JPER, Volume 16, Number 3, Spring 1997: Abstracts

Lawrence J. Vale

Abstract

It is often assumed that most residents of large public housing projects in America’s inner cities would welcome the opportunity to leave such places. This study, based on in-depth interviews with 267 residents of five public housing developments in Boston, examines the reasons why two-thirds of these respondents say they would like to stay put, and also discusses the factors that make the other one-third eager to depart. The article concludes by attempting to reconcile these findings with a central dilemma facing urban planners and housing policymakers: how to sustain stable communities in public housing while also increasing the opportunities for residents to move to less impoverished neighborhoods.

Kem Lowry, Peter Adler, and Neal Milner

Abstract

The use of new group process techniques in the review of projects and in developing plans and policies can result in meetings that are more civil, more efficient, more satisfying to participants, and more useful in terms of the information that is generated. However, planners need to be aware that facilitated processes can be used to deflect discussion of value issues, to control difficult participants, and to manipulate participative processes. While the techniques of improved facilitation practices are much discussed and new checklists for improved facilitation tactics are being developed, larger issues about deliberative politics, about the relationships between facilitated meetings and agency agendas, and about the criteria for appraising the outcomes of facilitated processes are not yet getting the attention they deserve. This essay describes the extensive use of group processes for planning in a variety of substantive settings in Hawaii. Based on this experience, we offer some norms of good practice that indicate how we might be more attentive to the micro-politics of group processes and their use in planning processes.

Sanda Kaufman and Janet L. Smith

Abstract

To date, guidelines and strategies for the siting process, including planner intervention, have arisen from conflict surrounding locally unwanted land uses (LULUs). The task of changing an existing unwanted land use has not received equal attention, and this task poses special problems for parties involved in the decision-making process. The issues, the space of alternative solutions, and some consequences of limited planner involvement are illustrated with a case: the closing down of the GSX Chemical Services of Ohio hazardous waste processing facility in Cleveland. The unpredictability and poor quality of outcomes, as well as the costs of conflict to the host community, illustrated by this case suggest the need for proactive planner participation in such changes. We use the GSX case to examine specific aspects of change in existing unwanted land uses and the potential benefits of using planners’ skills and their position as active negotiators on behalf of the public interest. We explore some ways in which planner intervention could enable a transparent decision-making process that is inclusive of all concerns, whether represented or not, and that is based on accurate and shared information.

Eric J. Heikkila and William Davis

Abstract

Conventional fiscal impact analysis, as applied by many planners, uses inputs as a proxy measure for outputs. We argue that it is the impacts of urban development on outputs, not on inputs, that are of fundamental concern. Moreover, we provide evidence that inputs are often a poor proxy for outputs, and so we call upon the planning profession to rethink its approach to fiscal impact analysis. To this end we outline a conceptual framework for fiscal impacts and articulate a strategy by which it can be applied across a range of diverse services provided by local governments.

Christopher Shove and Richard Anderson

Abstract

The emerging democratic and privatization reforms are shaping city planning practice in Russia. This paper provides a brief history of city planning, a typical schema of city governance, and describes some of the effects of democratic reform and privatization related to city planning. Also covered are general points about city planning education in Russia and a conclusion on probable city planning practice outcomes from the current societal context.

Strategic Marketing Committee, ACSP

1996 Chester Rapkin Award for the Best Article in Volume 15: Acceptance Speech