Towards a new ‘old’ theory for planning in China: The potential of Huang-Lao thought

In China, where rapid urbanisation has been accompanied by the reform of planning legislation and practice, planning theory has struggled to inform or explain policy and practice adequately. This paper makes a proposal that could provide Chinese spatial planning with a theoretical base that is culturally embedded. Confucianism, Legalism, Daoism and Huang-Lao thought are appraised as potential frames for new theory, highlighting planning-relevant concepts of jingshi (经世, statecraft), shi (势, propensity), li (礼, right action) and li (理, pattern or coherence). Ideas for spatial planning methodologies inspired by Huang-Lao thought are explored. Conclusions suggest that Huang-Lao, as a disjunctive synthesis of the other philosophies, offers a potentially rewarding approach for spatial planning theory and practice in China which grounds legal and sociopolitical order within a natural order of being.