Rediscovering classics at the light of current spatial planning paradigms and territorial needs

In the last 20 years Spatial Planning has being changing dramatically. Such a (r)evolution thankfully led spatial planners to broaden their sources, thus permitting the rediscovery of some “gems” of the past. In fact, classic books hide amazing perspectives and intuitions, very useful for territorial analysis and spatial planning.


With “Classics” I do not mean old manuals on urbanism. I am not referring to books secluded in the world of territorial planning. On the contrary, I put aside technical books for referring to masterpieces of mankind, works of ancient civilizations (Chinese, Roman, Greek, etc.), essays of French, Italian, English, German (you name it) enlightenment, authors like Rousseau, Sun Tzu, Machiavelli, Tocqueville, Hobbes, or texts like Chinese "Tao Te Ching" or, maybe, even Persian "Divan".

In other words, I am willing to find books which, at the light of the slow but ineluctable transformation of spatial planning into a science, can provide to current spatial planners (who are no more mere technicians) unexpected teachings on how methodologically (hence scientifically and not technically) approaching an anthropic territory, as well as hidden hints on how solving some “obvious” problems. 


For instance to me Julius Caesar's “De Bello Gallico” (“the Gallic War”) is one of the most amazing works ever written, not just as an historical and war work: territorial analysis, tactic strictly depending on the specific situation, strategy according to environmental potential, powerful use of communication and information, make this book a valid source for Spatial Planners... It might sound strange for a book written 2000 years ago, but even if it is not neither a technical nor a planning work, in my opinion Caesar's “De Bello Gallico” offers one of the most amazing “ante litteram” perspectives on what are the core aspects of current spatial planning.

Strangely enough, if considered just as a book on territorial policy (which is not), Caesar's “De Bello Gallico” is way better than many recent works strictly conceived for being planning books/manuals.

You can find a free version of the book here http://classics.mit.edu/Caesar/gallic.html, but on the net there is a wide number of versions available in different languages.

I have three further titles that I want to share with you:

Fuʾad al-Takarli - "Al-Wajh al-akhar" (1960; “The Green Eyes”) on the influence of the environment on people's behaviour;

Teixeira de Pascoaes - "A Arte de Ser Português" (1915) with nice explanation on how the organizing principle of subsidiarity works (many decades before planners and politicians started to talk about it!) and on the importance of landscape in people's life and culture;

John Perkins - "Confessions of an Economic Hit Man" (2004)... well, this is not a classic, but it is a pillar in describing the importance of power in policy...