This is an up-dated edition (still in the form of a draft) of an essay written as a background paper for the First World Congress of Planning Science in November 1992, promoted by the Planning Studies Centre in Palermo (Sicily).
At the starting point the essay had the form of a bibliographic survey of the different research “strands” which could each be defined, in its own path and environment, as contributors to the development of the Planning Sciences.
For many years the Author has been occupied in giving light to the relations between current disciplines such as economics, sociology and city planning and to their application to planning, intended as an integrative sui generis activity. Consequently, he has been occupied with the relationship between genres of planning: economic planning, social planning and land use planning.
On this subject the Author has collected a wide documentation of research works of differing natures and origins, which this book reads through a unifying lens. In fact, for many years the work of the Author has been to explore the research waves and strands considered to contribute to a common or unified approach to the plan.
In the encompassing work it occurred to him, while creating a path toward new approaches and new strands, to note the multiple inter-relations existing among the different research strands developed. (This the Author tried to render intelligible through the construction of a list and a graphic Map). The new approaches and strands moved progressively away from their respective disciplinary roots and towards the approach of something new, configured not as a “sub-discipline” (given the removal from all the old disciplines) but as a “neo-discipline” with its own proper status and methodological toolbox.
To this last point, addressing the neo-discipline and its methodological and epistemological foundations, the Author has dedicated other works [essentially The Planning Theory (2002) and The Programming Approach (forthcoming)]. Notwithstanding, the hope is to achieve a general re-elaboration of a new “Treatise of General Planning ” which should establish the foundations of the new discipline and overcome the fragmentariness of the different approaches.
Here some notes have been collected on the results of the literary research on the different strands and on the effort to outline the graphic Map of the multidisciplinary path followed.
This contribution should be useful to explain the principles on which it is feasible to build a new discipline: Planning Science, or even better, Planology.

CONTENTS

Preface

Chapter 1
Introduction: about Planology in general
1. The roots of Planology
2. The Basic Scientific Areas
2.1. The Relationship Between Basic Areas And Support Disciplines
2.2. The Contribution And Role Of The Support Disciplines
2.3. The Evolution of the inter-disciplinary and multi-disciplinary ‘strands'
3. A Very General Evaluation Of The Relations Between The Basic Disciplines And Planology
3.1. Political Sciences And Planology
3.2. Sociology And Planology
3.3. Economic Sciences And Planology
3.4. Environmental Sciences And Planology
4. A Survey Of Current Approaches Towards Planology

Chapter 2
Current Approaches Towards Planology: The Interdisciplinary And Multidisciplinary Circle
1. Theories Of Political Decision-Making
1.1. The Theory Of Political Action And The Decision-Making Process
1.2. Systems Analysis Of The Political Process
1.3. The Decision-Making Theories
1.4. The Policy Sciences
1.5. Theories Of Social Choice
1.6. Theories Of Public Choice
2. Management Sciences
2.1. The “Administrative Science”
2.2. Operational Analysis Or Research
2.3. Methods For The Optimal Decision
2.4. Praxiology And Managerial Sciences
2.5. System Engineering
2.6. Strategic Planning
3. Development Planning
3.1. General Theories Of Economic Development And ‘Modernization'
3.2. Special Analysis And Theories On Capitalist Development
3.3. Theories On The Under-Development And The Dependence
3.4. Theories Of Social Development (Or On The Socio-Cultural Factors Of Development)
3.5. Problems And Theories Of The Sustainable Or Qualitative Development
4. The Institutional Impact On The Economic Development
4.1. The ‘Institutionalist' And ‘Evolutionist' School
4.2. The Comparative Analysis Of ‘Economic Systems'
4.3. The Developing Countries System
5. Quality Of Life Analysis And Planning And Social Indicators
5.1. Critique Of The Conventional Economic Accounting Systems
5.2. Proposals For Extended Accounting Systems
5.3. Social Indicators Movement
5.4. The Societal Models Accounting
6. Quantitative Theory Of Economic Policy
6.1. Normative Economics
6.2. Socialist Economics
6.3. Public Economics
6.4. Theory Of The Economic Policy
7. Technological Forecasting And Future Science
7.1. Technological Forecasting
7.2. Futurology
7.3. Global Models
7.4. Futurologia Normativa
8. Ecological And Environmental Sciences
8.1. System Analysis
8.2. Material Ecological Balance
8.3. Environmental Economics And Planning Studies Centre Environmental Impact Assessment
9. Regional And Spatial Sciences
9.1. Location Theories
9.2. Regional Sciences, In General
9.3. Urban And Regional Models
9.4. Transport And Accessibility Models
10. Physical And Urban Planning
10.1. Urban Analysis And Theory
10.2. Urban Structure Theories
10.3. Land Use Planning And Programming
10.4. Urban Policies And Government

Chapter 3
Current Approaches Towards Planology: The Neo-Disciplinary (Planological) Area
1. A Comprehensive And Unified Approach To Planning
1.1. Comprehensive Planning (Intersectoral)
1.2. ‘Integrated' Planning (Physical And Economic)
1.3. A Unified Approach To Planning
2. Planning Evaluation And Analysis: Theory And Methods
2.1. Programme Budgeting
2.2. Plans Evaluation
2.3. Multi-Criteria Analysis
2.4. Program Evaluation And Planning
2.5. Social Impact Evaluation
3. General Planning Methodology
3.1. Planning Theory
3.2. Systemic Planning
3.3. Macro-Economic Planning
3.4. Planometrics And Optimal Planning
3.5. System Of Models (Used For Planning)

Chapter 4
Routes For Disciplinary Integration And The Unified Approach
1. The Benefits Of The Unified Approach
1.1. Analysis Of The Damages Due To Unilateral Approaches
1.2. The Positive Contribution Of The Physical Approach To Economic Plans
1.3. The Positive Contributions Of The Economic Approach To Physical Plans
1.4. The Problems Arising From The Absence Of Integration
1.5. Obstacles To Trade-Off Procedures
2. The Operative Context As Integrative Context
2.1. Spontaneous Evolution Toward Extended Comprehensiveness
2.2. Some New Aspects Of Physical Planning Studies Centre The Economic Content Of Plans
2.3. The Economic Content Of Plans
2.4. The Common Methodology Of Plan Preparation
2.5. Changes Of Content In Economic Planning
2.6. New Methods Of Designing Projects
3. Plans Coordination
3.1. Coordination And Implementation: An Empirical Stage On The Way To Integration
3.2. The Conceptual Base For Distinction Between Coordination And Integration
3.3. Temporal Coordination Of Plans
3.4. Coordination In The Quantification Of Plans
3.5. Coordination In The Preparatory Phase
3.6. Coordination Of Objectives
3.7. The Need For Coordination And Its Importance For The Development Of Planology
4. The Integration Through The Ordering Of Objectives
5. Integration Through Modelling
6. Integration Through Institutional Procedures
6.1. Plan Preparation And Management
6.2. The Definition Of Objectives And The Program-Structuring
6.3. The Construction Of Scenarios Or Information Framework
6.4. The Institutionalisation Of Temporal Horizons
6.5. The Settlement If Planning Procedures
7. Plan Bargaining
8. The Of Planning-Oriented Institutional Reforms
9. Planning Policies
9.1. Planning Structures
9.2. Planning Levels
9.3. The Figure Of Planner
10. Public Participation In Planning
11. Financial Aspects Of Planning

Chapter 5
Some Contents Of Multidisciplinary Integration For Planology: Guidelines For Research
1. Integration Between Conventional Economic Accounting And Social Accounting
2. Integration Between Socio-Economic Planning (An Accounting) And Technological Forecasting
3. Integration Between Socio-Economic Planning And Territorial And Environmental Accounting
4. Integration Between Socio-Economic Planning And Institutional Factors
5. Integration Between Socio-Economic Planning And Political Sciences

Chapter 6
Appendix: A Taxonomy For Planology
1. A Taxonomical Organization For Planology
2. Generalities On The New Disciplinary Paradigm
3. Historical Precedents And Relationships Ex Post With The Base Disciplines

Bibliographical References