Network Society: A New Context for Planning

Louis Albrechts, Mandelbaum Seymour0415701511, 9780415701518, 0415701503, 9780415701501, 9780203799338

The Network Society looks the challenges that the new paradigm of the Network Society creates Urban and Regional Planning. Chapters grouped into five themes discuss theoretical and practical perspectives on the contemporary organization of social, economic, cultural, political and physical spaces.The first section looks at models of the Network Society. The second looks at the impact of physical networks such as transport. The third discusses challenges for Planners raised by society’s increased reliance on new technology. The fourth examines local networks including community networks and the possibilities of setting up local networks for disaster recovery. The final part compares spatial and policy networks and looks at the institutions involved.This book is essential reading for graduate level courses in urban studies, city and regional planning, and urban design. With its clear structure – unitary sections but a diversity of perspectives – the book can be used easily in courses such asPlanning Theory, Urban Infrastructure and Public Policy.

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Table of contents :
Half Title: The Network Society……Page 2
Title Page……Page 4
Copyright……Page 5
Contents……Page 6
Illustrations……Page 10
Notes on Contributors……Page 12
Preface……Page 18
Introduction……Page 20
Part 1: The Network Society: A New Paradigm……Page 26
1 Communicative Action and the Network Society: A Pragmatic Marriage?……Page 28
2 Planning and the Network City: Discursive Correspondences……Page 43
3 Escaping the Prison of “the Present Place”: Can We Plan the Future of Localities in the Context of a Network Society?……Page 53
4 The Discourse Network: A Way of Understanding Policy Formation, Stability, and Change in the Networked Polity……Page 64
Commentary: Networks and Planning Thought……Page 76
Part 2: Organization of Space and Time……Page 82
Impact of Physical Networks……Page 84
5 Cities and Transport: Exploring the Need for New Planning Approaches……Page 86
6 Networking for Trans-national “Missing Links”: Tracing the Political Success of European High-speed Rail in the 1990s……Page 100
7 Strategies for Networked Cities……Page 114
8 The “Network City”: A New Old Way of Thinking Cities in the ICT Age……Page 129
Commentary: Challenging the “Old” Urban Planning Paradigm: The Network Approach……Page 139
Organization of Space and Time: Challenges for Planning and Planners……Page 142
9 Planning as Persuasive Storytelling in the Context of “the Network Society”……Page 144
10 Network Complexity and the Imaginative Power of Strategic Spatial Planning……Page 165
Commentary: Imagining Urban Transformation……Page 180
Part 3: Policy Networks and Governance……Page 184
Local Networks and Capital Building……Page 186
11 Why Liberal Planning Cannot Manage the Network Society: Lessons from Community Action……Page 188
12 ICT-enforced Community Networks for Sustainable Development and Social Inclusion……Page 202
13 Recovery from Disasters: Challenges for Low-income Communities in the Americas……Page 216
14 The Multicultural City in the Age of Networks……Page 230
Commentary: Local Networks and Capital Building……Page 241
Governance Capacity, Policy Networks, and Territorial Specificities……Page 246
15 The Global Emergence of Private Planning and Governance……Page 248
16 Inter-agency Transport Planning: Cooperation in a Loose Policy Network……Page 265
17 Collaborative Planning, Commitment, and Trust: Dealing with Uncertainty in Networks……Page 290
18 Reconnecting Space, Place, and Institutions: Inquiring into “Local” Governance Capacity in Urban and Regional Research……Page 303
Commentary: Governance Capacity, Policy Networks, and Territorial Specificities……Page 326
Bibliography……Page 332
Index……Page 358