All planning can be considered as an attempt to restrict possible
futures. Usually this is not stated explicitly. However, "futures
scenarios" are explicit rejections of other possible futures. As the year
2000 approaches, many cities, regions and nations are preparing such
scenarios. They have become fashionable again, as they were in the
1960's. Often a small number of alternative scenarios is presented. They
indicate the range of futures considered acceptable. In urban futures
scenarios, the range of acceptable future cities is made visible.
"Acceptable", that is, to the people who prepared the scenarios. That is
usually the city or regional government: sometimes, a private
organisation funded by local elites. The Amsterdam study TVA is used in
"Limiting Urban Futures" as an example of how such future studies limit
urban futures.
Limiting Urban Futures
http://web.inter.nl.net/users/Paul.Treanor/few.futures.html
(Note this is not an academic text, and given the content I do not know
of any relevant journal that would publish it. So although it is
considered bad etiquette to mail your publications to lists, that is not
applicable here. It is not a publication but a comment.)
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