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ADVOCACY AND PLURALISM IN PLANNING
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1965
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Public PolicyPlanning Support SystemCommunity DevelopmentPlanning FunctionAbstract City PlanningPlanning PracticeUrban PlanningPluralism In PlanningSocial SciencesPolicy PlanningAppropriate PolicyDevelopment PlanPolitical ScienceGlobal Urban PlanningCivic EngagementPlanning Theory
City planning determines policy, and in a democracy policy is decided through political debate, making the choice of policy a matter of preference rather than fact. The study argues that planners should act as advocates for government and other groups, produce plural city plans reflecting diverse interests, and politicize planning by embedding it within executive and legislative branches to broaden its scope.
Abstract City planning is a means for determining policy, appropriate policy in a democracy is determined through political debate. The right course of action is always a matter of choice, never of fact. Planners should engage in the political process as advocates of the interests of government and other groups. Intelligent choice about public policy would be aided if different political, social, and economic interests produced city plans. Plural plans rather than a single agency plan should be presented to the public. Politicizing the planning process requires that the planning function be located in either or both the executive and legislative branches and the scope of planning be broadened to include all areas of interest to the public.