The module stands back from the details of planning policies and instruments, and asks questions about how we might understand some of the key ideas used, and assumed, by those engaged in the planning system. These include ideas such as ‘the public interest’, and ‘heritage and conservation’. An organising framework for the module is different ways of understanding what being a professional involves.  Particular attention will be given to the idea of the planner as technician, and the contrasting idea of the reflective practitioner. The understanding developed in the module is used to illuminate aspects of everyday planning whose significance might go unnoticed in discussions with a more procedural focus.

1. Set out and evaluate major approaches (in planning theory) to questions about the nature, purpose and methods of spatial planning.
2. Use concepts and approaches from planning theory to analyse debates and innovation in contemporary spatial planning practice.
3. Discuss some competing approaches to understanding planning practice
4. Undertake independent critical reading in an unfamiliar subject area within planning
5. Reflect on their own professional development and learning in a structured way

The module will be taught through:

• lectures:  Reading related to the lectures will be mentioned at the lecture and in handouts. On occasion, lecture slots will have an informal , workshop, approach – typically when dealing with the kinds of skills and approach useful for coursework.
• reading workshops: there will be 8 of these . The focus for each will be a single reading (with supplementary readings occasionally recommended). All attending are expected to have done the recommended reading.

Deep reading of academic texts

Communicating and contributing constructively to  group discussions

Writing  for academic audiences

Type of assessment

%

Contribution

Title

Duration
(if applicable)

Approx. date of Assessment

Essay

40

Comparing the ideas of Jane Jacobs and Donald Schon about the nature of planning knowledge

1600

Autumn

Report

60

Analysing a planning episode using theoretical concepts such as the public interest

2400

Spring

The opportunity for reassessment in this module

Students are permitted to be reassessed (usually once) in a module which they have failed, in line with course regulations. The reassessment will usually take place during the summer.

The module’s scope extends beyond models of planning; but these models can provide starting points for thinking about many topics. So, for example, the technical model of planning (and its rivals) provide different ways of understanding and answering :

• the meanings of certain key ideas that act as guides for planners : eg rationality, the public interest
• the meanings of certain objectives that planning is often asked to have – eg justice, conservation
• the way questions of value impinge on planners’ work – this includes, aesthetic, moral and political values
• what knowledge,  skills and attributes do planners have, and should they have ? How can you (as planners and students) think systematically about developing your skills ?
• more generally, the importance of being a reflective practitioner (however defined).

Allmendinger, P  (2009) Planning Theory  2^nd ed London, Palgrave

Jacobs, Jane (1963) ‘The kind of problem a city is’, excerpt from Death and Life of Great American Cities’, in Hillier, J and Healey, P eds

Critical Essays in Planning Theory Vol II .Political Economy, Diversity and Pragmatism  Farnham, Ashgate, 137 -157

Schön, D (1991) The Reflective Practitioner p/b edition Aldershot, Ashgate chapter 2

Taylor, N  (1998) Urban Planning Theory since 1945 London, Sage

Brooks, Michael P(2002)  Planning Theory for Practitioners  Chicago, Planners Press

Campbell, S and Fainstein, S eds (2011) Readings in Planning Theory  3^rd ed Oxford, Wiley-Blackwell

Friedmann, J (1987) Planning in the Public Domain Princeton, Princeton University Press

Sandercock, L (1998 )Towards Cosmopolis  Chichester, John Wiley

Thomas, H and Healey, P eds (1991) Dilemmas of Planning Practice Aldershot, Ashgate