Abstract
In the theoretical discussion on ‘planning’, we still hear and read ideas that originatec in the last century, ideas that have been showr to be unrealistic, about the scope and effectiveness of public involvement in spatial development. In addition, this discussion is normally highly charged and demonstrates a considerable lack of conceptual clarity, which makes scientific understanding, in particular, more difficult. It is time to say goodbye to some of these habitual ways of thinking and to inquire and seek out appropriate terms that are based on? contemporary understanding of planning.