Planning Ideas That Matter: Livability, Territoriality, Governance, and Reflective Practice - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 026251768X ISBN 13: 9780262517683

Publisher: The MIT Press, 2012

Synopsis

Leading theorists and practitioners trace the evolution of key ideas in urban and regional planning over the last hundred years

Over the past hundred years of urbanization and suburbanization, four key themes have shaped urban and regional planning in both theory and practice: livability, territoriality, governance, and reflective professional practice. Planning Ideas That Matter charts the trajectories of these powerful planning ideas in an increasingly interconnected world.

The contributors, leading theorists and practitioners, discuss livability in terms of such issues as urban density, land use, and the relationship between the built environment and natural systems; examine levels of territorial organization, drawing on literature on regionalism, metropolitanism, and territorial competition; describe the ways planning connects to policy making and implementation in a variety of political contexts; and consider how planners conceive of their work and learn from practice.

Throughout, the emphasis is on how individuals and institutions―including government, business, professional organizations, and universities―have framed planning problems and ideas. The focus is less on techniques and programs than on the underlying concepts that have animated professional discourse over the years. The book is recommended for classroom use, as a reference for scholars and practitioners, and as a history of planning for those interested in the development of the field.

About this title

About the Author:

Bishwapriya Sanyal is Ford International Professor of Urban Development and Planning at MIT.

Review:

With virtually all contributors taking a historical approach, this volume of benchmark essays provides critical perspectives on some of the most important planning conversations in North America over the past ninety years. Written by senior academic practitioners with impeccable credentials, Planning Ideas That Matter will become obligatory reading for generations of graduate students.

―John Friedmann, Honorary Professor in the School of Community and Regional Planning, University of British Columbia

In domains from livability to territoriality, from governance to professional practice, these chapters show us how and why familiar but fundamental planning ideas make a difference. Portraying historical and contemporary concerns in an ambitious and vivid panorama, these chapters provide both a compelling overview of, and a serious intellectual introduction to, the theory and practice of city and regional planning.

―John Forester, Professor of City and Regional Planning, Cornell University

Planning Ideas That Matter is an outstanding collection of original articles that exemplify the best of reflective and discursive practice. It deserves to be widely read, and has the potential to alter future conversations about key ideas that are shaping our collective future. I highly recommend it.

―Jim Throgmorton, Emeritus Professor in the School of Urban and Regional Planning, University of Iowa

About this edition

• Publisher: The MIT Press
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 026251768X
• ISBN 13: 9780262517683
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 422
• Editor: Sanyal Bishwapriya, Vale Lawrence J., Rosan Christina D.