Planning, history and present of the lookahead to the future

During the era of modernity, "planning" became a catchword that indicated the practical necessity and technocratic ambition of planning. The "plan" and "to plan" attracted attention in many spheres of practical and academic experience. The article suggests an international comparison of public planning in the 20th century, when planning was vital for political, technical and spatial arrangements and can be identified as a pivotal category of social and intellectual history. A historical comparison of spheres and cycles of planning reveals interdependencies between intellectual research and applied sciences, and allows for identifying new eras and caesuras. The concept of planning is also highly relevant for recent debates oil public utilities and the state's role in the implementation of social security and welfare systems.