The future will be urban or will not be… this is what we take for granted usually, despite the tentatives by some to go back to the country…But which is the meaning of an urban future? This enters the field of prospective analysis, quite hype in the 1970s-1980s around the systems theory, but today less visible, altough still extensively used by public and private organisations. Prospective analysis is far from being a forecast, but rather an informed glimpse to the future to try to grasp general ideas as a reflection tool.

The UK’s prospective organisation in the government sphere, Foresight, anlayses all sort of issues. In 2010 it was up to land use futures. The report is well written and interesting, allowing to better know the subject, Great Britain and our own country.