Urban Foresight and Planning; Concepts and Three City Applications

The rapidly changing environmental, economic and demographic context of the globe impacted urban planning processes worldwide and made traditional comprehensive planning practices incapable of handling future uncertainties. Popper 2008's argument about the inability to predict the future, and the need to suggest actions for steering future urban development to deal with uncertainties, required a new approach to urban planning, urban foresight. The pedagogical shifts for urban planning from aesthetical and conceptual visions to negotiation and stakeholder participation till we reached system thinking and anticipation, created a base for urban foresight that is fused with multiple futures and sustainability (Roggema, 2016). UK foresight research is discussed as an example of government efforts to deal with the changing world uncertain conditions that is already more than 29 years since its first published report. UK city foresight is a good example of non-traditional approach to planning that uses both qualitative and quantitative methods. This article discusses three urban foresight examples from Mumbai, Singapore and Tokyo before it ends with an epilogue on urban foresight guidelines and main characteristics.