PLANNING THEORIES

PROCEDURAL AND SUBSTANTIVE PLANNING THEORIES

1. UNIVERSITY OF ZIMBABWE DEPARTMENT OF RURAL AND URBAN PLANNING FUNDAMENTALS OF PLANNING THEORY 2017 DEFINIFITION OF KEY TERMS

2. INTRODUCTION Fundamentals Basic Concepts of Planning Definition of Terms- explanatory and exploratory

3. What is Planning? Planning is what Planners do It is a broad subject and can be viewed as a discipline(s) Operational Definitions by Conyers, D and Hills ,P 1984, Faludi , A (1984) “Planning is a continuous process which involves decisions about alternative ways of using available resources with the aim of achieving some particular goals in future” Planning is deciding on the course of action which could have resulted from rational process . It is a systematic approach to help a decision maker to choose a course of action after investigating his full problems. Dror . Y, (1968) “Planning is deciding in advance what is to be done”, that is, a plan is a projected course of action.

4. Why is Planning necessary? Planning is not an end in itself- It is a purposive action. Ultimate aim of planning is to promote human growth or development , that is , planning is a means and a process to achieve development. (Faludi, A: 1973).

5. How to Achieve Development Through Planning? Through formulation of models and theories which help to address development problems. Planners assists in designing methods to solve development problems. According to Faludi, A, (1973) Planning is a vehicle for growth. The essence of Planning is that; It helps the society to learn about its problems and constraints affecting it. It enhances the capacity to deal with development problems.

6. CONT’D It helps Planners to create awareness about societal problems, options and methods to deal with the development problems. It also assist Planners in dealing with development problems. The roles of Planners in this respect change over time and space and depends on the socio-economic, political and environmental circumstances. The planning environment can increase or decrease the role of planners.

7. Evolution of Planning The evolution of Planning is linked to development. Development is a complex phenomena and it has both qualitative and quantitative dimensions. It has material and non-material aspects. The aim of this development is to improve the quality of human life whether in urban or rural area, for now and in future. Therefore historically planning is concerned in dealing with issues of development . One of these issues is urbanisation and the problems it has brought to society (Levy J M :1988, p7)

8. CONT’D Since its inception it has evolved over time in response to the various development challenges.

9. Why focus on Planning ? The issues of development are complex and interconnected. There is need for a systematic approach to tackling them. The solution lies in Planning. It is central in shaping the responses to challenges in order achieve sensible and attractive development.

10. THEORY Definition of theory To look at relevance of theories. Nature of theories Definition Theory is a reasoned account offered to explain phenomena, facts, processes or events . Free creation of human mind or imagination There are speculations in using theory- there is visioning and imagination. Theory is a form of human thought invoked in answering to questions of why particular events occur. Methodologists call this answer an explanation. (Faludi ,A :1973, 22)

11. CONT’D Theorising is abstraction or simplification of reality. Theory is sometimes equated with a framework for thinking. It may refer to an abstract conceptual scheme. The Quest For Theory A theory assists in explaining phenomena. It explains why things are ordered the way they are. Structure of the city can be explained by location theory of Christaller . Theories are used as explanatory frameworks. Improves understanding of variables. Our observations are not theory free. Theory improves the description of the order or pattern of phenomena e.g.

12. CONT’D Theories can be used as organisational frameworks. They can be used to come up with a hierarchy of centres. Can also be used for prediction and forecasting purposes. Trying to anticipate what will happen in future. Eg . the use of the Gravity Model in Transport. Faludi , A (1973) posits that the relevance of theory is to improve knowledge and promote human growth. Theories generalise situations and they are used as frameworks in thinking (planning).

13. What is the role of theory in understanding Planning? Planning practice is influenced by theory. And theory can be structured in accordance with planning practice. Theory forms the framework within which Planners work. Planning is rooted in applied disciplines –engineering and architecture primary interest in practical problem solving. Early planning theories emerged out of practice planning codified as a professional activity. originally transmitted by practitioners via apprenticeships. Efforts to develop a coherent theory emerged in the 1950s and 60s need to rationalize the interests and activities of planning under conditions of social foment. the social sciences as a more broadly based interpretive lens.

14. PARADIGM Definition Application to Planning Definition Kuhn characterises a Paradigm as a way of seeing the world or as a language that determines what one perceives and what one thinks about something. He describes it as a ‘ ’new and accepted way of solving a problem which thereafter constitutes a model for future work in the discipline, and secondly as a body of shared values, methods and standards and generalisations shared by those trained to carry on the s scientific work of the discipline ” Weaver, C, Jessop , J and Das ,V (1989) define paradigm as ‘a metatheory shared by a group of scholars and professionals around which they have organised their work. Such paradigm groups are defined by common problem definitions, concepts, vocabulary, methods and intellectual antecedents.’ There is usually a locus classicus of their approach , a book or professional experience and one or two noted grandfather figures responsible for its organisations and popularisation.

15. CONT’D It is therefore a set of values, beliefs and knowledge held in common by a scientific community and a commonly accepted methodology that respects and gives expression to that set of values, beliefs, etc . ( Elguea 1985 in Muller, J: 1998, 288).

16. CONT’D A Paradigm is there to provide a framework for dealing with problems within a discipline. Where a Paradigm proves to be unviable/looses credibility among members of a discipline or goes badly astray" (Kuhn, 1970) it will be discarded. (Muller, J: 1998,288 ). Where a previous paradigm is discarded, there are generally major shifts in the criteria that determine the legitimacy of both problems and proposed solutions. Such situations occur when there is a novel discovery dubbed a scientific revolution in a discipline. A new Paradigm will come in replacing the prevailing paradigm.

17. CONT’D In Kuhn’s thesis this is called a “paradigm shift” in a discipline. (Muller, J: 1998,288 ) raises a number of pertinent issues concerning Kuhn’s thesis on Paradigms, Significantly, a new paradigm is generated from within: it is the scientific group that confronts the prevailing paradigm and eventually ushers in a replacement. Equally significantly, the previously accepted paradigm is displaced by one, by a single, new paradigm which then holds sway until it is pushed off its pedestal by the next popularly acclaimed challenger. Importantly, the fact that Kuhn's formulation derives from an interpretative study of the natural science field and has applicability to disciplines belonging to the family of natural sciences.

18. Members of a scientific community are united and unequivocal in their acceptance and application of a paradigm.

19. Importance of Paradigm Framework According to Weaver, C, Jessop , J and Das ,V (1989) , The concept of paradigms assists us in our understanding of the planning history. It provides a historical framework for talking about changing notions of certain planning concepts eg rationality, public interest etc It will also assist us in knowing and understanding groups of figures who would have played a role during a particular period. It is important to note that the historical planning paradigms have been a reflection of prevailing conditions, ideologies and social consciousness. It shapes our understand and practice of planning.

20. Planning Paradigm What is the current Planning Paradigm? The Rational Model. However, the planning profession is disenchanted by the rational model paradigm. There is a feeling that it has outlived its life span. Alexander put the point pithily in his discussion on paradigms : "... Planning had such a paradigm, but does no longer" (Alexander, 1984, p. 62).

21. MODEL Models are idealised representations or simplification of reality. It is difficult to define models. Models can also be guesses, hypothesis, equations or laws. Models are parts or components of theories, they seem to perform functions of theories. Models can be used to visualise and simplify complex interactions. E.g. the use of maps are used to visualise the earth or reality Thus, they help to approximate reality. Can also be used as organisational devices- eg Organograms

22. CONT’D Can be use to directly explain phenomena. They can be used to for testing of phenomena. NB Models have a multiplicity of functions. What is the use of Models in Planning?

23. BLUE PRINT The term came from civil engineering where it got the name from the blue colour of dye lines on maps or designs of engineers. Blue print is characterised by detailed specifications to control quality, that is , it is a detailed plan of what is to be built or developed with little or no room for review or change. It is a mechanistic and technical form of plan . There is no feed back and leaves no room for individual autonomy or assumptions and there is high degree of control and rigidity. Once the plan is implemented it becomes difficult to change.eg. house plans or bridge designs.

24. UTILITY OF T HE BLUE PRINT TO PLANNING This approach as been used in planning. Faludi (1973) says that it fails short of addressing the numerous elements of development’. It cannot deal with the dynamic and complex problems of society. Human Behaviour is fluid. The uncertainties in the environment play against the blue print approach. It is dehumanising in that it assumes that people do not know. The planners are distance from the society. (Chambers, R)

25. CONT’D However, it is still suited to land use planning e.g. when preparing Land Use Master Plans Also useful for infrastructure planning – roads, sewer and water reticulation, dam and bridge construction. Issues of Time , Resources, Efficiency, etc. What is the utility of this concept to planning?

26. UTILITARIANISM Is a dominant method that is used for making decisions in public administration and planning. It is a philosophical term and deals with values. It is found in the works of ‘classical ’ utilitarians : Jeremy Bentham, J. S. Mill and Henry Sidgwick . Utilitarianism was first expounded systematically by the eighteenth-century English philosopher Jeremy Bentham, who held that actions are morally justified when they bring about the greatest happiness (or 'utility') for the greatest number of people; that is, when they maximise happiness. J. S. Mill Roger in Crisp R: 2104 defines UM as follows; “ Actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness and wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness.”

27. Crisp R: 2104 opines that, the notion of degrees of rightness and wrongness is, of course, odd, since these notions are bivalent. Any action is either right or wrong. Crisp R: 2104 concurs with Mill’s meaning of UT. The right action is that which promotes happiness maximally, any action which fails to do that is wrong, and among wrong actions any action is morally worse to the extent that it fails to maximize happiness. According to Crisp R: 2104, Mill almost certainly saw this as a version of what Jeremy Bentham had called ‘the principle of utility’, understood as a ‘standard of right and wrong ’,

28. CONT’D It seeks to, in any given situation , to find that alternative which satisfies the largest number of people and which discomforts the smallest number of people. It therefore concentrates on evaluating consequenses of alternatives. Everyone as a starting point at least is treated equally. UT is seen by classical utilitarians at least as an answer to the question ‘ Which actions are right and wrong” The word ‘right’ here is ambiguous. and in the System of Logic morality is just one ‘department’ of the art of life, the others being ‘ prudence’ and ‘aesthetics ’. Therefore in Crisp R: words, ‘UM is abroad term concerned with the well being and rather than any particular conception of it ’

29. CONT’D Bentham devised a method of itemising, weighting and summing all the 'pleasures and pains‘ which would likely ensue from a course of action, and this he termed his 'felicific calculus'. Given the premise of maximising utility ( or happiness, welfare, benefits , etc . ) , Bentham believed that his calculus of pleasures and pains ( 'costs and benefits' in the modern jargon) could provide answers to moral problems. Modern cost-benefit analysis and Lichfield's planning balance sheet are simply up-to-date versions of Bentham's original calculus.

30. Importance Of UM To Planning Lincoln Allison ( 1 975, p. 74 ) observed: 'The principles which for the most part dominate modern planning . . . in Britain are to be found in a single book: Jeremy Bentham's Principles of Morals and Legislation' Freiman , C:2013 regards utilitarianism as a “normative guide to public affairs ”. It can be used to justify formulation of public policies. It can be used to justify certain actions taken by public authority. Can also be used for the evaluation of plans, public policies or actions taken by public authority.

31. Criticism of UM According to Taylor N (1998:80) A standard criticism of utilitarianism is that the principle of maximising welfare over a population as a whole does not consider how the costs and benefits arising from an action should be distributed amongst a population. Thus it is possible to imagine a planning policy (e.g. a proposal for a new road) which would maximise the welfare of a majority of a city's population, and yet distribute the costs and benefits arising from this development so that sections of the population who are already disadvantaged bear most of the costs, whilst those who are already better off enjoy most of the benefits.

32. RATIONALITY It came out of the age of Enlightenment The age of reason and logic (17 th century) Before that people were prisoned to archives of religious ideas. Rationality was viewed as anti -society and anti –religion Rationality permeated from the natural sciences to social sciences and the whole system of knowledge became revolutionized.

33. CONT’D Rationalism is the branch of philosophy which elevates reason to a central position in the theory of knowledge. Rationalisation refers to the growth of rationality in the different spheres of life or across society as a whole . Rationality is contrasted with hunch or intuition. The Oxford English Dictionary defines the word rational as ‘’exercising one’s reason in a proper manner, having sound judgement, sane’ Generally Rationality is connected with the themes of theory , knowledge and reason. Within Planning thought the use of Rationality is related to with the exercise of reason.

34. CONT’D Taylor (1982) in Breheny defines Rationality as thus: “we have a rational grasp of something when we can articulate it, ie , distinguish and lay out the different features of the matter in perspicuous order” According to Faludi , Rationality is a methodological rule to be applied in distinguishing responsible decisions from ill-founded one. Therefore Rationality is seen as a virtue in planning methodology for it establishes that decisions should be judged /tested against the rationality principle . Carley, M (1987:10) says that to be rational is to select a course of action, from a group of possible courses of action that course which maximises output for given input

35. Rational Process View of Planning The concept of Rationality gave birth to the Rational Process View of Planning as it superseded the Systems View of Planning. This latter view of planning did not address the best method, or process, of doing planning. Carley, M (1987:10) and Taylor N (1998) argue that Rational Process View of Planning originated from general theory about rational decision-making and was adopted and applied to town planning Taylor N (1998) indicates that two other factors provided a favourable context for the development o f the rational process view . In the US generally there was an increasing interest in corporate styles of management and decision-making in government.

36. CONT’D Secondly, there was a renewed faith in the application of 'science' to policy making - not only in applying the findings of scientific research to policy but also in relation to the policy-making process itself (hence the talk of the 'policy sciences ', 'scientific management', etc .).

37. The Rational Planning Process Model The rational planning model has five sequential and continuous stages. According to Carley , M (1987:10) a rational man will have to undertake the following activities , A problem which requires action is identified & goals , values & objectives related to the problem are classified and organised. All important possible ways of solving the problem or achieving goals and objectives are listed –these are alternative strategies and course of action or policies.. The important consequences which would follow from each alternative strategy are predicted & the probability of those

38. CONT’D consequences occurring is estimated. iv) The consequences of each strategy are then compared to the goals and objectives identified. v) Finally a policy/strategy is selected in which the consequences most closely match goals and objectives or the problem is most nearly solved or most benefit is got from equal cost or equal benefit. What is the utility of the Rationality to Planning?

39. THE POSITIVE AND NORMATIVE APPROACHES TO PLANNING   There are two approaches to planning based on broad philosophical frameworks namely the; Positive/ Positivist / Logical Positivism Approach ( Facts) Normative/ Phenomenological / Humanist Approach (Values ) Philosophy is the science of knowledge and how knowledge is acquired. Planning involves the use of knowledge(information) to deal with societal problems. The issues of methodology and logic are at the core of the planning process in as far as gathering information about the problem is concerned. Planners should know steps that are generally adopted in studying societal problems along with the logic behind them . They should know the various steps (methodology/approach) that are generally adopted in assessing the societal problem along with the logic behind them.

40. CONT’D It is not adequate for planners to just know techniques and methods that are used to assess problems. Planners also need to understand the assumptions underlying various techniques and they need to know the criteria by which they can decide that certain techniques and procedures will be applicable to certain problems and others will not. All this means that it is necessary for the planners to design a methodology for their problems as the same may differ from problem to problem . To this end two approaches have been adapted for use in the planning discipline namely the positive and normative approaches.

41. CONT’D Positive/ Positivist Approach Originated from French Philosopher called August Comte who believed in the supremacy of science as the only method of investigation Is also referred to as the scientific method. It involves use of quantitative techniques in social sciences as an extension from natural sciences. It involves making empirical measurements where objects can be observed and measured . The aim is to generate objective explanation and prediction for social engineering/ social control. Main objective of this approach “is to view the world as it is” as opposed to “ what it ought be” Values, ideologies, and beliefs are ignored and emphasis is put on facts.

42. CONT’D It assumed that science is the study of the real and empirical measurable phenomena and their relationship, that is, we should study things that can be observed and are measurable and there is common and standard method of measurement hence it is called the scientific method. Planning theory is largely biased towards the scientific paradigm (Positivist). This means that when planners are dealing with social phenomena they tend to be calculative, systematic, follow standardized procedures, empirical(rely heavily on verifiable facts). There is no room for personal values, experiences , beliefs, norms. Everything has a scientific connotation

43. CONT’D A scientific approach to social phenomena usually emphasizes objectivity at the expense of subjectivity. In planning discourse to be scientific simply means to apply rational thinking. The positivist paradigm holds that planning is largely an apolitical activity rather than a political activity. The paradigm identifies the planner and his object of study. Here social phenomena is defined or viewed as an object.

44. CONT’D The planner is detached from the society. Total objectivity can only be achieved if certain conditions are met i.e. Patience, open mindedness, reasonable . It defines planning as technical activity . The question to ask is whether planning is an art or science? The positive approach has led to the adoption of functional type of planning (top-down) at the expense of decentralised planning which is system of planning devoid of participation and representation of various interests.

45. Advantages of Positivism Universally accepted Reliability Objectivity Best alternative chosen Allows systematic analysis which generate new ideas .

46. Disadvantages of Positivism Non-Quantifiable aspect- of planning issues are ignored. The approach is rigid and mechanistic. Does not allow participation and representation of various interests and is therefore a poor guide to planning.

47. NORMATIVE APPROACH TO PLANNING Also called the humanistic approach or phenomelogical approach. Was formulated in the late 1960’s and 1970’s . It is pro-humanistic and anti-positivism. It seeks to understand the different “meanings” attached by people to their environment. That is how people understand and interpret their problems. Here focus is on the particular or uniqueness as opposed to universalistic and general approach of the positivist approach. Man is taken as a thinking and active human who interacts /responds to certain stimuli/as opposed to the passivity of human behaviour in the Positivist approach. Main feature is that man should be studied free of preconceived theories that is try to observe things as they are and not to have presuppositions. Make observations first and generalisations (theory) later basing on the observations.

48. Methodology of this approach is participatory observation -in social sciences this can anthropological and psychological. It is an inductive method /case study oriented method which leads to in-depth knowledge and case history of particular cases. It combines both existing facts and values of the people in order to improve understanding and not only explanation for its own sake but to understand the world better. In this case there is focus on man’s interaction with his physical environment .

49. Advantages of The Normative Approach Has given rise to the Humanistic Approach to Planning. This came up in the 1960’s and 1970’s in response to the shortcomings of the Positive approaches. Aim was to develop socially relevant approaches which seek to explain human behaviour. The Normative Approach appears to be useful to planners in various ways Allows the participation of subjects. It is more action-oriented in that the planner experiments together with the people- the planner liaises with the beneficiaries. It is a learning approach to planning which makes it more realistic as the beneficiaries participate in the planning process.

50. CONT’D Planning under this approach is responsive as it focuses on specific problems and people’s essential needs are addressed. Planning gives us essential more in-depth knowledge which is more relevant to planning as it focuses on the particular case.

51. Disadvantages. There are practical problems related to the methodology ‘Time consuming- looking at thick case histories. It is too embracing and cumbersome –it takes everything of a society and some aspects may be irrelevant. It is limited in its application to the outside world- not universal as it focuses on one particular problem/case hence its unscientific. Can generate some arguments and controversies. Planning has some quantitative aspects which may be difficult to understand.

52. Cont’d