Urban Planning Methods

Author: Lacaze
Publisher:
Publication Date: 1996-09-01
Features: The world-famous "What I Know?" series is a popular encyclopedic knowledge series compiled and published by the Presses Universitaires de France (PUF) since 1941. Over more than half a century, with the continuous development of scientific knowledge, the scope of the series' topics has expanded, and its content has been constantly updated, covering all fields of social sciences and natural sciences as well as various aspects of human life. Since the authors of the series are all renowned experts and scholars in their respective fields, each book is written in an accessible yet profound manner, combining knowledge and. To date, the series has published over 3,000 titles and has had a significant impact worldwide, translated into more than 40 languages. "What I Know?" was originally a phrase by the 16th-century French philosopher Montaigne. It not only illustrates the boundless nature of knowledge but also reflects the thirst for knowledge during the Renaissance. In 1941, France was in a critical period. The Presses Universitaires de France chose this phrase as the series' name, publishing it not only to meet the needs of university teaching and student reading under the special circumstances of war but also, undoubtedly, to popularize knowledge, inspire people's enthusiasm for reading, and revitalize the French nation. Today, our country is in a new era of advancing toward modernization, and the entire nation is striving to build it into a prosperous and strong socialist country. We believe that selectively translating and publishing this series will also play its due role for us. The translation and publication of this series have been supported by the Presses Universitaires de France and the French Embassy in China, for which we express our sincere gratitude. Due to the large number of original works and the urgency of the situation, there may inevitably be imperfections in the selection and translation. Some works may hold biased opinions, and we hope readers will bear with this. This book begins by examining the professional methods that have been used for 50 years, while avoiding evaluation as much as possible. These methods differ greatly and should be classified according to different standards. It also provides a narrow analysis of the methodology within this field. The latter task is quite complex. Unlike other methods, urban planning methods do not allow themselves to be confined within the logic of science or internal specialization. Their knowledge cannot be imparted through education at institutions like universities, nor can they be used to justify urban planning proposals. We will see that the issue of decision-making methods has social and political reference standards, and this is a very important issue. Therefore, urban planning cannot be simplified into a method that possesses its own arguments.