Spatial Visioning: Systematic Literature Review and Research Agenda

Abstract

The contribution is a systematic literature review of empirical works on visions and vision-making. It provides a conceptual basis, meanings and interpretations assigned to the terms and highlights practical challenges involved in vision-based planning. Analyzing the state of knowledge on visioning produced in the last twenty years, the review not only outlines key conceptual elements but also the shortcomings and what more needs to be done for visioning to move beyond realpolitik and consensual vocabularies. In addition to presenting insights from empirical works, the review identifies areas of scholarly engagement to make visioning an effective planning technique.

Keywords:

• Vision
• visioning
• spatial planning
• literature review

Acknowledgements

We are thankful to the anonymous reviewers and editors for constructive comments. We are also thankful for the editorial assistance of Jill Grant and Heather Campbell and their feedback during the review process.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

P. Kesar

Purushottam Kesar is Associate Professor at Manipal School of Architecture and Planning (MSAP), Manipal, Karnataka, India and also co-ordinates Centre for Inclusive Cities at MSAP. E-mail: [email protected]

P. M. Ache

Peter Ache is Professor of Planning at Radboud University, Department of Geography, Spatial Planning and Environment. His research focuses on urban futures and visioning processes. He is currently editing a publication project on European Spatial Visions. E-mail: [email protected]