JPER, Volume 16, Number 1, Fall 1996: Abstracts

Report from the Editors

Niraj Verma

Abstract

Can rationality and pragmatism be integrated? By responding to some of the most compelling arguments against the rational paradigm, this paper uses the pragmatism of William James to construct a new notion of pragmatic rationality in planning. This rationality looks towards consequences rather than causes, integrates facts and values, and rejects the search for ultimate foundations.

Hooshang Amirahmadi and David Gladstone

Abstract

This paper employs the concepts of the state and civil society to explain the development process. It theorizes development as a dynamic and non-continuous process of state-civil society interaction. It argues that sustainable development initially requires a strong developmentalist state that allows for the growth of a vibrant civil society. At some point in this process, civil society will muster enough strength to challenge the state. If this transitional stage is successfully managed, the two forces will reach a balance of power that allows the country to enter the sustainable development stage, also characterized by democracy. The paper illustrates the theory through historical analysis and concludes by drawing out the theory’s planning and policy implications.

Joseph L. Nasr

Abstract

This paper focuses on the place of three issues (continuity, unity and centrality) within the massive projects that have been proposed and initiated for the centers of the two long-divided cities of Beirut and Berlin. The issues are relevant to modern large-scale rebuilding and to other cases where a historic urban core undergoes a dramatic change in circumstance which enables a radical transformation. The paper highlights the place of choice-making and the way choices relate to and defy structures at hand when the city planning process encounters extreme situations. This raises questions on the links between structure and agency in urban settings.

Andreas Faludi

Abstract

The source of inspiration for talking about European planning doctrine is a study of Dutch planning. After having given an account of current moves towards establishing a planning framework for the European Union of, since 1 January 1995, fifteen member states, the paper presents the notion of planning doctrine. If it ever came to pass, European doctrine would entail a Europe-wide principle of spatial organization and planning principles which match the nature of European institutions, in particular the subsidiarity principle governing the relations between the European Union and its member states. Research in progress into the possibilities of such doctrine is what the paper discusses next. It concludes that European doctrine is surrounded by many uncertainties but that research into it is intriguing.

Instruction

Nancey Green Leigh and Judith Kenny

Abstract

To augment the economic and political analysis of cities which is the traditional content of urban planning curricula, the authors developed a course titled Cinema City. The objective of the course is to expand the students’ understanding of both how people respond to life in cities and how this response is in fact influenced by the images they see depicted in film. Striking arguments can be made that our willingness to address urban problems is influenced by our history of such popular images. This paper outlines the authors’ experience with the course, indicating both the pedagogical benefits and scholarly value of such an approach.

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