What About Beauty in Planning Theory and Practice?

Abstract

Beauty has been an important, central concept since ancient times. Over the centuries, its status deteriorated until it became improper for academic discussion. In the last two decades, there has been a call to revisit beauty and aesthetic judgment in some disciplines. However, despite interest in urban design, the integration of beauty in planning theory and practice remains slow and partial. This paper presents the changing relevance of beauty in general academic discourse in four milestones before analyzing literature on planning and follows the changing attitude toward aesthetics. The conclusion points to a possible resurgence of beauty in planning literature.