Reflective Planning Practice: Theory, Cases, and Methods

Reflective Planning Practice: Theory, Cases, and Methods uses structured, first-person reflection to reveal the artistry of planning practice. The value of professional reflection is widely recognized, but there is a difference between acknowledging it and doing it. This book takes up that challenge, providing planners’ reflections on past practice as well as prompts for reflecting in the midst of planning episodes. It explains a reflection framework and employs it in seven case studies written by planning educators who also practice. The cases reveal practical judgments made during the planning episode and takeaways for practice, as the planners used logic and emotion, and applied convention and invention. The practical judgments are explained from the perspective of the authors’ personal experiences, purposes, and professional style, and their interpretation of the rich context that underpins the cases including theories, sociopolitical aspects, workplace setting, and roles. The book seeks to awaken students and practitioners to the opportunities of a pragmatic, reflective approach to planning practice.

Richard Willson is Professor in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona (Cal Poly Pomona). Over his career he has worked to link planning scholarship and practice. Dr. Willson is the author of A Guide for the Idealist: Launching and Navigating Your Planning Career (2018) and extends this interest to the American Planning Association Blog Series, Launching Your Planning Career: A Guide for Idealists. Dr. Willson is also an expert on transportation planning, parking supply and management, and climate change planning. His 2013 book Parking Reform Made Easy provides a method for reforming minimum parking requirements. Parking Management for Smart Growth (2015) provides a strategic approach to parking management in the context of a sharing economy. Dr. Willson began his planning career as a practitioner and maintains a transportation consulting practice with regional agencies, local cities, and developers of urban infill projects.