plaNext–Next Generation Planning is an international peer-reviewed open access e-journal. The young academics network of AESOP founded plaNext to provide prospective authors with an opportunity to engage their ideas in international planning debates as well as to make their research available to the wider planning audience. plaNext invites authors to submit original work that includes: empirical research; theoretical discussions; innovative methodologies; case studies; and book reviews on selected books, textbooks, or specific topics dealing within planning.
Each year, plaNext aims to publish two volumes; one of which presents a collection of original works following an open call, and the other presents a selection of articles from the annual conference of AESOP Young Academics (YA). plaNext also publishes special volumes following global challenges. This volume includes manuscripts presented at the 15th AESOP-YA Conference “‘Governing the Unknown: Adaptive Spatial Planning in the Age of Uncertainty”, Tirana, Albania, March 29 - 2 April 2021. The call for papers attracted forty original papers. The editors of this volume however invited ten manuscripts, following the nomination made by the chairs of sessions. Due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and its dramatic impacts on all walks of life only six contributors were able to complete and submit their top-quality manuscripts. Their contributions explore a range of complex matters that challenge but also inspire the “governing of uncertainties”, reflecting on topical debates in academia and planning practice. Their contributions explored new planning ideas and technologies that can be further developed to facilitate a sustainable transition towards (more) adaptive planning. The authors’ contributions went through a rigorous peer-review process managed by an editorial board. This board consists of: Prof. Rudina Toto, from Co-PLAN Institute for Habitat Development and key-speaker at the 15th AESOP-YA conference; Elisa Privitera, from the University of Catania (Italy) who is a member of both plaNext Editorial Board and of the coordination team of YA-AESOP Network (2020-22); Mafalda Madureira from the University of Twente (Netherlands) who is member of plaNext Editorial Board; Pinar Doerder, formerly chair of the YA coordination team; and Kejt Dhrami, who is member of Co-PLAN Institute for Habitat Development and coordinator of planning studies in the Faculty of Urban Planning, Management and Environment at Polis University, she was also one of the local organizer of the AESOP YA conference in Tirana.
I have contributed to the establishment of the AESOP Young Academics Network during the mid-2000s and I have continued to be an enthusiastic supporter ever since. Therefore, it is my pleasure to write the foreword to this important volume of the international open access journal PlaNext – Next Generation Planning, which is a compilation of the most advanced proceedings from the 15th YA conference, that took place in Tirana, Albania, in the Spring of 2021. This conference was the first YA event to take place during the COVID-19 pandemic, and its topic – “Governing the Unknown: Adaptive...
Volume 12 “Governing the Unknown: Adaptive Spatial Planning in the Age of Uncertainty” of the peer-reviewed journal plaNext – Next Generation Planning comes as a product of the 2021 AESOP YA Conference that took place at Polis University (Tirana) during March 29 and April 2, 2021. This was the 15th conference of the YA network, aimed at fostering a welcoming environment for debate and peer-learning among students, young and senior researchers, and practitioners interested in urban planning studies. Being the first YA conference since the initiation of the COVID pandemic, it was...
The difficulties in tackling COVID-19 have shown with unparalleled strength the need to acknowledge alternative epistemologies in planning. Pandemic responses that seem to have been met with relative success were based upon the guidance, knowledge, and embodied experience of communities on the ground. While some recognize the key role of alternative or ‘non-expert’ knowledge in addressing current planning challenges, most have struggled to broaden their definition to include different ways in which community-based organizations generated data, shared knowledge, collaborated with other...
The Smart City concept is often debated in academic, corporate, and institutional spheres, highlighting its conceptual model variations and technological interests. Many cities have decided to implement the Smart City concept as another development strategy with the vision of growth and efficiency enhancement. Such strategy refers to an extra instrument, in many cases, for bridging technological-based solutions with urban development. However, a social aspect is increasingly considered as the missing piece in the Smart City concept. This paper examines the presence of socio-economic...
There is increasing awareness in the planning community of the need for planning methods that can work with the complex and uncertain issues that characterise contemporary planning contexts. Through a case study of platsutveckling [place development] in south-west Sweden, this paper explores the potential of a post-structuralist planning perspective as one way forward in approaching uncertainty and complexity in planning. Platsutveckling is an approach to place development planning in the context of regional development, implemented by the Swedish regional government...
Planning scholars use complexity perspectives to account for unpredictable societal circumstances in an uncertain and changing world. Questions emerge not only about how planning communication and action can transform but more so about the planner’s ability to navigate the complex relational dynamics of planning. To move forward, we use Gilles Deleuze’s concept of assemblage thinking to frame spatial planning as a continually changing multiplicity of diverse entities and emerging dynamic relations among them. Niklas Luhmann’s social systems theory then helps to promote a perspective on...
Participatory planning is a way planners can gather valuable information and improve the planning process. To engage citizens in participatory approaches, planners should explore new interactive methods. Combining drawing as a communication activity, and games as an engaging approach can be one of the participatory methods. We propose to explore games that planners can use as tools for this purpose. We searched for analogue games with core drawing mechanics, where planners could learn how to build their serious games. Board Game Geek (BGG) allowed us to explore the most...
As Greece was in lockdown, the Greek cities resembled ghosts, and their cityscapes reminded us of dystopian movies. Empty streets and motorways, people afraid to go outside, and an uneasy cloud hanging above, encapsulating the minds of people living in these unprecedented times.
Space is inherently connected with infectious diseases. In this context, the pandemic crisis posed new challenges to how we perceive and interact with space, both indoors and out. So, the aim of this article is twofold: to discuss whether the relationship with space has changed due to Covid-19 and the...
We are specifically interested in mapping the opportunities crisis may produce, and the different planning and design-related effective responses to the Covid-19 pandemic.
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