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Stephen Diko
Department of City and Regional Planning, The University of Memphis, Memphis, TN 38152, USA

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Journal article
Published: 25 June 2021 in Urban Science
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Urbanization has placed considerable constraints on the preservation and maintenance of formal green spaces in African cities. This situation has given attention to the potentials of informal green spaces (IGS). While studies on IGS in African cities is only emerging, scholarly and policy attention to children’s perceptions and use of IGS within Africa’s spatially expansive urbanism is limited. This study explores children’s perceptions, use, barriers, willingness, and suggestions for improving IGS in the peri-urban area of Funda in Luanda. Based on semi-structured interviews and focused-group discussions, the study revealed that, while IGS offered different ecosystem services, not all IGS were accessible to children, due to safety concerns, maintenance conditions, and parental restrictions. Children’s interest in maintenance activities and suggestions for improving IGS reflected their independent identities, sense of place, and cognitive capacity to contribute to planning their community. The paper submits that the potential role of IGS in Africa’s peri-urban areas can be improved by taking into account children’s agency and experiential knowledge of community spaces. For this reason, there is a need to recognize and engage children as co-producers of community knowledge and interventions.

ACS Style

Eurídice Pedrosa; Seth Okyere; Louis Frimpong; Stephen Diko; Tracy Commodore; Michihiro Kita. Planning for Informal Urban Green Spaces in African Cities: Children’s Perception and Use in Peri-Urban Areas of Luanda, Angola. Urban Science 2021, 5, 50 .

AMA Style

Eurídice Pedrosa, Seth Okyere, Louis Frimpong, Stephen Diko, Tracy Commodore, Michihiro Kita. Planning for Informal Urban Green Spaces in African Cities: Children’s Perception and Use in Peri-Urban Areas of Luanda, Angola. Urban Science. 2021; 5 (3):50.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Eurídice Pedrosa; Seth Okyere; Louis Frimpong; Stephen Diko; Tracy Commodore; Michihiro Kita. 2021. "Planning for Informal Urban Green Spaces in African Cities: Children’s Perception and Use in Peri-Urban Areas of Luanda, Angola." Urban Science 5, no. 3: 50.

Special issue
Published: 03 June 2021 in Journal of Urban Affairs
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Many scholars offer alternatives to Global North theories on urban governance, access to socioeconomic opportunities, and informality in the Global South. Yet, these alternative arguments have scarcely been applied to urban greenspace planning. Oftentimes, residents are characterized negatively as the cause of greenspace decline in African cities due to encroachment and/or vandalism. This paper offers an alternative perspective using data on 400 residents from Ghana’s Kumasi Metropolis. It argues that while residents’ place a low emphasis on urban greenspaces, this is indicative of their prioritization and survival strategies of meeting their needs. To simply characterize residents negatively, therefore, ignores the underlying context and reasons for urban greenspace decline and the contestations between residents’ priorities and urban greenspaces in African cities. This paper suggests an appreciation of local context to integrate residents’ needs and survival strategies into urban greenspace planning in African cities and the Global South in general.

ACS Style

Stephen Kofi Diko; Leah M. Hollstein. Towards an alternative interpretation of the socio-cultural dimensions of urban greenspace planning in the Global South: Evidence from the Kumasi Metropolis of Ghana. Journal of Urban Affairs 2021, 1 -24.

AMA Style

Stephen Kofi Diko, Leah M. Hollstein. Towards an alternative interpretation of the socio-cultural dimensions of urban greenspace planning in the Global South: Evidence from the Kumasi Metropolis of Ghana. Journal of Urban Affairs. 2021; ():1-24.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Stephen Kofi Diko; Leah M. Hollstein. 2021. "Towards an alternative interpretation of the socio-cultural dimensions of urban greenspace planning in the Global South: Evidence from the Kumasi Metropolis of Ghana." Journal of Urban Affairs , no. : 1-24.

Research article
Published: 29 April 2021 in Socio-Ecological Practice Research
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In Africa, climate change impacts including, but not limited to, erratic rainfall and prolonged droughts are already affecting farmers’ productivity and disrupting households’ livelihoods. Following this realization are recommendations for implementing climate-smart agriculture (CSA) as adaptation and resilience pathways to address the negative ramifications of climate change impacts. While CSA mainstreaming is strong at the global and national levels, it remains a challenge at the local level. To understand CSA mainstreaming at the local level, this paper utilizes mixed-content analysis to deconstruct eleven local development plans for the 2018–2021 plan period for the Upper West Region, a semi-arid region of Ghana. Results show that CSA mainstreaming is a challenge, despite a general awareness of climate change impacts on agriculture. The plans lacked adequate data on local climate change trends and impacts leading to discrepancies among CSA problematization, development goals, objectives, and strategies—raising serious concerns about ownership and localization of CSA in semi-arid Ghana. Also, awareness of climate finance opportunities to support CSA interventions was absent in the plans. This paper suggests a review of the national guidelines for preparing local development plans by integrating resources for CSA, climate assessment and information systems, and climate finance opportunities. This should be complemented by building institutional capacity and partnerships with nongovernmental organizations as well as other development partners working on CSA at the local level.

ACS Style

Stephen Kofi Diko; Seth Asare Okyere; Seth Opoku Mensah; Abubakari Ahmed; Owusua Yamoah; Michihiro Kita. Are local development plans mainstreaming climate-smart agriculture? A mixed-content analysis of medium-term development plans in semi-arid Ghana. Socio-Ecological Practice Research 2021, 3, 185 -206.

AMA Style

Stephen Kofi Diko, Seth Asare Okyere, Seth Opoku Mensah, Abubakari Ahmed, Owusua Yamoah, Michihiro Kita. Are local development plans mainstreaming climate-smart agriculture? A mixed-content analysis of medium-term development plans in semi-arid Ghana. Socio-Ecological Practice Research. 2021; 3 (2):185-206.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Stephen Kofi Diko; Seth Asare Okyere; Seth Opoku Mensah; Abubakari Ahmed; Owusua Yamoah; Michihiro Kita. 2021. "Are local development plans mainstreaming climate-smart agriculture? A mixed-content analysis of medium-term development plans in semi-arid Ghana." Socio-Ecological Practice Research 3, no. 2: 185-206.

Journal article
Published: 23 June 2020 in Planning Practice & Research
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ACS Style

Danilo Palazzo; Leah Hollstein; Stephen Kofi Diko. Urban Planning as a Career Preference for Students: Efforts to Improve Awareness about the Profession. Planning Practice & Research 2020, 36, 174 -192.

AMA Style

Danilo Palazzo, Leah Hollstein, Stephen Kofi Diko. Urban Planning as a Career Preference for Students: Efforts to Improve Awareness about the Profession. Planning Practice & Research. 2020; 36 (2):174-192.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Danilo Palazzo; Leah Hollstein; Stephen Kofi Diko. 2020. "Urban Planning as a Career Preference for Students: Efforts to Improve Awareness about the Profession." Planning Practice & Research 36, no. 2: 174-192.

Journal article
Published: 12 May 2020 in Sustainability
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In Eastern Dhaka, perennial flood remains a constant threat to people and livelihoods. Learning from the micro-level experiences of the poor in the peri-urban areas of Dhaka provides insights on the intersections between physical vulnerability, flood response strategies, and adaptive capacity. Through a convergent mixed method, this study examines the physical vulnerability of residential buildings, flood damages, and local physical responses in three neighborhoods of Eastern Dhaka. Results show that the level of damage to buildings is the most important predictor of physical vulnerability to floods. Buildings that are older than 20 years old and built with natural materials are likely to experience high flood damages compared to buildings that are less than 10 years and constructed with durable materials. The study concludes that in addition to socio-economic interventions, a targeted and people-centered flood management regime that pays attention to age, material composition, and structural quality of houses is necessary to build residents’ adaptive capacities and long-term resilience to flooding. This study contributes to the emerging work on grassroots responses to flood vulnerabilities with practical insights for urban planners and disaster management professionals on particular interventions needed to improve the performance of local responses to flood risks and vulnerabilities.

ACS Style

Nawrose Fatemi; Seth Asare Okyere; Stephen Kofi Diko; Michihiro Kita; Motoki Shimoda; Shigeki Matsubara. Physical Vulnerability and Local Responses to Flood Damage in Peri-Urban Areas of Dhaka, Bangladesh. Sustainability 2020, 12, 3957 .

AMA Style

Nawrose Fatemi, Seth Asare Okyere, Stephen Kofi Diko, Michihiro Kita, Motoki Shimoda, Shigeki Matsubara. Physical Vulnerability and Local Responses to Flood Damage in Peri-Urban Areas of Dhaka, Bangladesh. Sustainability. 2020; 12 (10):3957.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Nawrose Fatemi; Seth Asare Okyere; Stephen Kofi Diko; Michihiro Kita; Motoki Shimoda; Shigeki Matsubara. 2020. "Physical Vulnerability and Local Responses to Flood Damage in Peri-Urban Areas of Dhaka, Bangladesh." Sustainability 12, no. 10: 3957.

Review
Published: 07 May 2020 in Urban Science
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Over the last three decades, Bangladesh has implemented various initiatives to address different climate change impacts. In a multi-level governance arrangement, addressing climate change impacts is often constrained by climate change mainstreaming. In Bangladesh, a crucial question that arises is how mitigation and adaptation efforts are addressed at both national and sub-national levels. This paper examines the integration of climate change issues into national, sectoral, and city development plans with a particular focus on Dhaka using a framework developed based on the United Nations Development Program’s (UNDP) climate change mainstreaming guidelines for national development processes. The review finds evidence that mainstreaming of climate change is strong in national and sectoral development plans and has been incremental since 2002. However, climate change mainstreaming in Dhaka city development plans is moderate, especially in terms of climate risk and opportunity assessment, institutional arrangement, and capacity building for climate action. To augment existing efforts at mainstreaming at the sub-national level, the paper suggests the need to build sub-national level climate capacity with particular attention to institutional coordination and cooperation among agencies at different levels of development planning and to establish a national financing arrangement that allows sub-national agencies to harness climate finance.

ACS Style

Nawrose Fatemi; Seth Asare Okyere; Stephen Kofi Diko; Michihiro Kita. Multi-Level Climate Governance in Bangladesh via Climate Change Mainstreaming: Lessons for Local Climate Action in Dhaka City. Urban Science 2020, 4, 24 .

AMA Style

Nawrose Fatemi, Seth Asare Okyere, Stephen Kofi Diko, Michihiro Kita. Multi-Level Climate Governance in Bangladesh via Climate Change Mainstreaming: Lessons for Local Climate Action in Dhaka City. Urban Science. 2020; 4 (2):24.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Nawrose Fatemi; Seth Asare Okyere; Stephen Kofi Diko; Michihiro Kita. 2020. "Multi-Level Climate Governance in Bangladesh via Climate Change Mainstreaming: Lessons for Local Climate Action in Dhaka City." Urban Science 4, no. 2: 24.

Book chapter
Published: 07 February 2020 in The Challenge of African Potentials
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ACS Style

Michihiro Kita; Seth Asare Okyere; Miwa Sugita; Stephen Diko. In Search of Place and Life in Indigenous Urban Communities:. The Challenge of African Potentials 2020, 87 -114.

AMA Style

Michihiro Kita, Seth Asare Okyere, Miwa Sugita, Stephen Diko. In Search of Place and Life in Indigenous Urban Communities:. The Challenge of African Potentials. 2020; ():87-114.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Michihiro Kita; Seth Asare Okyere; Miwa Sugita; Stephen Diko. 2020. "In Search of Place and Life in Indigenous Urban Communities:." The Challenge of African Potentials , no. : 87-114.

Book review
Published: 15 January 2020 in Journal of Urban Affairs
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ACS Style

Stephen Kofi Diko. I want to go home forever: Stories of becoming and belonging in South Africa’s great metropolis, edited by Loren B. Landau and Tanya Pampalone. Journal of Urban Affairs 2020, 42, 809 -810.

AMA Style

Stephen Kofi Diko. I want to go home forever: Stories of becoming and belonging in South Africa’s great metropolis, edited by Loren B. Landau and Tanya Pampalone. Journal of Urban Affairs. 2020; 42 (5):809-810.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Stephen Kofi Diko. 2020. "I want to go home forever: Stories of becoming and belonging in South Africa’s great metropolis, edited by Loren B. Landau and Tanya Pampalone." Journal of Urban Affairs 42, no. 5: 809-810.

Chapter
Published: 30 January 2019 in The Geography of Climate Change Adaptation in Urban Africa
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In Africa, climate change integration in urban planning is often minimal and has consequences for urban climate finance. This chapter examines the 2014–2017 medium-term development plan (MTDP) of the Kumasi Metropolis and the Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) strategic plan to understand these consequences. Findings show a stronger climate change framing in the KCCA strategic plan than the KMA’s MTDP. However, climate finance arrangements were absent in both plans with no targeted climate finance sources for proposed interventions. There was also evidence of path dependency as some projects to tackle climate change impacts were not unique from traditional planning initiatives. Thus, poor climate framing and the absence of targeted climate finance arrangements have the potential to deprive these urban authorities of additional and alternative funds for climate action.

ACS Style

Stephen Kofi Diko. Missed Opportunities? Financing Climate Action in Urban Ghana and Uganda. The Geography of Climate Change Adaptation in Urban Africa 2019, 499 -530.

AMA Style

Stephen Kofi Diko. Missed Opportunities? Financing Climate Action in Urban Ghana and Uganda. The Geography of Climate Change Adaptation in Urban Africa. 2019; ():499-530.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Stephen Kofi Diko. 2019. "Missed Opportunities? Financing Climate Action in Urban Ghana and Uganda." The Geography of Climate Change Adaptation in Urban Africa , no. : 499-530.

Chapter
Published: 30 January 2019 in The Geography of Climate Change Adaptation in Urban Africa
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This chapter draws lessons from Japanese machizukuri activities, which represent one of the most dynamic opportunities for participatory climate change adaptation in Africa. This chapter adopts a literature-based exploratory and dialectical approach to examine community’s role in climate change adaptation. It highlights the challenges and recent consensus on citizens’ role in climate change adaptation. Within this context, the chapter discusses Japanese machizukuri activities as providing ‘the how’ of promoting and strengthening community participation in climate change adaptation in urban Ghana. Findings indicate an existing potential for participatory planning in climate change adaptation in urban Ghana. However, to confront climate change impacts, there is the need for greater collaborative planning through networking, exploiting social capital, and integrating intangible sociocultural factors into urban climate adaptation planning.

ACS Style

Seth Asare Okyere; Stephen Diko; Matthew Abunyewah; Michihiro Kita. Toward Citizen-Led Planning for Climate Change Adaptation in Urban Ghana: Hints from Japanese ‘Machizukuri’ Activities. The Geography of Climate Change Adaptation in Urban Africa 2019, 391 -419.

AMA Style

Seth Asare Okyere, Stephen Diko, Matthew Abunyewah, Michihiro Kita. Toward Citizen-Led Planning for Climate Change Adaptation in Urban Ghana: Hints from Japanese ‘Machizukuri’ Activities. The Geography of Climate Change Adaptation in Urban Africa. 2019; ():391-419.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Seth Asare Okyere; Stephen Diko; Matthew Abunyewah; Michihiro Kita. 2019. "Toward Citizen-Led Planning for Climate Change Adaptation in Urban Ghana: Hints from Japanese ‘Machizukuri’ Activities." The Geography of Climate Change Adaptation in Urban Africa , no. : 391-419.

Article
Published: 07 November 2018 in Urban Forum
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Global development agenda such as the Sustainable Development Goals call for natural-based strategies to make urban areas sustainable. One approach is urban greenspace planning. In Ghana, however, planning response to urban problems has often been inadequate and/or unresponsive. As such, the effective role of planning authorities in urban greenspace planning becomes a critical issue. This paper asks three questions: (i) What attention has been given to urban greenspaces in urban development plans for the Kumasi Metropolis? (ii) What challenges do urban planners encounter in urban greenspace planning in the Kumasi Metropolis? (iii) What factors should urban authorities consider in urban greenspace planning in the Kumasi Metropolis? This paper used content analysis on five urban development plans and interviews with urban development professionals in the Kumasi Metropolis, Ghana. The findings show that urban greenspaces receive low attention in urban development plans. Institutional barriers to urban greenspace planning included a lack of innovation in visions for urban greenspaces, political interference, inadequate funding, disharmony in land management, misconception about land use, and a low appreciation of urban greenspaces among residents and landowners. This study concludes that these factors undermine urban greenspace planning capacity of urban authorities in the Metropolis. Therefore, urban greenspace planning must take cognizance of these factors and act to mitigate their effects on urban greenspace planning in the Kumasi Metropolis.

ACS Style

Stephen Kofi Diko; Danilo Palazzo. Institutional Barriers to Urban Greenspace Planning in the Kumasi Metropolis of Ghana. Urban Forum 2018, 30, 357 -376.

AMA Style

Stephen Kofi Diko, Danilo Palazzo. Institutional Barriers to Urban Greenspace Planning in the Kumasi Metropolis of Ghana. Urban Forum. 2018; 30 (3):357-376.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Stephen Kofi Diko; Danilo Palazzo. 2018. "Institutional Barriers to Urban Greenspace Planning in the Kumasi Metropolis of Ghana." Urban Forum 30, no. 3: 357-376.

Book chapter
Published: 20 July 2018 in Smart, Resilient and Transition Cities
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Climate change issues have progressively been integrated into national development and policy frameworks in Ghana. The National Development Planning Commission, using guidelines for preparing medium-term development plans, encourages district, municipal, and metropolitan assemblies to give “special considerations” to climate change issues in their plan preparation processes. Consequently, this chapter explores the extent to which climate change issues have been integrated into urban development plans in Ghana. Using the Kumasi metropolis, the chapter compares national development documents with four urban development plans for the metropolis to establish convergence or divergence in climate change issues and interventions.

ACS Style

Stephen Diko. Toward Integration. Smart, Resilient and Transition Cities 2018, 141 -151.

AMA Style

Stephen Diko. Toward Integration. Smart, Resilient and Transition Cities. 2018; ():141-151.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Stephen Diko. 2018. "Toward Integration." Smart, Resilient and Transition Cities , no. : 141-151.

Book chapter
Published: 20 July 2018 in Smart, Resilient and Transition Cities
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African cities are significantly characterized by informality and often have climate change adaptation as a greater focus than climate change mitigation. Thus, we will focus on how such cities meet their needs of sustainable urban development while focusing on implementing mitigation and adaptation strategies to adapt to climate change. We argue that the Climate and Development Knowledge Network “Working with informality to build resilience in African cities” project provides an illustrative example of a multipurpose strategy that employs resilience as a convening concept through which to address both climate mitigation and adaptation goals while promoting sustainable urban development.

ACS Style

Kwame Ntiri Owusu-Daaku; Stephen Diko. Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation Initiatives in Africa. Smart, Resilient and Transition Cities 2018, 53 -59.

AMA Style

Kwame Ntiri Owusu-Daaku, Stephen Diko. Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation Initiatives in Africa. Smart, Resilient and Transition Cities. 2018; ():53-59.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Kwame Ntiri Owusu-Daaku; Stephen Diko. 2018. "Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation Initiatives in Africa." Smart, Resilient and Transition Cities , no. : 53-59.

Book review
Published: 14 July 2017 in Journal of Urban Affairs
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ACS Style

Stephen Kofi Diko. Slums: How informal real estate markets work, edited by Eugenie L. Birch, Shahana Chattaraj, and Susan M. Wachter. Journal of Urban Affairs 2017, 40, 305 -306.

AMA Style

Stephen Kofi Diko. Slums: How informal real estate markets work, edited by Eugenie L. Birch, Shahana Chattaraj, and Susan M. Wachter. Journal of Urban Affairs. 2017; 40 (2):305-306.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Stephen Kofi Diko. 2017. "Slums: How informal real estate markets work, edited by Eugenie L. Birch, Shahana Chattaraj, and Susan M. Wachter." Journal of Urban Affairs 40, no. 2: 305-306.

Journal article
Published: 14 April 2017 in Urban Science
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Informal settlements form part of the socio-spatial landscape of urban areas. Yet little is known about their spatial aspects, compared to the social aspects. With global attention on sustainable cities and inclusive urban planning, there is a need to pay attention to the spatial dynamics of human behavior and interactions as they have ramifications for the sustainable planning and design of informal spaces. Using observation and mapping, this paper emphasizes the spatial dynamics of social interactions and human behavior in the indigenous settlement of the Abese quarter of La Dadekotopon, Ghana. Spatially, the study identifies a hierarchical, irregular, and open system of roads and alleys that support residents’ everyday life. An “urban mixity” pattern of human behavior exists in the quarter, which denotes the social and physical use of informal urban spaces by residents to fulfill different needs at various times of the day. This creates lively urban spaces within the quarter. The location and physical characteristics, microclimate, and residents’ needs have contributed to this kind of informal urban spaces. This paper argues for planning and design improvement that integrate, rather than supplant, existing local physical characteristics, social interactions and human behaviors to maintain local identity and sustain urban life.

ACS Style

Seth Asare Okyere; Stephen Kofi Diko; Miyuki Hiraoka; Michihiro Kita. An Urban “Mixity”: Spatial Dynamics of Social Interactions and Human Behaviors in the Abese informal Quarter of La Dadekotopon, Ghana. Urban Science 2017, 1, 13 .

AMA Style

Seth Asare Okyere, Stephen Kofi Diko, Miyuki Hiraoka, Michihiro Kita. An Urban “Mixity”: Spatial Dynamics of Social Interactions and Human Behaviors in the Abese informal Quarter of La Dadekotopon, Ghana. Urban Science. 2017; 1 (2):13.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Seth Asare Okyere; Stephen Kofi Diko; Miyuki Hiraoka; Michihiro Kita. 2017. "An Urban “Mixity”: Spatial Dynamics of Social Interactions and Human Behaviors in the Abese informal Quarter of La Dadekotopon, Ghana." Urban Science 1, no. 2: 13.

Book chapter
Published: 01 January 2016 in Topics and Methods for Urban and Landscape Design
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In the 1960s, ecological planning gained prominence in North America as a way for managing the dynamic and complex relationships between human settlements and the natural environment. In subsequent years, ecological planning developed as a planning specialization in North America, assuming a prominent role in discussions on the environmental crisis that persisted during the period. We argue that ecological planning emerged from the evolution of three initial fields of studies and activities: (i) English landscape gardening that was transmuted into genuine American landscape architecture; (ii) the management of the vast public domain, particularly by some federal agencies; and (iii) the concept of regional planning as advocated by the Regional Planning Association of America and then during the New Deal. In this paper, we conduct a historical review of these three fields, that we call roots, and then argue that utopian thinking and its translation into utopian communities in the United States, starting from the end of seventeenth century, represent the fourth field that contributed to the formative processes of ecological planning in North America. Additionally, we show how the past, in terms of utopian thinking, provides planning with a framework to confront current and future urban challenges.

ACS Style

Danilo Palazzo; Stephen Diko. From the Past into the Future: The Utopian Roots of Ecological PlanningEcological Planning in North America. Topics and Methods for Urban and Landscape Design 2016, 213 -226.

AMA Style

Danilo Palazzo, Stephen Diko. From the Past into the Future: The Utopian Roots of Ecological PlanningEcological Planning in North America. Topics and Methods for Urban and Landscape Design. 2016; ():213-226.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Danilo Palazzo; Stephen Diko. 2016. "From the Past into the Future: The Utopian Roots of Ecological PlanningEcological Planning in North America." Topics and Methods for Urban and Landscape Design , no. : 213-226.