SYMPOSIUM: Putting the Future in Planning

Abstract

Tony de Carlo's image Amidst the Sprawl was created with the area just west of downtown Los Angeles in mind. It is one of the city's oldest neighborhoods and home to the artist, with older single-family homes giving way to freeways and the persistent inching westward of downtown. Its depiction of Latinos and mixed land uses brings to mind just some of the challenges and opportunities facing planners who try to put the future back into planning, as described in this issue's Longer View symposium. The artist, a Los Angeles native, is the son of an artist mother and has been creating since childhood. A self-taught artist, he exhibits his work regularly throughout the U.S. More of his work can be viewed on his Web site at <http://www.tonydecarlo.com>. The planning field has been criticized in recent years for neglecting time and the future in favor of present-focused decisions about space. How should planners proceed to put the future back in planning? Each of the four authors contributing to this symposium brings a different perspective to bear. Sam Cole reviews the contributions of contemporary work in the futures field and provides a helpful resource list. Martin Wachs discusses the similarities and differences between forecasting and envisioning, and he provides a commentary on what this means for the identity of planning. Dowell Myers presents a demographic futures perspective that emphasizes alternative interpretations of prospective demo-graphic trends. He illustrates this with regard to California's growing Latino population and the impacts it will have on building denser and more compact cities. Linda Dalton provides a commentary on the preceding papers and finds ample room for expanding planners' emphasis on the future, both in practice and in accredited planning education. Returning to an emphasis on the future could help to make planning seem more appealing and relevant to both citizens and decision makers.