The fragile body in the functional city: An editorial

Abstract

Changing circumstances force planning to re-define its role as a driving function shaping our cities today. One of the significant challenges to the century-old tradition of planning comes from the ageing population. The demand to age in place and its associated conditions particularly require renewed attention. This is, however, not an isolated and partisan topic, but speaks to the changing circumstances and highlights the dramatic shortcoming of a performance-oriented and segregationof- function-driven approach; one that is remnant of the early days of the planning discipline, but is still very much alive today. What has the discussion around ageing and the city brought up, and where are we headed? Two significant aspects are the body and moving away from a performance-oriented interpretation thereof, as well as a rethinking of participation not just as an information exercise, but as a co-design practice.