PROCEEDINGS OF CITTA 1ST ANNUAL CONFERENCE ON PLANNING RESEARCH: EVALUATION IN PLANNING

This book contains a fair selection of the papers presented at the 1st CITTA’s annual conference. In line with our initial intentions and, indeed, with the programme of the conference, the four parts of this book present a mixed and balanced picture of a wide and diverse range of research contributions coming both from our centre and from other Portuguese research centres with a particular interest in planning.

The title - Planning Evaluation - reflects the general theme of the conference. As a research topic, the evaluation of planning activities already has a long history and yet, it is still a rather difficult and controversial issue to address. The first contributions date back to the 1960s. At that time, a number of evaluation methodologies appeared in the planning literature as refinements of the classical Cost Benefit Analysis.

Their general conceptual framework was very much in accordance with the then dominant rational comprehensive planning model. However, those early days left very few records of practical applications, at least documented in the international planning literature.

With the subsequent evolution of planning theories, from the mid 1980s through to the turn of the century, and the emergence and steady dissemination of the collaborative planning paradigm, new and more complex methodologies have been proposed but, again, very few contributions can be traced in the planning literature of systematic applications in local planning departments or in independent planning research units.

Everyone seems to agree that evaluation is an essential component of the planning process and an indispensable instrument to (re)design responsive planning policies. But, actually, very few invest their time and resources in systematic planning evaluation exercises geared towards the preparation and implementation of a particular land use plan or planning policy document, or towards the assessment of the role and overall performance of a particular regional or local planning department.

In this respect, the reader can find in the first part of this book a number of contributions coming from different CITTA’s research units and also from elsewhere, trying to bridge, albeit modestly, this most noticeable gap between theory and practice. The other three parts of the book group several contributions under the general themes of CITTA’s research units, namely Planning and Environmental Assessment, Urban policies and Housing and Transport Planning and Logistics. Each part starts with a brief introduction written by the chair of the respective session.

To all involved, chairs and papers’ authors, our most sincere thanks.