Co-directioning: Establishing a Future Perspective

We highlighted solution orientation in Chap. 3 as one of four basic positions of a system-theoretical approach to urban complexity. In other words, the process of change is oriented towards possible solutions that lie in the future. Our assumption is that every development needs a direction or a vision. In support of this, it is not enough merely to glimpse how the future will look as a project matures in the form of a master plan or an agenda. Rather, solution orientation means that development directions are considered from the outset and are further addressed in work phases. Ideas about the future thus determine the content to be devised on an ongoing basis. They help to define working topics, to determine working groups and to organize workshops. This solution orientation plays a central role throughout the entire change process. Ideas for solutions are already shared in the phase of clarifying problems and tasks (cf. Sect. 6.3.1). Solution-oriented questioning and analysis techniques also appear in the (spatial) analysis phase (cf. Chap. 7 ). Moreover, we consider it indispensable to set aside a firm place for solutions and visions that also forms part of day-to-day work. We will show why this seems so important to us in two steps: firstly, by making “problems” problematic (cf. Sect. 6.1); and secondly, by making visions a special theme (cf. Sect. 6.2). We then describe what can be considered in practice when clarifying the mission, working on visions and strategies (Sect. 6.3).