Planning and Knowledge: How New Forms of Technocracy Are Shaping Contemporary Cities

This book uses an international perspective and draws on a wide range of new conceptual and empirical material to examine the sources of conflict and cooperation within the different landscapes of knowledge that are driving contemporary urban change. Based on the premise that historically established systems of regulation and control are being subject to unprecedented pressures, scholars critically reflect on the changing role of planning and governance in sustainable urban development, looking at how a shift in power relations between expert and local cultures in western planning processes has blurred the traditional boundaries between public, private and voluntary sectors.

Rob Kitchin is a Professor in the Maynooth University Social Sciences Institute, Ireland. He is author/editor of a number of books about technology and society and is a recipient of the Royal Irish Academy’s Gold Medal for the Social Sciences.

Dr Sue Brownill is Reader in Urban Policy and Governance at Oxford Brookes University. Her research focuses on public participation and spatial equity in planning and regeneration, affordable housing and community planning and localism.

Gavin Parker is Professor of Planning Studies at the University of Reading. Professor Parker maintains a strong interest in citizenship, participation and governance in land, planning and development. Recent research has centred on neighbourhood planning in England.

Stan Majoor is Professor of Urban Management at the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences.