Overview

The aspirations of individuals, organizations, and states, and their perceptions of problems and possible solutions circulate fast in this instantaneous society. Yet, the deliberation of the underlying public norms seems to escape the attention of the public. Institutions enable people to have reliable expectations of one another even when they are unsure of each other's aspirations and purposes. Public norms enable people to act under conditions of increasing uncertainty. To fulfill this role in society, institutions need enhancement, maintenance, and innovation. Public Norms and Aspirations aims to improve the methodology of planning research and practice by exploring the co-evolution of institutional innovation and the philosophy of pragmatism in processes of action. As most attention in planning research and planning practices goes to the pragmatic approaches of aspirations and problem solving, the field is awaiting an upgrade of institutional perspectives. This book aims to explore the interaction of institutional and pragmatic thought and to suggest how these two approaches might be integrated and applied in successful planning research. Searching this combination at the interface of sociology, planning, and law, Salet opens a unique niche in the existing planning literature.

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9780367331931

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Reviews

With a deep understanding of planning and governance developed in his longstanding career as an engaged scholar, Salet draws upon various literatures--philosophy, sociology, juridical studies, political science--to improve planning research methodology, deploying an institutionalist perspective grounded in the pragmatics of urban development and governance. In six chapters, he crafts an original and challenging discussion weaving together two distinct intellectual traditions--institutionalism and pragmatism--to understand how institutions shape and legitimize planning action, and provide it with aspiration and purpose. -Laura Lieto, Journal of Urban and Regional Research (IJURR) Although various useful building blocks for an institutionalist approach in planning have recently been provided by some scholars, no substantial `institutional turn' has yet taken place in this field. With this book Salet embarks on a superb venture to fuel this indispensable turn, both by developing a robust and innovative theoretical framework on institutions, and by brilliantly showing the practical relevance of a new outlook on their meaning and role. -Stefano Moroni, Polytechnic University of Milano, Italy This book is a timely and well-grounded challenge to urban researchers and policy-makers to give more attention to the evolving institutions which shape urban governance practices and their interaction with the specific pragmatics of urban development projects and management. -Patsy Healey, School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape, Newcastle University, UK

With a deep understanding of planning and governance developed in his longstanding career as an engaged scholar, Salet draws upon various literatures--philosophy, sociology, juridical studies, political science--to improve planning research methodology, deploying an institutionalist perspective grounded in the pragmatics of urban development and governance. In six chapters, he crafts an original and challenging discussion weaving together two distinct intellectual traditions--institutionalism and pragmatism--to understand how institutions shape and legitimize planning action, and provide it with aspiration and purpose. -Laura Lieto, Journal of Urban and Regional Research (IJURR) All in all, Salet's book is a welcome contribution to planning scholarship primarily. It is a call to planners to go beyond a sole pragmatist perspective and think deeper by asking a set of legitimacy and appropriateness questions before proceeding with decisions. The book contains a set of institutional research approaches and suggestions on ways to make use of them where appropriate. -Kadir Basboga, Journal of Planning Education and Research Although various useful building blocks for an institutionalist approach in planning have recently been provided by some scholars, no substantial 'institutional turn' has yet taken place in this field. With this book Salet embarks on a superb venture to fuel this indispensable turn, both by developing a robust and innovative theoretical framework on institutions, and by brilliantly showing the practical relevance of a new outlook on their meaning and role. -Stefano Moroni, Polytechnic University of Milano, Italy This book is a timely and well-grounded challenge to urban researchers and policy-makers to give more attention to the evolving institutions which shape urban governance practices and their interaction with the specific pragmatics of urban development projects and management. -Patsy Healey, School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape, Newcastle University, UK This book is an important and original contribution to an institutional turn in planning theory. The core message is that due to rapidly increasing complexity, fragmentation, and pluralism in cityregions it is no longer effective to rely primarily on top-down governance approaches. Planners must recognize the relational complexity of cities, and the roles of institutions in processes and shaping patterns of change, and that the legitimacy and effectiveness of modern planning has been reduced by the neglect of explicit attention to and development of public norms and shared understandings. The book suggests greater attention by planning scholars and practitioners to the role of institutions in structuring conceptions of acceptable and necessary governance action, and the roles of planners in contributing to ongoing processes of institutional change and adaptation in a fast-changing world. -Andre Sorensen, Planning Theory & Practice

Author Information

Willem Salet is Professor Emeritus of Urban and Regional Planning at the Faculty of Social and Behavioral Sciences, University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands. He chaired the group Urban Planning until 2017. He was the Scientific Director of Amsterdam study center for the Metropolitan Environment (AME) 2008-2013. He was the President of the Association of European Schools of Planning (AESOP) 2008-2010 and was awarded Honorary Membership of AESOP in 2016.

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