European planning studies at 30 – past, present and future

ABSTRACT

This article introduces the 30th anniversary special issue of European Planning Studies. After briefly taking a retrospective look at some of the developments in planning research and practice over the last 30 years the article introduces a set of future-oriented perspectives which were commissioned specifically for this special issue. Each of the contributions contained in this special issue presents a unique perspective on the future prospects and directions for planning theory and practice in Europe. Taken together, these contributions contain a wealth of ideas which deserve further attention and reflection among planning scholars and practitioners.

KEYWORDS:

• European planning studies
• retrospective
• prospective
• transformative
• emancipatory

Acknowledgements

We would like to express our thanks to all the authors of contributions to this special issue. We also thank our dedicated and valued editorial board members who generously gave their time to provide comments on the contributions: Tobias Chilla, Claire Colomb, Christophe Demazière, Stefanie Dühr, Umberto Janin Rivolin, Christian Lamker, Raine Mäntysalo, Jonathan Metzger, Valeria Monno, Michael Neuman and Davide Ponzini. This special issue would not have been possible without the tremendous effort of all these individuals.

Disclosure statement

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