Comparing Planning Cultures in Shrinking Cities Across the USA, Germany, and Japan: Perspectives From Urban Planning on the Refiguration of Spaces and Cross-Cultural Comparison

Abstract

Spatial planners deal with aspects related to the quality of life and future development of cities and regions, which are highly relevant for society. Due to various institutional and cultural settings, spatial planning systems emerged with comparable features. However, such systems have been adapted to specific cultural, normative, and spatial conditions. In our study, we conducted a comparison to investigate changes in planning cultures in the context of shrinking cities across the USA, Germany and Japan. The findings make it possible to detect interdependencies between changes in planning cultures and societal changes in the wake of shrinkage processes and potentially to place planning cultures in the perspective of a refiguration of spaces. We conclude with the hypothesis that planning cultures are framed by an array of factors in a somewhat polycontexturalized mode, such as geographic entities (nations, regions, cities), and also topics such as shrinking cities.

Keywords

• figurational sociology
• cross-cultural comparison
• sociology of space
• spatial analysis
• refiguration of spaces
• comparative planning cultures