Searching for an open future: planning history as a means of peri-urban landscape analysis

The paper studies the need to acknowledge planning history in order to grasp the character of contemporary landscapes. The aim of the study was to critically examine how the shadows of past planning frame the current discourse on peri-urban landscapes and, inspired by actor-network-theory, to explore the potential for new stories through a symmetrical analysis of historical planning documents. This is illustrated here using a case study of a municipality in Sweden. The paper argues that a combination of critical and creative reading could enrich the planning debate and open up new strategies for investigations and policies concerning hybrid landscapes.