Observation, reflection, action.

The hill and valley landscapes of Scotland influenced how Patrick Geddes viewed cities and regions. His theories were grounded in interdisciplinarity and visual thinking and produced enduring tools still used by planners and designers, such as transects, diagnostic surveys, and conservative surgery. Geddes’ holistic approach can be viewed in contemporary terms like integral theory and metatheory. He advanced the idea that organisms can participate actively in their own evolution. The extension of his view is that cities can evolve through planning. His ideas influenced other important planning theorists such as Lewis Mumford, Jaqueline Tyrwhitt, and Ian McHarg and remain timely and useful for contemporary regional planning, urban design, and landscape architecture. The design and planning disciplines hold the capacity to enable people to adapt their settlements to changing conditions and situations. The theories of Patrick Geddes continue to be relevant for cities in evolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]