Reviewing the Science of Town Planning

Abstract

On page 5 of the February 2020 issue of The Planner, the chair of the Royal Town Planning Institute’s (RTPI’s) board of trustees presented the institute’s vision and mission for the next decade. Beyond its global vision, it is the mission that has technical resonance: “to advance the science and art of planning” (but notice the absence of the word “town”). For this author, the art of town planning is the majesty and intimacy of urban form as a three-dimensional concept (Cullen, 1961). The science of town planning is an entirely different matter. Is there a common understanding of the term? What is its nature and scope? To contribute to a possible interpretation, this paper offers a review. The ambition is to see if the “science of cities” is useful in the world of town planning practice.