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TWICE THE SIZE - DIT Update - Dublin Institute of Technology

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questions usually facing those working in the futures field in the examination <strong>of</strong> an issue or<br />

policy include the following.<br />

What are the major continuities?<br />

What are the major trends?<br />

What are the most important change processes?<br />

What are the most serious problems?<br />

What are the new factors ‘in the pipeline’?<br />

What are the main sources <strong>of</strong> inspiration and hope?<br />

It provides a ‘map <strong>of</strong> the future’ and supplies policy makers and others with views, images and<br />

alternatives about futures in order to inform and future-pro<strong>of</strong> decisions in the present.<br />

There are a number <strong>of</strong> reasons why it is important to adopt futures methods into urban<br />

planning. These have been listed in A Practical Handbook on Futures Workshops: Visioning the<br />

Future <strong>of</strong> Cities produced by The Futures Academy and include the following (Gannon &<br />

Ratcliffe, 2006).<br />

Extending thinking beyond the conventional and fostering more forward thinking as a<br />

result.<br />

Forcing thoughts and stimulating conversations about the future.<br />

Helping to identify assumptions about the future that might require examination, testing<br />

and subsequent modification.<br />

Encouraging people to have regard to the positive possibilities and opportunities that<br />

tomorrow might hold, as well as the potential threats and disasters.<br />

Making more intelligent decisions today concerning the future by focusing the mind on<br />

the most important questions that must be resolved in order to formulate better policy.<br />

Inspiring people to ‘think outside the box’.<br />

Widening perspectives and increasing the number <strong>of</strong> options available for exercising<br />

more deliberate decision-making towards positive change.<br />

Preparing for, and managing change better by enhancing the capacity to learn.<br />

Making response times to actual future events much shorter and reactions more<br />

relevant.<br />

Fostering active participation in strategic thinking leading to decision-making.<br />

The adoption <strong>of</strong> futures methods into city planning <strong>of</strong>fers a rigorous, comprehensive and<br />

integrated approach towards urban stewardship, relying more on intuition, participation and<br />

adaptability (Ratcliffe, 2002). Most excitingly, a futures approach can constitute an effective<br />

platform for collaborative planning. A collaborative futures process helps to develop successful<br />

solutions and ensures that the ownership <strong>of</strong> those solutions is embedded in the community so<br />

that they have a greater chance <strong>of</strong> implementation (CitiesPLUS, 2004). It also enables the<br />

development <strong>of</strong> preferred visions <strong>of</strong> urban futures through mobilisation – bringing together and<br />

facilitating the networking <strong>of</strong> key stakeholders and sources <strong>of</strong> knowledge (FOREN, 2001). A<br />

comparison <strong>of</strong> traditional planning versus futures approach is shown in Table 1.<br />

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