Rationality Revisited: Planning Paradigms in a Post-Postmodernist Perspective

Abstract

The historical association between planning and rationality is unquestioned, but postmodernist critiques have raised doubts about the future of rational planning. This review defines and arrays different types of rationality to reveal that rationality is broader and more diverse than the instrumental rationality which has been associated with planning. An integrative framework associates complementary (contingent) planning paradigms with various forms of rationality, to suggest that the association between planning and rationality continues unabated. Discussion should shift from questioning the link between rationality and planning to asking what kinds of planning and rationality particular cases, situations, or contexts demand.