Reading Through a Plan

Problem: Planners may read plans often, but the profession continues to view the interpretation of plan content as something that is either too obvious or too unimportant to require explicit discussion. Plans are seldom adequately interpreted. This is regrettable because plans contain a rich variety of content and meaning.

Purpose: This article calls for planners to “read through” plans, not just to grasp their essential ideas or the means of implementing those ideas, but also to perceive additional levels of meaning relating to a) a plan's place within a larger intellectual sphere, b) a plan's statement on the social and political values of the time, and c) a plan as a part of the history of the planning profession and the life of cities.

Methods: I propose a visual approach to plan reading descended from Panofsky's (1939 Panofsky, E. 1939. Studies in iconology: Humanistic themes in the art of the Renaissance, New York, NY: Harper and Row.  [Google Scholar]) theory of iconology and use this to examine three very different plans that describe different size cities (small, large, very large) during different periods over the past 80 years (the 1930s, 1960s, 2000s). I analyze three levels of meaning in each plan: its factual meaning, or “plain sense” (Mandelbaum, 1990 Mandelbaum, S. J. 1990. Reading plans. Journal of the American Planning Association, 56(3): 350–358. [Taylor &; Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]); its contextual meaning, or relation to political, social, economic, and physical conditions; and its temporal meaning, or setting within the scope of observations made by other plan readers in the perspective of elapsed time.

Results and conclusions: Factual readings show that information may be found in diverse aspects of a plan document, from seemingly superficial aspects like its cover to unarguably central elements such as recommendations. Factual readings depend on understanding the relationships among different elements, and reveal information about the plan and its framers that may not otherwise be readily apparent. Contextual readings show us that plan recommendations are as much a product of contemporary conditions and norms as they are of plan-specific “survey and diagnosis” (Nolen, 1936 Nolen, J. 1936. Comprehensive city plan for Dubuque, Iowa, Dubuque, IA: City Planning and Zoning Commission.  [Google Scholar]). This raises the question of whether plan quality is to be judged only in terms of skillful execution of concerns of the day or whether innovation is also important. Temporal readings reveal that plans and planning have changed dramatically over time, simultaneously confirming and questioning the conventional wisdom of planning history.

Takeaway for practice: Many planners read plans on a regular basis, and plans continue to constitute the major printed currency of the planning profession. Both plans and planning will benefit if planners become more discerning readers of the profession's principal idea vessels. Formal plan interpretation is rare, but each planner can become a better plan interpreter.

Research support: None.     

By Words and Deeds: Racial Steering by Real Estate Agents in the U.S. in 2000

Although prohibited by the federal Fair Housing Act of 1968, studies in the 1980s found that racial steering by real estate agents in the U.S. was still occurring. That legislation was strengthened in 1988, but throughout the 1990s, no study examined whether these tougher strictures helped eliminate steering. In 2000, HUD and the Urban Institute conducted the national Housing Discrimination Study in 20 U.S. metropolitan areas to replicate and extend that earlier work. In this article, we report the results of this latest study, which examined three types of steering and three steering mechanisms, all at three geographic scales. The results indicate that steering of all types is occurring when Black and White homebuyers are involved. In at least 12 to 15% of the cases, agents provided gratuitous commentary that gave more information to White homebuyers and encouraged them to choose homes in areas with more White and fewer poor households. Steering is less prevalent when Hispanic and White buyers are involved. We also found no evidence that steering declined over the last decade, despite the toughening of the federal legislation in 1988. We conclude by discussing the implications for interracial wealth differentials and new fair housing enforcement initiatives.     

Michel Ecochard in Lebanon and Syria (1956–1968). The spread of Modernism,the building of the independent states and the rise of local professionals of planning

The architect and planner Michel Ecochard has had a long career in developing countries, from its first works in Syria under the French rule, until the 1970s. He represented the modernist and functionalist approach to planning in a time of modernization. In this article, we concentrate on his work in Lebanon and Syria between the end of the 1950s and the 1960s. He prepared the master plans of Beirut and of Damascus. Those works represented the end of an era rooted in colonial planning. It was also the beginning of a new time, with the local planners taking on, sometimes sharing, sometimes contesting Ecochard's visions. Building on recent scholarship on the circulation of planning ideas, we focus on the reception of Ecochard's proposals. Though most political elites and planning professionals shared most of Ecochard's views, the political circumstances and the changing social conditions led to adjustments and reorientations. The new planning framework was also a major factor of change.     

零接收限抽样方案的应用研究

将美国MIL-STD-1916抽样标准的基本思想和主要内容,结合到企业零接收限抽样方案的应用实施,分析了零接收限抽样方案的特点,并对我国企业实施MIL—STD-1916标准提出了建议．     

基于熵权—集对分析方法的布雷方案优选

为在执行布雷作战任务前选好最优布雷作战方案,对各个指标权重进行确定。首先根据集对分析和信息熵权的决策方法构建布雷方案的评价模型,然后采用该方法计算熵权来确定评价指标权重,形成待评估方案的优选矩阵。最后通过比较同一度大小,对备选方案进行排序,选取最优的布雷作战方案。该方法能降低权重计算的人为因素影响,具有较强的实用性。     

协同、创新——对“多规合一”的观察和思考

"多规合一"是我国处于规划转型时期编制与管理的重要工作途径。文章在梳理"多规合一"理念的发展历程的基础上,对"多规"差异性、内涵进行思考,提出多规合一主要的工作要点和难点,并分析其发展趋势为依托大数据技术而实现技术协同和机制创新。     

BIM情景下可视化工程运营管理研究

BIM作为建筑业信息化的组成部分对工程后期运营管理具有重要意义。梳理传统模式与BIM情景下工程运营管理的内容,从采用软件、数据收集等方面比较两种模式的异同,提出由录入系统、模型系统、平台系统、转换系统及实施系统组成的可视化工程运营管理系统框架,并以模型与数据库挂接为主线分析常见的可视化运营管理方法。     

Funding and Governance of Regional Public Land Acquisition in Perth and Sydney

This article reviews the history of the governance approaches and planning and funding tools utilised for regional public land acquisition in Perth and Sydney. Focus in this analysis is placed on the hypothecated land tax model used in Perth of the Metropolitan Region Improvement Tax (MRIT). The main outcome of the comparison and contrast of the approaches taken in Perth and Sydney is to present the case for the extension of the “Perth model”, which includes the MRIT, to other Australian cities. The benefit, from the perspective of the implementation of public policy and strategic metropolitan planning, of the availability and utilisation of a hypothecated tax for public land acquisition, is a key conclusion of this article.     

Understanding the Hobrecht Plan. Origin,composition, and implementation of urban design elements in the Berlin expansion plan from 1862

ABSTRACT

The nineteenth-century master plans for European cities influence their development beyond their intended lifespans and provide a variety of robust urban fabrics to this day. The Hobrecht Plan for Berlin's urban expansion (1862) was intentionally conceived to adapt to an uncertain future, remaining influential even today. For a considerable time, the Hobrecht Plan was disregarded and considered irrelevant across the spectrum of development plans in Europe. This article presents a comprehensive re-assessment of the Hobrecht Plan with an emphasis on its intrinsic value. The plan defined a new set of urban patterns, forms and spaces in 15 section plans and a range of public space typologies defining Berlin's cityscape. The plan developed a spatial and structural framework using three different urban design elements: the ring boulevard, the harbour square, and the neighbourhood square. These key organizing elements have helped public spaces remain the effective planning units of Berlin's neighbourhoods. This analysis provides insight on how contemporary master plans can better formulate long-term strategies to address complexity, adaptability, and flexibility. The article presents novel outlooks on Berlin's city structure and new knowledge of Hobrecht's contribution to the planning discipline.     

某水泥生料均化库的质量事故分析及加固处理

从一生料均化库库壁出现竖向裂缝的事故原因分析入手，在找出开裂原因后，介绍了几种加固方法，并对这些方法进行了比较分析，得出采用体外预应力加固是最优方案。然后从钢绞线的布置、锚固端的设置和施工的注意事项几方面进行了方案介绍。最后还对该加固工程实施后的效果进行了叙述。