Nontraditional Participation in Disaster Recovery Planning: Cases From China,India, and the United States

Problem, research strategy, and findings: Stakeholder participation facilitates efficient identification of recovery needs, dynamic exchange of information, and consolidation of diverse perspectives as well as builds long-term trust and social capital between stakeholders. Yet, planners often fail to use the full potential of participatory planning when they are caught in the fast-paced, uncertain, and complex post-disaster environment. We draw lessons from case studies on recovery planning after three major disasters: the Indian Ocean tsunami (2004), Hurricane Katrina (2005), and the Wenchuan earthquake (2008) in China. We collected qualitative data about participatory planning using key informant interviews with stakeholders, supplemented by field observations, records of planning meetings, and government documents. We find that stakeholder participation in disaster recovery planning can happen in nontraditional yet effective ways, including indirect representation and active opposition. Disasters can rebalance power relationships and create more opportunities for participation by marginalized groups. Stakeholders’ participatory behaviors evolve over the course of recovery due to shifting priorities, intensified resource competition, and the difficulty of using “normal” participatory mechanisms.

Takeaway for practice: Stakeholder participation, a time-consuming process, can actually speed up recovery in the long run. Planners must critically examine the local community's social and power structures, identify potential for nontraditional participation, tap into networks of indirect representation, and adapt to the changing landscape of actors and local interests to contend with the challenges of participation in disaster recovery and make use of new opportunities as they arise.     

Refusing to Appropriate: The Emerging Discourse on Planning and Race

Abstract

The local planning process has become more urgent in light of recent global changes: economic, social, and spatial restructuring and the parallel concentration of capital, technology, and information in smaller numbers of transnational corporations. The ability of communities to plan and determine their futures is at stake. Yet communities are not homogenous, and as we speak of improving the planning process, we must ask questions about what it will take to ensure the participation and influence of those who in the past have been the victims of that process. How can the planning process be opened to communities who have been bulldozed by urban renewal, redlined into apartheid-like conditions, deserted by capital, or indeed, revitalized virtually out of existence? The commitment to social justice requires planning professionals to look closely at the deadly consequences of uneven development and ask “What can we do to make the community planning process more equitable?”     

David Godschalk

David R. Godschalk, professor emeritus in the Department of City and Regional Planning at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, passed away in early 2018. In this essay we reflect on Dave’s planning scholarship and practice. We discuss his main contributions in 4 prominent areas. First is the importance of public participation and collaboration for the planning and governance of communities. He argued for democratizing and recasting public participation, with planners working alongside community members coproducing plans and incorporating uncertainty, new information, and different viewpoints. Second is Dave’s focus on the tenets of the comprehensive plan and its core element, the land use plan. In the plan, central principles of livable urban forms and model planning processes can be integrated and translated to practice. With academic collaborators and practitioners he pioneered theoretical and empirical research on what constitutes a high-quality plan, a fundamental question at the heart of planning. Third is his research demonstrating how spatial planning can be used for hazard mitigation and urban resilience. This work forged a new generation of planning academics and practitioners who focused on hazard plans for predisaster mitigation and postdisaster recovery at multiple governmental levels. Finally, fourth is his personal involvement in planning-related institutions that he helped create, lead, or steer. In his various roles as scholar, teacher, mentor, collaborator, supervisor, planning director, and elected official, Dave touched the lives of many who now build on his contributions in creating better communities.     

Unimaginable Change

Problem: Planning aspires to intervene and make positive change. However, our ideas about how to create institutional reform need to be revisited because they do not fully account for the changes we have witnessed.

Purpose: This article assesses the state of our knowledge about institutions and of how we construct and change them. It identifies the major deficiencies in new institutionalism in planning theory and searches for ideas about how to influence positive institutional change.

Methods: I analyzed over 90 publications in the planning literature and other social sciences that discussed “institutions,” and identified the varying definitions and underlying epistemologies and philosophies that are at odds with each other. I then examined empirical studies of successful economic development cases in order to critically appraise the efficacy of different theories to account for the observed changes.

Results and conclusions: Disparate new institutionalism theories in the social sciences have been starting to converge by focusing on social cognition. The unimaginable, fundamental changes that have occurred in our lifetimes have not been the result of rational state planning, manipulation by political elites, or activist organizations. A society-wide process of tacit learning from peers and exemplars built new paradigms and practices, ultimately normalizing new realities.

Takeaway for practice: Planning practice that aims toward large institutional changes rather than incremental ones should incorporate the empirical lessons of contemporary history and the latest findings in cognitive science. Knowing more about the social cognition process can help planners to more effectively engage in fundamental change. Furthermore, if it retains its strengths in empirical research and multiscalar, interdisciplinary analysis, planning practice and research can make policy-relevant contributions to our understanding of social cognition change.

Research support: None.     

Risk-Based Taxation of Hazardous Land Development

Planning scholars have argued that property owners who develop land in hazardous areas, and thereby impose costs on their communities for emergency planning and disaster recovery, should pay their fair share of those costs. We describe a method of allocating such costs for hurricanes based on relative risk and apply it to Lee County, Florida. While the impact on most property owners is likely to be modest, we show that a risk-based assessment can achieve tax benefit equity and be the means of financing local government costs of disaster response and recovery not covered by federal and state disaster aid.     

The Migrant Metropolis and American Planning

Problem: Immigration poses various problems for U.S. cities and regions, and the roles planners should play in migrant communities are not clear.

Purpose: I consider how practitioners and scholars have understood and addressed the planning challenges and opportunities presented by the major migrations of ethnic minorities to U.S. cities and regions over the past century.

Methods: I trace discussions of planning and migration at professional planning conferences over the past century and survey planning scholarship and practice related to immigration and migrant communities in three principal eras: early 20th century southern and eastern European immigration; the mid-century internal migrations of African Americans and Puerto Ricans; and immigration in the late 20th and early 21st century.

Results and conclusions: Over the past century, immigration has had physical, economic, and social effects on people and places that are legitimate concerns of urban planners. Yet, the planning profession has had an ambiguous and often ambivalent relationship with migrant communities and has struggled to define specific roles for planners within those communities while social workers and other community and economic development practitioners played larger roles. Planning scholars have not paid as much attention to migrants' adaptation and mobility in U.S. society or their impacts on receiving communities, labor markets, housing, and congestion as have other scholars and urbanists.

Takeaway for practice: Planners have engaged with migrants in a variety of ways. Understanding this history provides context for contemporary debates about immigration and helps frame challenges and opportunities in migrant and receiving communities as planning problems.

Research support: None.     

Claiming Invited and Invented Spaces: Contingencies for Insurgent Planning Practices

Insurgent planning practice is an emerging idea for counter-hegemonic urban planning in the Global South, derived (generalized) from empirical work on specific southern contexts (Watson, V. 2013. “Planning and the ‘Stubborn Realities’ of Global South–East Cities: Some Emerging Ideas.” Planning Theory 12 (1): 81–100. doi:10.1177/1473095212446301). In this paper, we position ourselves with Meth (2010. “Unsettling Insurgency: Reflections on Women's Insurgent Practices in South Africa.” Planning Theory and Practice 11 (2): 241–263) who argues that insurgence and insurgent planning practices cannot be generalized across contexts but requires specific case by case empirical analysis to understand tactics and strategies within very different political and institutional situations. This paper is based on empirical evidence from two specific case-by-case analysis of potential insurgent action in Kathmandu, Nepal. We find that if insurgence is to present hope for counter-hegemonic outcomes in the context of Nepal, it is contingent upon a maturity of grass-roots organization, sharing of power among these, what constitutes ‘planning’ in insurgent planning and how success of such actions is measured. There is also a strong role of the nature of social mobilization and the institutional context of planning.     

美国地方减灾规划及借鉴

以美国俄勒冈州斯普林菲尔德、华盛顿县等市、县的地方减灾规划为例,简要阐述了其地方减灾规划的编制背景、编制内容,单灾害制定减灾规划的具体方法,并指出其对于我国小城镇编制防灾规划的借鉴之处。     

Social Planning in Columbia

Efforts to create pre-planned new communities with advanced social goals encounter certain critical dilemmas. These dilemmas stem from the problems of the transition from a company town to a democratic polity, the competition of a suburban satellite with the metropolis, and the securing of a post-industrial “good life” within the limits of present society. The new community of Columbia, Maryland, offers a dynamic laboratory for the study of these social planning issues.     

Towards an Integrative Perspective: Bringing Ken Wilber’s Philosophy to Planning Theory and Practice

ABSTRACT

Planning is a divided profession. Perspectives diverge on fundamental themes as to which theories, methodologies, and goals for the future should be embraced. Even though this plurality of views is a sign of intellectual resourcefulness within the field, it is disconcerting the extent to which planning finds it difficult to articulate itself to effectively address persistent problems such as environmental degradation and social inequality. This paper proposes that the Wilberian philosophy can offer a valuable contribution in this regard, and particularly when integrated with the legacy of Niraj Verma. Examples from transport planning are used to illustrate the argument.     

Advancing responses to climate change through improved interplay between planning theory and practice

ABSTRACT

Many planning agencies worldwide now see climate change response as unavoidable. This paper proposes that a central task for contemporary planning theory is to guide planning practice as it develops multi-dimensional responses. We examine three theoretical constructs: anticipatory governance, legitimacy and social-ecological resilience. We argue that each conceptualises challenges climate change presents to planning practice, while providing theoretically informed options for responses. Building on this, we utilize Friedmann’s [2008. “The Uses of Planning Theory: A Bibliographic Essay.” Journal of Planning Education and Research 28 (2): 247–257. doi:10.1177/0739456X08325220] tasks for planning theory as a framework to assess the utility of planning theories to guide climate change response through practice. Associated issues are discussed, including the influence of translatable planning theories and the value of importing knowledge from other disciplines. The paper concludes that more sophisticated interplay between planning theory and practice may improve planning responses to the climate change threat. The need for planning theory to translate its conceptual discoveries to the domain of practice is key.     

Evaluation of Networks of Plans and Vulnerability to Hazards and Climate Change: A Resilience Scorecard

Problem, research strategy, and findings: Land use planning is key to mitigating natural hazards and the effects of climate change. Communities adopt multiple plans that directly and indirectly address hazard mitigation; the integration of local plans can significantly affect future community vulnerability to hazards. We develop a resilience scorecard to assess the degree to which the network of local plans targets areas most prone to hazards and then evaluate the coordination of local plans and test it in Washington (NC), a community vulnerable to coastal floods and projected sea-level rise. We find that local plans are not fully consistent and do not always address the areas in a community most vulnerable to floods or sea level risks; moreover, some plans actually increase physical and social vulnerability to hazards. While these results indicate the validity of a resiliency scorecard, we were forced to use a narrow range of vulnerability indicators; better data would improve the process.

Takeaway for practice: Planners can assume a crucial role in improving planning for hazards by using the scorecard to identify conflicts among local plans, assessing whether local plans target areas most vulnerable to specific hazards. Planners can inform the public and decision makers about missed opportunities to improve local hazard mitigation planning. To support such important efforts, the U.S. Federal -Emergency Management Agency and other federal agencies should consider developing additional databases that are widely applicable and available.     

Using Exploratory Scenarios in Planning Practice

Abstract

Problem, research strategy, and findings: Despite growing interest by practitioners in using exploratory scenarios within urban planning practice, there are few detailed guidelines for how to do this. Through the discussion of five case examples, we illustrate different approaches to linking exploratory scenarios to different planning contexts. We conclude by observing that to directly inform a plan, regardless of the specific approach taken, exploratory scenarios in urban planning must incorporate stakeholder values and not only rely on expert judgment and analysis.

Takeaway for practice: Exploratory scenarios are effective for analyzing uncertainty within a planning process. However, exploratory scenarios can be incorporated into planning practice in different ways, ranging from workshops among experts that aim to cultivate general learning to complex projects that result in highly detailed scenarios and recommendations for plans. Practitioners can draw on the cases we present to inspire planning methods for particular projects, taking into account specific contexts and goals.     

Adaptation to Climate Change

Problem: Even if significant reductions in global greenhouse gas emissions are achieved, some amount of climate change appears to be inevitable. Local, regional, state, and federal planning and regulation should begin to address how to adapt to these changes.

Purpose: This article presents a policy synthesis of adaptation planning issues, using California as a case study. We examine the institutional and regulatory challenges and tradeoffs that climate change poses in six particularly vulnerable areas: water resources, electricity, coastal resources, air quality, public health, and ecosystem resources. We discuss obstacles to adaptation planning and successes overcoming these barriers, and suggest how planning can incorporate adaptation.

Methods: This article presents a policy synthesis of adaptation planning issues, drawing on our recent research on California's experience and related literature. We summarize the results of six studies that draw on quantitative and qualitative information gathered through surveys, interviews, and literature review.

Results and conclusions: Planners should use forward-looking climate data that include higher water and air temperatures, sea-level rise, and increased numbers of extreme events like heat waves, floods, and wildfires when making decisions about future development, infrastructure investments, open-space protection, and disaster preparedness. Climate change will exacerbate conflicts between goals for economic development, habitat protection, and public safety, requiring stronger interagency coordination and new laws and regulations.

Takeaway for practice: Local and regional planners can help society adapt to a changing climate by using the best available science, deciding on goals and early actions, locating relevant partners, identifying and eliminating regulatory barriers, and encouraging the introduction of new state mandates and guidelines.

Research support: Partial support for this research was provided by Pacific Gas and Electric, The Nature Conservancy, and Next 10.     

Vitalizing Planning for a Neo-Welfare State: A Suggestion Based on Swedish Experiences

Planning in Sweden is intimately connected with the welfare state, whose ethos and methods are in crisis. The aim of this article is a) to bring in and accommodate new postmodern theories to the planning context in Sweden and b) to examine how the planning profession in Sweden in line with these theories can adapt to the radical societal and theoretical changes of the last decades. It is argued that the current planning role needs to be complemented with a new “proactive” kind of planning, ensuring that the voices and needs of vulnerable groups are heard.     

基于“双评价”和主体功能区优化的国土空间规划探索

随着国土空间规划体系的构建,对资源环境承载能力评价和国土空间开发适宜性评价(即"双评价")、主体功能区在国土空间规划中的重要地位已基本形成共识。本文提出"双评价+"概念,探索"双评价"在统筹三线划定、生态系统修复、全域防灾减灾等领域的拓展性应用,有效发挥其对国土空间规划的基础支撑作用。同时,提出发挥主体功能区战略的引领作用,加强其与区域重大战略、区域协调发展战略的协同实施,强化其对空间格局优化、资源要素配置、配套政策制定等方面的引领作用。通过对"双评价"和主体功能区开展认知评判并提出优化应用建议,为国土空间规划的有效编制实施提供借鉴。     

Whiteness and Urban Planning

Abstract

Problem, research strategy, and findings: The ability of planning to address America’s urban problems of inequality, crime, housing, education, and segregation is hampered by a relative neglect of Whiteness and its role in shaping urban outcomes. We offer a justification for centering Whiteness within urban planning scholarship and practice that would examine its role shaping and perpetuating regional and racial injustices in the American city. The focus of planners, scholars, and public discourse on the “dysfunctions” of communities of color, notably poverty, high levels of segregation, and isolation, diverts attention from the structural systems that produce and reproduce the advantages of affluent and White neighborhoods. Planners and planning scholars frequently invoke a “legacy of injustice” with regard to concentrated poverty and disadvantage but not in regard to neighborhoods of White affluence. One is segregated and problematized and the other is idealized.

Takeaway for practice: Planners and planning scholars need to understand the role of Whiteness, in particular White affluence, to assess the potential impacts of planning interventions. Doing so will inform a wider range of planning approaches to problems of racial and spatial equity.     

The New Regionalism: Key Characteristics of an Emerging Movement

This article analyzes the emergence of a “new regionalism” and situates this movement within the historical evolution of regional planning. Key characteristics include (1) a focus on specific territories and spatial planning; (2) a response to the particular problems of the postmodern metropolitan region; (3) a holistic perspective that integrates planning specialties as well as environmental, equity, and economic goals; (4) a renewed emphasis on physical planning, urban design, and sense of place; and (5) a more activist or normative stance on the part of planners. The implementation of new regionalist concepts is likely to come about not through top-down regional government, but through incremental development of social capital, institutions, ad hoc partnerships, and frameworks of incentives and mandates between existing levels of government.     

城市综合防灾与减灾能力评价的实用概率方法

城市综合防灾与减灾能力可以衡量一个城市在面临灾害时的抗御能力及恢复能力,并且是辅助城市安全减灾决策的重要依据。首先从城市灾害危险性、易损性和承灾能力三个方面建立城市综合防灾与减灾能力评价指标体系,并给出评价指标分级标准等级值;其次基于概率论原理,利用实用概率方法进行城市综合防灾与减灾能力评价,从而较为客观、快速的给出城市综合防灾与减灾能力水平;最后,通过实例分析验证该方法的有效性。     

Planning for Place and Plexus: Metropolitan Land Use and Transport

Problem: Human and natural systems will probably have to adapt to climate change impacts, but this cannot be planned for using the traditional approach based on predictions because of the subject's great complexity, its planning horizon more than 50 years away, and uncertainty about the future climate and how effectively CO₂ emissions will be reduced.

Purpose: This article proposes a more appropriate basis for planning climate change adaptation. Anticipatory governance is a flexible decision framework that uses a wide range of possible futures to prepare for change and to guide current decisions toward maximizing future alternatives or minimizing future threats. Rather than trying to tame or ignore uncertainty, this approach explores uncertainty and its implications for current and future decision making.

Methods: I review and summarize the literature on anticipatory governance and provide three case studies to demonstrate its application to climate change planning.

Results and conclusions: Denver Water, New York City, and the City of Phoenix are all using scenarios to anticipate the range of global climate changes that may impact their communities and to develop adaptation strategies to address these impacts. Each is developing a decision framework for implementing adaptation strategies incrementally based on climate monitoring. An incremental approach minimizes the resources that must be allocated to address these risks and has allowed these cities to plan in spite of the high uncertainty associated with climate change science and social change.

Takeaway for practice: The complexity, uncertainty, and distant planning horizon associated with climate change cannot be managed sufficiently for the traditional predict-and-plan approach to yield good decisions about the significant social and capital investments likely to be required for adaptation. To be successful, social institutions must embrace new methods that explore uncertainty and that provide strategic guidance for current and future decisions.

Research support: None.