Instead of seriously revising the technical and scientific shortcomings marking the various problems encountered in the planning experience in both fields, academic debates and reflection have instead led to a kind of political interpretation. On the basis of the hopelessness of improving the governance of managerial and political planning initiatives, planning theory has been reduced to a generic sociological debate on planning itself; a debate that freezes planning as a permanently declining engagement.

To oppose this, the present book aims to identify the essential guidelines of a re-launch of planning processes and techniques, configuring a kind of neo-discipline, called 'planology' by the author, which builds upon a multi-disciplinary integration (never seen and experimented with until now) of economic, environmental, and sociological approaches, a crucial element missing in previous unsuccessful planning attempts.