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Abstract
Strategic planning is “hot” in many places (cities, regions, etc.) today. And, the literature on strategic planning is expanding (Healey Citation2007; Balducci et al. Citation2011; Oosterlynck et al. Citation2011). As in traditional planning, there are different traditions of strategic planning and there is no one way or best way to do strategic planning. But to what extent are the (often self-proclaimed) strategic plans really strategic? To what extent are they different from traditional planning? The purpose of this paper is to examine some of the critical features that make these plans really strategic. We look at the reasons to embark on a strategic planning process; context: political, institutional, challenges ahead, problems, etc.; issues, actors, legal status of the plan in the official planning system; momentum, time frame of the plan, plan horizon, and the link with projects. In this way we intend to question and enrich our own view, in theory and in practice, of strategic planning, which we have constructed over the last decade (Albrechts Citation2004, Citation2006; Motte Citation2006; Balducci Citation2008).
Acknowledgments
The authors are grateful to Patsy Healey, Luigi Mazza, Willem Salet and Jef Van den Broeck for their comments on an earlier version of this paper.
Additional information
Louis Albrechts is professor emeritus of strategic spatial planning at the department of architecture, urbanism and planning at the University of Leuven, Belgium. His current research focuses on the practice and nature of strategic spatial planning, diversity and creativity in planning, public involvement in planning and bridging the gap between planning and implementation.
Alessandro Balducci, Architect and PhD in Planning, is Vice-rector of the Politecnico di Milano. Full professor of Planning and Urban Policies and member of the PhD Program in Spatial Planning and Urban Development. Former Head of the Department of Architecture and Planning (2001-2008), he has been President of AESOP, the Association of the European Schools of Planning (2001-2004), among the founding members of the European Urban Research Association (EURA) and is currently Chair of the Italian Society of Urbanists (SIU).