Problematising responsibility in planning theory and practice: On seeing the middle of the string?

Spatial planners are often told that they must be responsible to ensure equitable and democratic planning processes, or to ensure the sustainability of our communities and wider planet. The words ‘responsible’ and ‘responsibility’ are readily assumed to be an unambiguous ethical stance that all spatial planners understand and undertake. Does this mean that when our planning outcomes are neither equitable nor sustainable (as in many cases), that we have failed in our responsibility? More fundamentally, what does responsibility actually mean and imply for our practices?In this monograph we problematise the concept of responsibility as a social construct from diverse theoretical perspectives. These perspectives draw on a tradition of duty, responsibility as delineation of the good, responsibility to the other regardless of proximity, and responsibility as the ability to act and accept liability for the consequences in ambiguous situations while allowing the potential for future radical betterment. We take empirical examples from the planning literature to demonstrate the implications of the various interpretations of responsibility and question each position through a lens of ideological analysis and critique prior to evaluating each perspective for its appropriateness in planning ethics and practice.We suggest that our questions are often undecidable and that ‘responsibility is like a string that we can only see the middle of. Both ends are out of sight’ [(McFee, 1916). Casuals of the sea: The voyage of a soul. New York: Doubleday]. We conclude by proposing a contemporary response to the conceptualisation of responsibility in spatial planning. This is a response predicated on the avoidance of avoidance in a globalising world.     

深圳市光明新区中央公园概念规划方案国际咨询活动回顾与评析

介绍了深圳市光明新区中央公园概念规划方案国际咨询活动的过程,并总结了这类概念规划咨询活动的技术支持工作流程,重点对本次竞赛的优胜及入围方案进行了方案解读,尤其是阐述了它们在农业景观、环境伦理、传统文化和绿地认养等4个方面对于我国风景园林规划与设计实践的意义。     

建筑道德底线的思考——论环境伦理学在建筑类院校的建设

工程建设是人类重要的实践活动之一,建筑类工科院校承担着输送合格建筑工程师的重责大任。随着工程对自然的干预和破坏力越来越大、后果越来越危险,工程师需要发展一种新的责任意识,即环境伦理责任。文章阐述并揭示了目前建筑业界环境伦理学的现状和成因,对今后的环境伦理学学科建设提出了研究思路和实施策略,以期引起工程师对建筑道德底线的深入思考。     

CDIO模式下农林院校城乡规划专业实践教学体系改革

文章借鉴国外CDIO工程教育模式,针对农林院校城乡规划专业实践教学现状,以华南农业大学为例,提出构建多层次理论知识体系、注重综合实践技能训练和培养良好职业道德素养的农林院校城乡规划专业CDIO模式开放式实践教学体系。     

城乡规划专业教育中伦理意识培养途径研究

规划师的职业实践和社会角色决定了规划伦理意识培养是城乡规划教育的核心内容之一。针对国内城乡规划专业教育中尚未形成完整的伦理意识教育体系,文章借鉴国外规划伦理意识教育的成功经验,研究中国城乡规划专业教育伦理意识培养的主要途径:加强规划教育伦理课程体系建设、重视规划伦理案例库建设、强化产学研结合、创新规划伦理教学模式、加强规划专业教师的培训。     

关于工程监理企业人才队伍建设的探索

从确认关键岗位、建立人才库、设置人才规划、轮岗锻炼、业务培训、参观学习、实地锻炼考察等手段着手,包括加强职业道德学习,谈及如何建立工程监理企业人才队伍的梯队建设,从而更加有效地提高监理队伍的业务能力和整体素质,从而增强企业的核心竞争力。     

大学之道规划之道——校园规划认知随笔

大学的责任是传承人类文明与道德,大学的精神和理念是培养人的根本,也是指导校园规划的根本。本文针对中国大学教育中理念道德的缺失以及由此导致的大学校园建设陷入误区等现象,提出正视大学之道,以科学之道发展大学教育以及大学校园。     

环境伦理观：一种重要的城市规划价值观

城市规划只有以正确的环境伦理观为指导,形成科学的城市发展观,才能实现城市的健康与可持续发展。城市规划与城市建设理论与实践中引入环境伦理价值观的必要性表现在3个方面：第一,环境危机问题的产生与城市发展和城市规划之间有着密切的关系;第二,城市规划在解决现实城市环境问题上存在着价值偏颇;第三,城市规划与环境伦理两种学科理论发展与创新的需要。     

Barriers and Openings for Transforming Swedish Planning Practice – Examples of Landscape and Health Policy Integration

ABSTRACT

This paper examines how key actors think and act in everyday planning practice when new policies are introduced. Drawing on frame theory, an analytical lens is developed for explaining mechanisms that restrain and promote policy-driven transformation in practice. The analysis focuses on current practice and Swedish planning practitioners’ experience of the integration of recently introduced policies on landscape and health. A key finding is that well-established perceptions of responsibility can hamper policy integration – even in cases where practitioners see benefits to planning outcomes of acting differently. Another key finding is that policies reframing landscape and health as holistic and relational can make individual practitioners question current practice, thereby opening the way for transformation.     

大工程观视域下城市规划教学改革研究

现代工程实践对生态、环境、能源的影响日益凸显,同时,对从业人员知识、技术、能力、素质的综合要求越来越高。从国内外学者对现代工程实践的关注、研究拓展到现代工程教育的变革,诞生了"大工程观"的理念。文章从完善教学内容,丰富工程知识;创新实践教学,提高工程能力;加强工程伦理教育,提高工程素质三个方面对大工程视域下的城市规划专业教学改革进行了研究。