JPER, Volume 19, Number 2, Winter 1999: Abstracts

Institutionalist Analysis, Communicative Planning, and Shaping Places

Patsy Healey

Abstract

This article reviews the developments in the new institutionalism in social science and their relation to communicative planning theory, with emphasis on the relevance to the practical task of responding to demands for a more place-conscious evolution in public policy. I trace the evolution of forms of governance that are more responsive to the multiple claims and social worlds of civil society and include discussion of the social-constructionist conception of institutions, the significance of actors and networks, the interrelation between structure and agency, and the cultural dimensions of social networks. The implications for developing governance capability or institutional capacity are also explored. In reviewing communicative planning theory, I discuss how Habermas’s approach to communicative action may be reworked or positioned in an institutionalist perspective. Finally, I explore how these developments can be used to develop understanding and strategies for evolving more inclusionary approaches to integrated, place-focused public policy.

Tore Sager

Abstract

The most powerful of the social choice theorems are also highly significant to planning. The Gibbard-Satterthwaite theorem, for instance, states that every procedure for choosing from among at least three outcomes is either dictatorial or liable to manipulation, which is narrowly conceptualized as a false revelation of preferences. Planning provides opportunities for many other types of manipulation, but there is not much room for public planning in standard social choice theory, where the ideal is that social decisions should be independent of the procedures leading up to them. However, institutionally enriched social choice theory introduces assumptions about agenda formation and other organizational procedures. The effect is that the entire planning process is seen to have potential impact on the final decision. A planning version of the Gibbard-Satterthwaite theorem can then be formulated, which implies that one should not expect utility maximizing planners to always tell the truth in organizational settings where the agents act strategically in pursuit of their own interest.

Peter Ratcliffe

Abstract

Polyethnic societies present some key implications for planners. Discrimination against, and harassment of, minorities is worryingly universal, and planning professions in all societies need to recognize and address these issues. Planning practice needs to reflect an awareness of the implications of difference while incorporating an understanding of processes of social change in relation to minority and migrant groups, specifically, changes in household size and/or structure and orientation toward the housing market. The core empirical data of the paper comes from the 1991 Census of Population and a major study of housing needs in a large district in northern England. Although focused substantively on British debates and data, most of the concerns addressed in this paper have an element of universality.

Michael Hibbard

Abstract

An underdeveloped area of planning history is the role of federal policy in community development in the American West. Federal policy shaped the West not just in some vague overall sense; its actions provided the impetus for the creation of specific communities in specific places to take advantage of specific opportunities. This paper describes the attempt to create permanent, stable natural resource-based communities in the west. I begin with a description of the problem situation in the early part of the century. Next, I discuss efforts at policy reform, focusing on the example of the Pacific Northwest "timber belt." I then use examples of community development drawn from experiences in the "timber belt" to illustrate the emergence of the federal-corporate collaboration. Finally, I discuss the consequences for the region and its communities.

Marina Alberti

Abstract

This paper reviews the empirical evidence on the relationships between urban patterns and various dimensions of environmental quality and performance. I first examine approaches to measuring urban environmental performance, drawing on the concepts of carrying capacity, ecological footprint, environmental space, and appropriated ecosystem area. Since cities affect and are affected by ecological systems far beyond their physical boundaries, I propose including interactions at the local, regional, and global scales in the definition of environmental performance. I then systematically review the current literature on the relationship between four structural variables typically used to describe urban patterns--form, density, grain, and connectivity--and four dimensions of environmental performance--sources, sinks, ecological support systems, and human well-being. I conclude that what we measure and the scale of analysis affect the direction of observable urban impacts. We must consider these factors as we select measures of urban environmental performance.

Uniqueness in Globalization: Physical Development of Traditional Settlements in Southwestern Saudi Arabia

Mohammed Abdullah Eben Saleh

Abstract

The traditional settlements of the Asir region of southwestern Saudi Arabia were developed primarily for agriculture and the utilization of available natural resources. During the last four decades, the economy has moved away from its agricultural base, although it still contributes an important share to the economy. The rapid development and growth of the building industry in Saudi Arabia has resulted in an emerging globalization trend, whereby the settlements witnessed drastic changes in their social and physical structures. This paper focuses on globalization and conflicts surrounding the modernization of traditional societies and identifies development issues likely to dominate the future of Asir. The globalization process, mainly the result of foreign (mostly Western) influence and the rapid expansion of the Saudi economy, has been detrimental to the preservation of local traditional architecture and to the quality of life in traditional communities, especially the settlements of the Asir region. This work views the effects of this process and proposes some areas, including government policy, climate and terrain, and religion, that may be exploited to help the country maintain a sense of uniqueness in a global world.

Donald A. Krueckeberg

Abstract

Pressures to finance and promote economic development throughout Africa are linked to policy efforts to secure land tenure by advancing private property regimes over common property traditions. In this paper, I examine three prominent arguments invoked to explain, support, or oppose these policies: the story of Scarcity, the story of the Overbearing State, and the story of Traditional Culture. The paper critically examines the claims of each of these stories and argues that while each is useful, none, alone, is adequate. Competing stories explain or defend competing tenures, much as they do in American property debates.

Andy Thornley

Abstract

During the 1980s planning in Britain was conditioned by Thatcherism. I explore whether the ideological influence continued into the 1990s, after Thatcher’s 1990 resignation. The case for a significant change rests upon three dimensions, a greater stress on environmental issues, the resurrection of the development plan and new participatory forms of urban policy. I also explore a case study of London and discuss the implications of the "New Labour" government. I conclude that there was a significant weakening of Thatcherism during the 1990s, although the basic approach was retained. Under Blair, however, a new ideological framework with an emphasis on consensus signals a fresh approach.

William W. Goldsmith

Abstract

This paper reports on the author’s experience teaching urban studies and planning to 20 North American undergraduates in Rome. For these students, the contrasts between the U.S. city and the European city provided great intellectual stimulation and outweighed the cultural contrasts. The experience of seeing and using the benefits of social democracy, or its still functioning remnants, was powerfully impressive. The students developed a sensitivity to their urban surroundings. Worked into writing requirements, their observations brought them to new and sharper perceptions about city life in the United States.

Mildred Warner

Bruce Stiftel

Errata for:

Ivonne Audirac, Stated Preference for Pedestrian Proximity: An Assessment of New Urbanist Sense of Community, 19(1): 53-66;