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11.200 Planning & Institutional Processes (Domestic) | |
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M.I.T. Department of Urban Studies and Planning Fall 1998 11.200 PLANNING AND INSTITUTIONAL PROCESSES Faculty: Langley Keyes Office: 9-517 X31540 lkeyes@mit.edu Sandra Lambert Office: W31-302 X30758 sandra@mit.edu Instructors: Jason Corburn Office: 9-511 x3-2025 Janice Goldman Office: 9-511 x3-2025 Class: First Day of Class Stella Room, 7-334 Course Objective and Perspective PIP is designed to meet three objectives: (1) to introduce you to aspects of contemporary planning practice and its historical context (2) to provide a setting for debates about the most efficient means for resolving planning dilemmas (3) to help you build your writing and presentations skills as well as your personal sense of where you fit in the world of planning. The course emphasises the Department's commitment to social progress through planning. The key elements of that commitment, found in the DUSP long-range plan, are: greater social and economic equality; commitment to democratic decision making, emphasizing the individual, government, and corporate responsibility; a belief in the necessity of governmental action in the face of market failures; and a focus on continuous improvement in the quality of life through institutional intervention aimed to improve the ways places can meet the needs of diverse populations. Today's planning practitioners face significant dilemmas brought about by the complexity of problems they frame and shape, in various roles and institutional settings among them are the following: o The planning profession has become more specialized at the same time that problems which planners must face have become more complex and cross-disciplinary in nature. o Global economic interdependence has increased, but distributional inequities have been exacerbated. o Conflicts emerging from racial and ethnic diversity, and social class distinctions are rising, while efforts to affirm diversity in communities are a crucial foundation for planning efforts to succeed. o Environmental impacts impede planning initiatives in many areas, at the same that there is broader recognition of the importance of quality of life issues in the various planning disciplines. o Technological breakthroughs in communications and other areas have altered traditional community forms, simultaneous with the rise in local community influence. This course is designed to look critically at these dilemmas in practice and to provide ideas as to how social progress can be translated into a professional stance from which to carry out one's practice. We have dubbed that stance "the four-way Janus", a perspective that looks back for an understanding of history that has shaped the present while looking forward to a vision of a more desirable future. At the same time, practitioners look down to local institutions and up at national economic trends. We believe that by carefully analyzing these requirements and reflecting on your own aspirations and orientation to the profession you can prepare yourselves to meet the challenges of the future. Course Design Planning and Institutional Processes is organized in three parts. Part 1, Planning Evolution in the U.S., focuses on how planning practice has changed during the past century and how these changes are reflected in today's profession. Part 2, Planning Interventions, examines strategic planning in regions, cities, and neighborhoods, with an emphasis on both the content of plans and the processes through which they are developed. Part 3, Reflecting on Practice, explores the challenges associated with building knowledge, continually learning from one's experience, and reframing community planning interventions as that learning occurs. Guest speakers, both DUSP faculty members and local practitioners, will join us for selected class sessions focused on their particular areas of expertise. Class Preparation and Participation: This course uses the case teaching method. To participate in each class discussion, you will be required to analyze a case study about a planning topic and to read background articles in advance. Most readings are drawn from the course textbook, Readings in Planning Theory, edited by Scott Campbell and Susan Fainstein, Oxford, U.K.: Blackwell Publishers, 1996, which is available at the Kendall Harvard Coop and on reserve at Rotch library. Other background materials are included in a three-part reader, which will be available at the graphic arts department and on reserve at Rotch library. Please note that the reading assignments and questions for each class discussion as well as detailed assignments can be found in the readers. At the beginning and end of the course, classes will include all students. To encourage full participation in discussions, Wednesday classes from September 30 to November 4 will be scheduled as two smaller classes at separate locations. These small group sessions are specified in the syllabus by an asterisk. Students from each of the department's curriculum cluster groups will be asked to take a lead role in one of the class sessions. This innovation, which originated with last year's students, offers the opportunity for the full class to benefit from the insights and expertise of class members with specialized backgrounds and interests. In so doing, students from each cluster area are asked to discuss class material in advance and identify centrally important issues which they wish to raise. The following classes are assigned to each cluster area: Environmental Policy Group September 23; City Design and Development October 13; Housing, Community, and Economic Development November 2; Planning Support Systems November 16. Reflections on Planning Practice: Assignments scheduled throughout the semester are designed to provide you with opportunities to reflect on your own career aspirations and the planning profession as a whole. Some assignments will be conducted independently, while others will be carried out in teams. Background reading will also be required for the completion of each assignment. Both independent analyses and think pieces are due in class the day they will be discussed, unless otherwise noted in the syllabus. No late papers will be accepted. (1) Independent Analyses of Dilemmas in Practice. You will write two independent analyses about professional practice: first, a planning problem- and process-framing challenge in Beverly, Massachusetts; and, second, your retrospective analysis of the Beverly case and the Madrona case, following class discussions. (2) "Chase-A-Planner." Each year, DUSP alumni host first-year MCP students at their respective organizations. This short-term "mentorship" provides you with the opportunity to select an alumnus whose current planning position and practice are of interest to you. In preparation, you will read class readings about contemporary planning roles as well as selected profiles of planners, meet with the course instructors, and write about your own aspirations in the field. The names and organizational affiliations of participating planners will be posted during the third week of September. You and your planner will schedule time to meet on the afternoon of October 7, prior to a DUSP-hosted networking reception with planners, second-year MCP students, and faculty. In addition, planners have agreed to host two half-day sessions with you: first, an opportunity for you to interview and observe them at their organizations; second, an opportunity to attend a meeting and debrief them about its significance in their work. At the end of this activity, you will analyze your experience in the context of class readings and discussions. This paper is due in class on November 4. (3) Public Hearings. We will advise you about opportunities to attend public hearings throughout the semester. Attendance at these hearings is optional. If you choose to attend and thoughtfully critique a hearing, you will receive extra course credit. (4) Request for Proposals. At the end of the semester, you will be asked to respond to a request for proposal (RFP) with team members from the class. The RFPs will be drawn from a request for external planning consultation by a city. In addition to preparing a written response, which will describe the team's strategy, approach, and terms of engagement, each team will be given 15 minutes within which to present its ideas to the full class and a panel of experts. Please note that class Thursday evening, December 3, is scheduled from 5:30-9:00 pm to provide adequate time for the teams to make their presentations. Grades: Your participation in each of the above course components will be reflected in your course grade as follows: 1. Class participation 35% thoughtful classroom participation and think pieces 2. Independent analyses and reflections on practice 40% Beverly; Beverly/Madrona; Chase-A-Planner 3. Team RFP Response and Presentation 25% PART I: Planning Evolution In The U.S. September 9: Introduction to Course and Planning Context Assigned Readings in Course Textbook NOTE: This introductory class will not be built around a case study. Advance reading is required to participate in class discussion. Scott Campbell and Susan S. Fainstein, "Introduction: The Structure and Debates of Planning Theory," in Campbell and Fainstein, pp. 1-11. Richard E. Klosterman, "Introduction" and "Arguments for and Against Planning," chapter 6 in Campbell and Fainstein, pp. 148-168. William H. Wilson, "The Glory, Destruction, and Meaning of the City Beautiful Movement," chapter 3 in Campbell and Fainstein, pp. 68-102. September 14: Planning Context: The Roots of Comprehensive Planning General Plan for Boston: Preliminary Report 1950 Think Piece Due in Class: Ambitions and Aspirations in Planning September 23 - October 1: Chase-A-Planner: Select and Contact Planning Practitioners September 16: Planning Context: Urban Renewal in American Cities Case: Boston's South End September 21: Comprehensive Planning in Cities: Participation Case: Civic Vision: Participatory Planning in Cleveland September 23: Comprehensive Planning in Cities: Sustainability Case: The Seattle Plan Environmental Policy Group Lead Discussion Role PART II: Planning Interventions September 28: Planning in Cities: Creating A Stick Case: Beverly Subsidized Housing and the Anti-Snob Zoning Act Independent Analysis Due in Class: Independent Case Critique *September 30: Planning in Cities: Achieving Environmental Justice Case: Siting An Asphalt Plant in the City of Madrona Team Results Due by Noon in Keye's Folder October 2: Assignment Due: Reflections on Beverly and Madrona due by Noon in Lang Keyes' Folder outside 9-517 October 5: Planning in Cities: Evaluating Strategic "Fit" (Guest Speaker Szold) Case: Strategic Planning in Burlington *October 7: Planning in Cities: Placing Ideas in Context Case: American Dream Mall Evening Reception: First Meeting with Planner Schedule On-Site Visit(s) Between October 8 and 31 October 12: Holiday Class is scheduled on Tuesday this week. October 13: Planning in Cities: Imaging the City (Guest Speaker Frenchman) Case: Why Lowell and Not Lawrence? City Design and Development Lead Role *October 14: Planning: Contemporary Planning Practice Case: The Question of a Bilingual Approach to Participation October 19: Planning in Regions: Achieving Regional Equity Case: Minneapolis *October 21: Planning in Regions: Adapting The Regional Strategy Case: Philadelphia October 26: Planning in Neighborhoods: Who Speaks for the Grass Roots? (Guest Speaker Colon) Case: Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative (DSNI) *October 28: Planning in Neighborhoods: Reclaiming Industrial Space Case: Egleston Square Brownfield Redevelopment November 2: Planning in Neighborhoods: Building Community Through Housing Case: Park Road Housing, Community, and Economic Development Lead Discussion Role PART III: Reflecting on Practice *November 4: Reflecting on Practice Assignment Due: Chase-A-Planner Reflections November 9: Designing Effective Planning Processes Case: Reevaluation of a City Planning Process (Guest Speaker Briggs) November 11: Holiday November 13: Special DA/PIP Presentation optional participation details will follow November 16: Creating Community Knowledge (Guest Speaker Ferreira) Case: MBHP Planning Support Systems Lead Discussion Role November 18: Reflections on the Changing Context of Planning (Guest Speakers DUSP Alumni) November 23: Competing for Planning Opportunities Detailed Instructions for RFP Assignment Handed Out in Class RFP Team Preparation November 25: No Scheduled Class RFP Team Preparation November 30: No Scheduled Class Instructors Will Convene for Questions RFP Team Preparation December 2: No Scheduled Class Final RFP Team Preparation December 3: RFP Presentations: W-31-310 5:30-9:00pm Panel and Community Invited December 7: Future of Planning Practice Think Piece Due: Final Course Reflections (Note: This will be a combined class with D.A. P.I.P.) December 9: Course Wrap-up & Reflections | |
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