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JPER, Volume 16, Number 2, Winter 1996: AbstractsAfter the Plans: Methods to Evaluate the Implemention Success of Plans Emily Talen Abstract In light of the continuing and ever-stronger attacks on the legitimacy of the planning profession, planning scholars have recently been calling for quantitative studies that support the notion that planning matters. What is needed are methodologies that can be used by planners to assess the degree of impact their plans have had on actual urban development and, perhaps more important, on the achievement of planning goals. Such methods would differ from existing evaluation research in that the focus would be on assessing what has in fact occurred in the built environment, rather than on evaluating various plan alternatives before implementation. In this paper, I outline various plan assessment methods that delineate how one particular aspect of plans, identifying where public facilities are to be located, can be evaluated.
Preferences for State and Regional Planning Efforts Among California Mayors and City Planning Directors Abbie Kanarek and Mark Baldassare Abstract Several states have enacted or are considering comprehensive state planning laws. There is little research on local officials’ support for state planning efforts, despite the considerable evidence that their attitudes can influence policy outcomes. A survey of California mayors and city planning directors shows strong support for state planning efforts, though more in the domains of "system maintenance" functions (e.g., water, transportation) than for "life style" functions (e.g., land use, police). Resistance to regional planning efforts is found, however. City planning directors look more favorably toward having the state government, rather than regional governments, involved in planning efforts. Local officials give support to only minor roles for the regional-level components of state planning.
Convergence Trends in Formal and Informal Housing Markets: The Case of Turkey Ayse Pamuk Abstract This paper highlights the economic and policy significance of informal institutional arrangements (ignored in past research) governing housing transactions citywide that permeate both formal and informal sectors, blurring the conventional formal/informal distinction. It documents the convergence in formal and informal housing markets in Turkey by focusing on the "build and sell system," an institutional arrangement between land owners and small scale contractors/entrepreneurs governing multistory housing construction. Other informalization trends in formal subdivisions such as noncompliance with building codes (induced by amnesty laws), and formalization trends in gecekondu settlements such as commercialization and densification (accelerated by municipal regularization programs and land pressures) depict the convergence.
Formalizing the Informal? The Transformation of Cairo’s Refuse Collection System Ragui Assaad Abstract The paper examines recent attempts to bring Cairo’s traditional refuse collection system under municipal control. Although essentially informal, this system had a well-defined set of internal rules, rights, and sanctioning mechanisms that evolved over several decades in response to a changing external environment. Attempts by the municipal authorities to "modernize" waste collection in Cairo by issuing licenses to large corporate contractors amounted to a confrontation between its legal regulatory authority and the existing informal system. After a process of contestation, mediation, negotiation, and adjustment, a new arrangement emerged in which the informal service providers selectively adopted institutional forms that could be legally recognized by municipal authorities, while retaining the personalized and flexible practices that were central to their informal system.
Planning the New Urban University: The Role of Planning Departments Wim Wiewel, Virginia Carlson & Suzanne Friedman Abstract Funding constraints and increased criticism of institutions of higher education are forcing many universities to reformulate their missions or develop new strategic plans. For a variety of reasons urban issues appear prominently in the new mission statements of universities. This article explores the extent of this new urban emphasis and its reflection in proposed new university structures, processes, and programs. Because urban planning is the academic discipline most explicitly and specifically concerned with urban areas, one might expect urban planning departments to play a lead role in these redefinitions of mission and new initiatives and take advantage of their knowledge base to advance their standing in the institutions. A survey of universities that have engaged in strategic planning and mission formulation shows, however, that the role of urban planning departments is fairly limited. The article concludes with a discussion of possible explanations for this limited role and an identification of areas of opportunity.
Instruction Deserving a Wider Audience: An Interactive Process for Graduate Student Writing in Landscape Architecture and Planning Donna L. Erickson Abstract This paper describes and analyzes an intensive semester-long writing exercise used in a graduate landscape architecture and planning course. Writing as a discovery technique, not merely as a communication tool, is promoted. In a course titled Landscape Planning and Design in Rural Environments, students choose and refine a topic, prepare multiple drafts, receive and give peer review, complete a final manuscript, and submit their work for publication to a self-selected audience. This technique has been evaluated positively by students and has improved students’ research and writing. Several student papers have been published. This technique can be applied in a broad range of courses in planning and design. |
