Strategic planning as a type of planning and as a tool of efficient urban management

Abstract

The present article aims to investigate and assess the performance of Strategic Planning as a tool for efficient Urban Management. For this reason, Strategic Planning is initially defined within the frame of a typology of the contemporary types/categories of spatial planning, as formulated and implemented during the 20th century. Then, the process of Strategic Planning is examined in the analysis of both, the internal and the external environment of an urban formation (city) and related to the theory and practice of Urban Management. Thus, the relationship between Strategic Planning, Urban Management and Urban Development is determined. This relationship is expressed as the interaction of the distinct elements of a dynamic process which can be analyzed in stages of implementation and consequently, in the definition of the expected benefits for the city in each of these stages.