Planners have done with the idea that urban and rural landscapes can be shaped, controlled and maintained entirely to their liking. But are we ready to admit that most spatial developments would have occurred even without planners? Could we accept the idea that spatial developments emerge largely autonomously as the result of a mix of factors? If we were to embrace this idea, what implications would it have for the planning discipline, and for the role of the planner? We will address these questions here, incorporating a theoretical perspective that underlines evolutionary growth rather than artificially created space: complexity theory.