VALUE OF POSTMODERNISM FOR URBAN PLANNING AND DESIGN

This paper examines the value of postmodernism and postmodern scholarship for the theory and practice of urban planning and design. The research is based on a critical review of postmodernist writings and specific literature associated with what scholars have identified as “postmodern urbanism.” The paper begins with a brief description of postmodernism as a way of thinking and decision making in the fields of urban planning and design. The principal ideological and epistemological underpinnings of the postmodernist critique of modern practices of planning and design are then summarized. Critical analyses of the writings of some prominent postmodernist commentators are presented in the third section. The author evaluates whether there is consistency and coherence or inconsistency and confusion in their postmodernist views of urban planning and design. The implications of postmodern urbanism for the fields of urban planning and design are presented in the fourth section. Overall, the study shows that even though postmodern urbanism may be relevant to urban planning and design as a theoretical construct, postmodernism as a way of decision making has limited implications for the practice-oriented fields.