Planning in the public sector in general, and spatial planning in particular, is facing significant challenges resulting from globalization of the economy, i.re. transnational transfer of capital, people, production, investment in real estate, speculation, etc. Recent crises of global economy exposed this problem much more clearly than ever before. In this light traditional methods of planning are no longer sufficient for controlling urban development – we are always too late to anticipate forthcoming processes of the physical development. This leads to economic and social costs of insufficient planning which are indeed tremendous. Complex economy requires an efficient institutional system of intervention, yet we observe governmental failure of both national and local levels on a growing scale. What is more, changes in the role of spatial planning as a policy tool are very strongly limited by national legal systems, which differ from country to country and are often misused by globally competing international corporations and developers. This means that in the next 20 years, sooner or later, planning must change its role in radical way. On the one hand it must be more connected with international system of regulation, capable of coping with growing uncertainty, more flexible and open in certain fields, but on the other hand it ought to be more restrictive, providing a similar level of restriction on the global level. We therefore need to elaborate a new model of planning and prepare a new generation of planners who will be able to cope with these challenges. Needless to say that fast and rapid urban processes in developing countries will also influence the European system of planning. If we do not adjust our approach to planning in proper time, making it – for example – a tool capable of diminishing global real estate market failure, public planning will be ignored and further dismantled by both politicians and multinational corporations. The social cost will be tremendous, the paradigm of smart growth will be in danger and nations’ response to climate changes will remain restricted and meaningless.
aesop yearbook silver jubilee edition
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