Cities in a relational world: limits and future perspective for planning through the network paradigm

This paper aims to discuss the formation and reproduction of social and institutional networks via planning practices and to critically explore the limits and opportunities for the future. It will describe how the process of spatial reconfiguration provided by the ‘network society’ views several interconnected territorial dimensions: major cities acting as global players in the international market place and their relationships with their regional surroundings; the relationships among enterprises and institutions within local production systems; and the strategic cooperation between urban players from the perspective of the city as a ‘collective actor’. The final section of the paper will provide some critical considerations on some ways in which the concept of ‘network’ has been experimented with and put into practice in the planning field.