Extract

Stefano Moroni As is well known, over half of the world’s population live in cities; the figure in Europe is over 75 per cent. Cities have become our standard environment worldwide and a template for human life on earth. Our postmodern cities are characterized by radical pluralism (that is, a strong diversification and differentiation of citizens’ ideas of the good, lifestyles and preferences) and extreme dynamism (a continuous flow and change of processes and events). Cities have always been wealth-creating entities, but recently this fact has become even more accentuated. Today’s cities account for over 80 per cent of wealth in developed nations: cities have become the true engines of economic growth and development. ‘Despite all the hype over globalization . . ., place is actually more important in the global economy than ever before’ (Florida, 2008, p. 9).1 Consequently, the way in which we regulate land use in cities must per force have a strong influence on our way of life, our welfare and our prosperity. The central focus of this chapter is how we can regulate land use in our contemporary cities in a manner that is both effective and legitimate. After discussing these two aspects of the issue, and demonstrating how the traditional and, in many respects, current approach to land-use planning2 is in this regard inadequate and open to critique (second section), I will suggest where and how we might look for an answer (third section), that will also contribute to making today’s cities more creative (fourth section)...