to live, work and play in, in the long term; how they will operate; what infrastructure is needed; and how governance systems will be required to help shape them and ensure their resilience. The book explores the history and evolution of city visions, placing them in the wider context of art, science, culture and urban theory. Drawing on a wide range of sources, including the authors’ own research of urban change, the book examines the rationale and development of city visions, and why they are now so important. To do this, the book places city visioning in the context of urban and regional planning and the emergence of ‘city foresight’, which is a set of futures-based techniques and methods to identify how cities might evolve into the future. The book highlights and critically reviews examples of city visions from around the world, contrasting their development, and outlining the key benefits and challenges in developing such visions. This is set within the wider context of the policy and practice implications of city foresight and city visions. Front Cover Urban Futures: Planning for City Foresight and City Visions Copyright information Table of contents List of figures, tables and boxes Acknowledgments Foreword Preface 1 Urban futures: planning for city foresight and city visions Introduction A growing focus on cities: changing narratives The importance of cities in the Anthropocene: planning for their long-term future(s) Conceptual framework for the book and key themes 2 Cities and integrated urban challenges Introduction What is a city? Urbanisation – the past, the present and future trends An urban paradox? Integrated challenges for cities Urban planning and practice Summary 3 Reimagining the city: views of the future from the past and present Introduction Visions – shared expectations of the future? Seeing into the future: a short history Utopic and dystopic visions: the role and influence of the city in literature and film The utopic tradition in urban planning Ebenezer Howard Patrick Geddes Summary 4 Planning and governing the future city Introduction How we govern the urban Selecting the form of urban planning in a new ‘urban age’ The 21st century case for urban planning Summary 5 Future narratives for the city: smart and sustainable? Conceptualising and typifying the city: the evolution of thinking about cities Sustainable cities Smart cities Smart and sustainable thinking: projects, experiments and the role of city visions Summary 6 Theoretical approaches to urban futures Introduction Cities: pathways for change Urban transition and transformation – the role of transitions theory Applying transition theory to cities: pathways and visions Retrofit 2050 Visions and Pathways 2040 Mitigation in Urban Areas: Solutions for Innovative Cities (MUSIC) Summary 7 Using city foresight methods to develop city visions Introduction and background What is city foresight? What is a city vision and how can it be developed? City visions City foresight methods City visioning: examples Reading 2050 Newcastle City Futures 2065 Other city visioning examples Summary 8 Shaping the future: city vision case studies Introduction From masterplans to city visions Case studies: participatory foresight-based city visions in the UK Reading 2050 Newcastle City Futures 2065 What makes a ‘good’ city vision? An imperfect world? The opportunities and challenges for city visions Summary 9 The innovative and experimental city Introduction Cities, urban innovation and urban experiments Innovation, experimental and engagement ‘spaces’ Place-based leadership and the role of the civic university Case study: Newcastle City Futures Urban Living Partnership Summary 10 Visioning and planning the city in an urban age: a reality check Introduction The city as a thriving and complex system The changing ways that cities function Urban futures: the case for a form of planning Developing a city vision in an uncertain urban age Summary 11 Conclusions: facing the urban future to 2050 and beyond Introduction City foresight, transitions theory and city visions: making the connections in practice Urban planning and governance: democratising the future The future for cities: what lies ahead? Appendix: selected examples of city visions Notes References Index Back Cover Winner of the 2022 Urban Affairs Association Best Book Award. City visions represent shared, and often desirable, expectations about our urban futures. This book explores the history and evolution of city visions, placing them in the wider context of art, culture, science, foresight and urban theory. It highlights and critically reviews examples of city visions from around the world, contrasting their development and outlining the key benefits and challenges in planning such visions. The authors show how important it is to think about the future of cities in objective and strategic ways, engaging with a range of stakeholders – something more important than ever as we look to visions of a sustainable future beyond the COVID-19 crisis.|Winner of the 2022 Urban Affairs Association Best Book Award. City visions represent shared, and often desirable, expectations about our urban futures. This book explores the history and evolution of city visions, placing them in the wider context of art, culture, science, foresight and urban theory. It highlights and critically reviews examples of city visions from around the world, contrasting their development and outlining the key benefits and challenges in planning such visions. The authors show how important it is to think about the future of cities in objective and strategic ways, engaging with a range of stakeholders – something more important than ever as we look to visions of a sustainable future beyond the COVID-19 crisis.
City visions represent shared, and often desirable, expectations about our urban futures. This book explores the history and evolution of city visions, placing them in the wider context of art, culture, science, foresight and urban theory. It highlights and critically reviews examples of city visions from around the world, contrasting their development and outlining the key benefits and challenges in planning such visions. The authors show how important it is to think about the future of cities in objective and strategic ways, engaging with a range of stakeholders – something more important than ever as we look to visions of a sustainable future beyond the COVID-19 crisis.
