In an era marked by rapid urbanization and environmental challenges, traditional
approaches to urban development are being redefined by concepts like governance, social
planning of territories, and participatory planning. These interconnected frameworks
emphasize the importance of inclusive decision-making processes, where all
stakeholders—governments, communities, businesses, and civil society—collectively
shape their environments. At the same time, emergent urbanism, driven by grassroots
initiatives and adaptive strategies, challenges top-down urban planning by introducing
flexible, locally-driven solutions. Social innovation further reinforces this shift by leveraging
collective creativity and collaboration to address complex urban and social issues.
Together, these themes propose a model for cities and territories that is more equitable,
resilient, and responsive to the evolving needs of its inhabitants.
GOVERNANCE
Governance is the overall complex system or framework of processes, functions,
structures, rules, laws and norms born out of
the relationships, interactions, power dynamics and communicationwithin an organized
group of individuals which not only sets the boundaries of acceptable conduct and
practices of different actors of the group and controls their decision-making processes
through the creation and enforcement of rules and guidelines, but also manages, allocates
and mobilizes relevant resources and capacities of different members and sets the overall
direction of the group in order to effectively address its specific collective needs, problems
and challenges. The concept of governance can be applied to social, political or economic
entities (groups of individuals engaged in some purposeful activity) such as a state and
its government (public administration), a governed territory, a society, a community, a
social group (like a tribe or a family), a formal or informal organization, a corporation, a non-
governmental organization, a non-profit organization, a project team, a market, a network
or even the global stage. "Governance" can also pertain to a specific sector of activities
such as land, environment, health, internet, security, etc. The degree of formality in
governance depends on the internal rules of a given entity and its external interactions with
similar entities. As such, governance may take many forms, driven by many different
motivations and with many different results.
Whereas smaller groups may rely on informal leadership structures, effective governance
of a larger group typically relies on a well-functioning governing body, which is a specific
group of people entrusted with the authority and responsibilities to make decisions about
the rules, enforcing them and overseeing the smooth operation of the group within the
broader framework of governance. The most formal type of a governing body is a
government, which has the responsibility and authority to make binding decisions for a
specific geopolitical system (like a country) through established rules and guidelines. A
government may operate as a democracy where citizens vote on who should govern
towards the goal of public good. Beyond governments, other entities can also have
governing bodies. These can be legal entities or organizations, such
as corporations, companies or non-profit organizations governed by small boards of
directors pursuing more specific aims. They can also be socio-political groups including
hierarchical political structures, tribes, religious subgroups, or even families. In the case of
a state, governance expresses a growing awareness of the ways in which diffuse forms of
power and authority can secure order even in the absence of state activity. A variety of
external actors without decision-making power can influence this system of state
governance. These include lobbies, think-tanks, political parties, non-government
organizations, community and media. Governance is also shaped by external factors such
as globalization, social movements or technological progress.
From a normative perspective, good, effective and fair governance involves a well-
organized system that fairly represents stakeholders' interests and needs. Such
governance guides the formulation, implementation, and evaluation of the group's
objectives, policies, and programs, ensuring smooth operation in various contexts. It
fosters trust by promoting transparency, responsibility, and accountability, and employs
mechanisms to resolve disputes and conflicts for greater harmony. It adapts to changing
circumstances, keeping the group responsive and resilient. By delivering on its promises
and creating positive outcomes, it fosters legitimacy and acceptance of the governing
body, leading to rule-compliance, shared responsibility, active cooperation, and ultimately,
greater stability and long-term sustainability.
Many institutions of higher education - such as the Balsillie School of International
Affairs, Munk School of Global Affairs, Sciences Po Paris, Graduate Institute Geneva, Hertie
School, and the London School of Economics, among others - offer governance as an area
of study. Many social scientists prefer to use the term "governance" when discussing the
process of governing, because it covers the whole range of institutions and relationships
involved.
SOCIAL PLANNING OF THE TERRITORY
To go further in managing the risks and impacts of industrial and institutional projects,
Insuco developed a multi-stakeholder analysis and action framework, formalized under the
concept of Corporate Territorial Responsibility (RTE) or Territorial Social Management.
This concept aims to promote sustainable and inclusive governance of the territory by all
its actors and is based on building a shared long-term vision for its development. Therefore,
we create mechanisms that, through processes of dialogue and collective action, allow
stakeholders to share the responsibilities, challenges, and opportunities associated with
the development of projects with potentially significant impacts.
These tools enable a progressive shift from a purely transactional and bilateral logic—
where the private sector is generally placed at the center of multiple expectations from
local actors—to a transformational and multi-stakeholder logic that allows for the
sustainable development of both the project and the territory.
The text highlights the importance of involving multiple actors (public, private, community)
in long-term, collective development processes, promoting shared responsibility instead of
relying solely on bilateral transactions.
PARTICIPATORY PLANNING/URBANISM
Participatory planning is an urban planning paradigmthat emphasizes involving the entire
community in the community planning process. Participatory planning emerged in
response to the centralized and rationalistic approaches that defined early urban planning
work.
A community engaged in a participatory planning project
It has become an influential way of approaching both traditional urban planning and
international community development.
There are several approaches to and theories about participatory planning. Consensus
building and collective decision making is usually emphasised, and the inclusion of
traditionally marginalized groups in the planning process is also often prioritised.
EMERGENT URBANISM
Mathieu Helie has been writing at a blog he calls Emergent Urbanism. His most recent
post is the first part of a series that will be published as an entire article entitled “The
Principles of Emergent Urbanism” at International Journal of Architectural Research.
This first part of the series, and hopefully the entire published article gives a great
introduction to the concept Helie names “Emergent Urbanism.” In my opinion as a Market
Urbanist, Mathieu’s most remarkable contributions to urbanism revolve around the
concepts of “emergence” as it relates to urban patterns, particularly with regards to
Hayek’s ideas about “emergent order” or “spontaneous order”. As Mathieu writes:
How is it possible for what is obviously a human artifact to arise as if by an act of nature?
The theory of a spontaneous order provides an explanation. According to Friedrich A. von
Hayek (Hayek, 1973) a spontaneous order arises when multiple actors spontaneously
adopt a set of actions that provides them with a competitive advantage, and this behavior
creates a pattern that is self-sustaining, attracting more actors and growing the pattern.
This takes place without any of the actors being conscious of the creation of this pattern at
an individual level. The spontaneous order is a by-product of individuals acting in pursuit of
some other end.
In this way cities appear as agglomerations of individually initiated buildings along natural
paths of movement, which originally do not require any act of production as dirt paths
suffice. As the construction of individual buildings continues the most intensely used
natural paths of movement acquire an importance that makes them unbuildable and these
paths eventually form the familiar “organic” pattern of streets seen in medieval cities. This
process still takes place today in areas where government is weak or dysfunctional, notably
in Africa where urban planning often consists of catching up to spontaneous settlement,
and in the infamous squatter slums that have proliferated in the 20th century.
Although few, if any (let me know if you know of any others), before Helie have delved deep
into Hayekian “emergence” as it relates to cities, many have discussed Jane Jacobs’prolific
contributions which are profoundly similar in approach to that of Hayek and other Austrian
Economists:
The most devastating criticism of modernist urban planning came in the form of a
sociological study and personal defense of the spontaneous city, the book The Death and
Life of Great American Cities by Jane Jacobs. (Jacobs, 1961) In it she described in great
details how the functions of a spontaneous city related and supported each other. Her
concluding chapter, the kind of problem a city is, is still the most relevant. In it she attacks
the scientific foundations of urban planning at a paradigmatic level, and claims that the
methodology of the life sciences, at the time undergoing the revolution created by the
discovery of DNA, is the correct approach to studying cities.
Beyond spontaneous order, Emergent Urbanism examines the use mathematical and
geometric techniques to examine the complex structures, and thus urban patterns, that
result from emergence. I am truly looking forward to the final, finished edition of Mathieu’s
article, and further insights into “Emergent Urbanism”.
SOCIAL INNOVATION
Social innovation is based on design and its relationship with people. Design, understood
in this way, creates “bridges” and generates new solutions based on technology, producing
products and services that are key to everything. Design, When Everybody Designs focuses
on design and the profound social change that is taking place in a connected world, which
is undergoing a transition toward sustainability: a world in which everyone, whether they
want to or not, is faced with the need to continuously design and redesign their existence.
In a world that is constantly changing, everyone designs: they make use of their innate
creativity and their ability to innovate to define and improve their life project.
Manzini distinguishes between diffuse design (which anyone can perform) and expert
design (which is reserved for those trained as designers) and describes how both interact,
allowing expert designers to drive significant social changes. This book also talks about
people, organizations, and collaborative encounters, and how to make things happen.
Ultimately, this work discusses designers, their projective abilities combined with culture,
sensitivity, and thorough analysis. For Manzini, the designer is a “professional optimist,” a
producer of ideas at all levels, providing specific yet meaningful solutions to make things
different.
The text emphasizes the role of design in fostering social innovation, where everyone
participates in designing their lives. It highlights the interaction between everyday, non-
professional design and expert design, and the potential of experts to catalyze meaningful
change in society.
