Aims

This module introduces the hybridity of the planning context - political, economic, legal, others, and reflects on how planning is an expression of these different dimensions, and articulates its purposes utilising these framings. It introduces students to these contexts’ particular foundations and considerations and it utilises these disciplines, mechanisms and modes of operating to accommodate environmental and societal challenges (such as climate change, healthy living, etc.), and reflects on how planners, developers and designers have to respond to these different demands and accommodate these challenges in the proposals they produce.

Outline Of Syllabus

1.       Lecture/workshop: Introduction: Why Plan & planning as a hybrid discipline – setting up the concept that planning draws from a range of disciplines to articulate and achieve its purposes
2.       Lecture/workshop: System Designing - as a political endeavour (to establish the overall shape of the system and introduce the idea that the system is a construct – currently produced by Westminster)
3.       Lecture/workshop: Planning’s political context – Planning as a statutory requirement of LA, consultation and stakeholder participation
4.       Lecture/workshop: Planning’s legal leanings – Planning as a statutory requirement, the contestation of decision due to legal challenge
5.       Lecture/workshop: The economics of planning provision – the cost of service provision
6.       Lecture/workshop: The economics of development – how development is funded
7.       Lecture/workshop: Planning to mitigate climate change
8.       Lecture/workshop: Planning for society
9.       Lecture/workshop: Planning in Action – determining policy
10.       Lecture/workshop: Planning in Action- development decision-making
11.       Surgery

Teaching Rationale And Relationship

Students will be introduced to key ideas through a lecturing format this will include introducing students to hybrid nature of planning, reflecting on its legal, political, economic, social framing, and how this shapes Planning’s ability to plan. This will then be applied through the lectures/workshop sessions to explore how these ideas occur in practice. Some content will be provided using online material ahead of the session.

Assessment Rationale And Relationship

The first assignment enables the students to reflect critically on the hybrid nature of the planning context and the second assignment enables students to consider how planning tackles significant societal challenges through the policy or development approval processes.