Saturday, May 8, 2021

A New Role for Planners

A planner is:

An Enabler. Planners perform a positive role, as they enable development to proceed and allow developers, environmentalists, the public, and others involved in the future of towns and cities a

voice and stake in sustainable development issues.

A Facilitator. A planner undertakes an essential role in facilitating development and environmental protection as well as facilitates an on-going process of discussion and negotiation with and between a range of actors and institutions that shape the future of urban areas.

A Choreographer. A planner plays a pivotal mediation role between different interest groups and vested interests in the city, and choreographs the various pressures and conflicts of interests that typically come to the fore in discussions over the future of cities.

A Strategist. A planner manages a complex political and policy-making process in urban areas that requires long- and medium term planning and attendant strategic thinking across short-term needs and conflicts.

An Adviser. A planner is expected to advise his or her employer, and other actors and institutions in an urban area, imparting professional opinion based on the development of unique knowledge and skills, and to do so in an impartial way.

An Educator. A planner works in an environment where his or her decisions, or those of others in the urban area with a responsibility for the future of cities, need to be disseminated among professionals and the public at large, and where decisions, choices and the rationale behind them are adequately explained

 

Source: Jones (2002). Suggestions for ‘Value-Added by The Professional Planner, UCL.


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