The Origin and Development of Vision and Visioning in Planning

Abstract

Vision and visioning are terms now used around the world in planning practice and theory. They refer to a variety of strategic planning techniques and are used in more general discussion of planning. The terms are used by planners as though their meanings were clear but the concepts have not been critically examined. This study traces the origins of the words and the development of the concepts prior to their introduction into planning discourse. The intent is not to narrowly define the terms, which have a wide range of possible meanings, but to provide practitioners and researchers with a background to assist in making their own evaluations of vision and visioning as they are presently applied to planning.