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The article deals with some aspects of long-term planning in the sector of theMinistry of Defence. Its aim is to stimulate discussion about the methods and processes of long-term planning, to point out some shortcomings in the development of strategic documents in the past. The text also describes the basis for long-term planning process and particularly the role of long-term foresight. The author analyses lessons learned from the developing and implementation of Long-Term Vision of the Ministry of Defence document (2008) and tries to aply them in drafting a new document, The Long-Term Vision for Defence in 2030, is now being prepared under the leadership of the Ministry of Defence of the Czech Republic. He also highlights some of the theoretical principles for developing documents in the process of strategic management.

ABSTRACTIn 1988, water undertakers in England and Wales were charged with producing asset management plans as a prelude to privatization. These plans had to provide an auditable statement with respect to the condition and performance of underground assets, with a view to defining and setting priorities for investment requirements.Some water authorities were ill‐prepared for producing the required formalized plans, resulting in variable confidence limits being placed on the identified investment requirements. A need existed to refine most plans, which was reinforced by a statutory requirement to update the asset management plans.This paper deals particularly with water distribution systems and provides an insight into the production of asset management plans. A brief review of the current approach used by a certain major water plc, to update and refine their plans, is also included. The contribution of asset management plans to the effective management of distribution network investment and operation in England and Wales should not be underestimated and is equally relevant in Scotland.

Over the last decade, soft planning has become an increasingly visible concept in planning literature. Since the term soft spaces was firstly coined, soft planning has been used to describe a growing number of practices that occur at the margins of statutory planning systems. However, as soft planning-related literature proliferates, so does the diversity of approaches and planning practices it encompasses. Such diversity fuels long-standing questions about what can or cannot be considered as soft planning as well as about its usefulness for today's planning theory and practice. To shed light on this still unclear conceptual outline, this article divides the soft planning debate into five contextual components (ethos; governance; politics; policies; spaces; and scale) while paying particular attention to the relationship between soft planning and strategic spatial planning. The aim is to foreground soft planning as a concept, and add clarity and awareness on the challenges, the risks and opportunities, planning currently faces. ; info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

The political in governance and planning / Ayda Eraydin & Klaus Frey -- Crisis in planning theory : is the political a way out of the impasse in planning? / Ayda Eraydin & Tuna Tasan-Kok -- Planning and governance : towards radical political approaches / Rainer Randolph & Klaus Frey -- Multi-level power relations and planning conflicts in a "land of exception" : the case of the Sughereta di Niscemi Reserve in Sicily / Francesco Lo Piccolo, Filippo Schilleci & Vincenzo Todaro -- Engaging in politics of participation : managing power through action research / Anli Ataöv, Güliz Bilgin Altinöz & Neriman Sahin Güçhan -- Different understandings of "public interest" as a source of conflict : Portuguese spatial planning and practice / Joana Almeida & Fernando Nunes Da Silva -- The conflict between free market capitalism and social policies : Mexican housing policy / Alfonso Iracheta -- Shifting political conditions for spatial planning in the Nordic countries / Peter Schmitt & Lukas Smas -- Politicising the regional scale? : the politics of metropolitan governance in Germany, Canada and Brazil / Karsten Zimmermann -- Local welfare governance and social innovation : the ambivalence of the political dimension / Lavinia Bifulco & Maria Dodaro -- Politicisation of community development : universities as boundary objects / Anne Taufen -- A counter-movement to "place-less" power : planners as progressive place-based leaders / Robin Hambleton -- Scientific knowledge and decision-making in planning : understanding emotional aspects / Ilhan Tekeli -- Afterword : I am realistic. I expect miracles / Klaus Frey & Ayda Eraydin

Over the last decade, soft planning has become an increasingly visible concept in planning literature. Since the term soft spaces was firstly coined, soft planning has been used to describe a growing number of practices that occur at the margins of statutory planning systems. However, as soft planning-related literature proliferates, so does the diversity of approaches and planning practices it encompasses. Such diversity fuels long-standing questions about what can or cannot be considered as soft planning as well as about its usefulness for today's planning theory and practice. To shed light on this still unclear conceptual outline, this article divides the soft planning debate into five contextual components (ethos; governance; politics; policies; spaces; and scale) while paying particular attention to the relationship between soft planning and strategic spatial planning. The aim is to foreground soft planning as a concept, and add clarity and awareness on the challenges, the risks and opportunities, planning currently faces.