Abdul Khakee

Scenario construction for urban planning

There exists a substantial amount of literature on visionary urban futures. These scenarios over the urban futures have been interesting attempts to inform professional planners and futurologists as to the rich variety of alternative physical-spatial developments ahead. They have, however, been based on the prospect of large-scale urban growth and are not relevant for the slow or no growth conditions which characterize many cities and towns in Sweden and in other Western countries. The paper presents one method for constructing alternative urban scenarios under economic and political uncertainty. The method has been applied by the urban government in Vasteras, Sweden. The paper is divided into six sections. The introductory section includes a very brief discussion of urban visions and their relevance for current urban planning problems. The second section contains a brief review of the Swedish urban planning system. In the third section the author discusses some conceptual and methodological issues in constructing scenarios. The fourth section contains the Vasteras method for constructing scenarios which requires the participation of decision-makers and planners in order to ensure the implementation of development strategies outlined in the scenarios. The fifth section discusses the use of scenarios in urban planning in Vasteras. A discussion of the operational and methodological problems and suggestions of key issues for further research are put forward in the concluding section.

Urban planning in China and Sweden in a comparative perspective

The nature and purpose of comparative studies crucial differences evolution of urban planning the normative issues methodological aspects institutional elements similarities and differences.

Negotiative land-use and deliberative environmental planning in Italy and Sweden

In Western Europe political, administrative and regional fragmentation has become a conspicuous phenomena. This seems to have an impact on urban planning. One of the dividing lines goes between the planning of industrial investments and large-scale infrastructure projects on the one hand and Agenda 21-inspired planning on the other. This paper looks at this dichotomous development and its consequences in the context of two case studies each from Italy and Sweden, respectively.

Reading Plans as an Exercise in Evaluation

The communicative turn in policy analysis and planning has resulted in increasing interest in the issue of what the text of the plan has to narrate to different categories of readership. The quality of the text of the plan is a central aspect of this new concern. According to rational planning theory, a plan should be an exposition of various directives. The plan is based on the scientific examination of issues and the readership is assumed to consist of persons with technical and/or juridical proficiency. Evaluation in rational planning amounts to the examination of the effectiveness and legitimacy of the plans. Communicative planning theory, on the other hand, conceives of the plan as the result of a broad democratic discourse, comprising a large number of stakeholders. The plan acquires different functions according to different readerships. Besides examining effectiveness and legitimacy, evaluation in communicative planning involves an appraisal of how plans promote a broad stakeholder involvement and help in building relational resources. The reading of plans becomes a rich assessment of the policy discourses that characterize the planning process. This article presents three approaches to reading plans as part of evaluation in communicative planning: (1) the plan as an account of a drama with many actors; (2) the plan as an instrument for uniting rational rhetoric with a multitude of opinions; and (3) the plan as the product of a democratic discourse. The empirical analysis consists of a reading of five Swedish strategic spatial plans. The aim of this exercise is to examine the attributes of the plans when their texts are analysed from different perspectives, and in turn to determine the implications for the quality of the planning process and the programme of actions.

Evaluating Theory-Practice and Urban-Rural Interplay in Planning

Introduction. Part I: Theory and Methods. 1. Evaluating Communicative Planning A. Faludi, W. Korthals Altes. 2. On the Role of Will-Shaping in Planning Evaluation H. Voogd. 3. Integrating Environmental Assessment with Development Planning N. Lichfield. 4. Evaluation in Environmental Conservation Planning L.F. Girard. 5. Evaluating Sustainability: Three Paradigms S. Macchi, E. Scandurra. 6. Ecology, Landscape Ecology, Environmental Evaluation and Planning V. Ingegnoli. Part II: Practice. 7. Beyond Dialogue to Transformative Learning: How Deliberative Rituals Encourage Political Judgment in Community Planning Processes J. Forester. 8. Assessing the Political Dimension of Structure Planning Process A. Khakee. 9. Evaluation of Qualities in Spatial Planning Processes R. Roscelli. 10. Problems of Urban Land-Use and Transportation Planning: Cognition and Evaluation Models A. Barbanente, et al. 11. Criteria for Choice and Evaluation Procedures: The Case of Urban Transport Infrastructures D. Caiulo, et al. Part III: Environmental Policies and Urban/Rural Interplay. 12. Environmental Considerations in Minerals Planning: Theory Versus Practice S. Davoudi. 13. Operationalizing Environmental Consideration in the British Planning System P. Healey, T. Shaw. 14. Landscape Evaluation and Planning in the Veneto Region G. Franceschetti, T. Tempesta. 15. Evaluating Functions in Urban-Rural Areas G. de Fano, G. Grittani. 16. A Method for the Evaluation of a Large Area: The Case of Central Apulia System S. Carbonara. 17. Planning in Urbanized Areas under Natural Risk F. Gentile, et al.

Relationship between futures studies and planning

Abstract Futures studies vary all the way from artistic and philosophical descriptions of the future to quantified socio-economic analysis. They differ with regard to their relationship with planning and decision-making—from autonomous studies to integrated parts of a planning document. There is no one single way of developing a model for futures-oriented planning. In fact, there is very little in the literature about how the results of a futures study can be used in operational plans and how futures studies need to be modified in order to be useful in a planning system. An important requirement in such a model, however, seems to be that futures studies should provide perspectives for policies or proposals in a plan. Linking futures studies to planning and decision-making processes is not only a matter of providing results to serve as inputs in the processes but also a question of organizing futures studies in such a way that experience of new ways of thinking can be transferred to planners in the course of the studies. The aim of this paper is to examine some important aspects of the relationship between futures studies and planning and to present a model where futures studies have been developed as an integral part of urban planning. The paper is divided into four sections besides the introduction: The first section discusses differences and similarities between futures studies and planning. The second section presents some features of models which were useful for connecting futures studies to planning. The model is presented in the third section which is divided into two subsections: the first deals with methods and the second with experience of integrating futures studies in the planning efforts of the urban government in Vasteras, Sweden. The final section of the paper presents some general conclusions about the requirements of imaginative and normative focus in urban planning, the improvement of the conceptual framework and operative features of the Vasteras Model, and the role of analysis in policy-making.

Ethics and values of Swedish planners: A replication and comparison with an American study

This article, based on a study of planners in two Swedish municipalities, looks at what planners think is ethical and why. It also examines attitudes of planners towards five substantive issues: the environment, mass transit, low income and minority groups, citizen participation and private development. The design of the study closely follows a similar study of American planners. The results of the two studies are compared. Swedish planners are not inclined favourably towards using political tactics. They are most committed to environment and mass transit and mildly negative about private development. The article also examines possible determinants of ethical views and attitudes. Finally, the article includes a discussion of some implications for planning, including increased pragmatism, flexibility and professional bias.

Town planning in Sweden: National officials versus local politicians

Abstract With strong central government traditions, Sweden has developed goal-oriented normative planning. At urban level, such planning raises many problems. This article discusses some of these problems from the three principal aspects of planning, namely the ideological, methodological and organizational aspect. The study is based on an extensive questionnaire and oral interviews among municipal planners in leadership positions in three middle-sized municipalities, namely Boras, Umea and Vasteras. The ideological aspect is discussed with reference to restrictions on urban planning arising as a result of decisions made by private enterprises and due to the interaction between the central and municipal government. The article goes on to describe the methods planners have developed to plan for land-use, resource allocation, housing and other sectoral activities and major defects in the planning system. Finally, the article discusses various problems faced by the municipal government whose departmental organization facilitates the administration of community services but cannot adequately deal with the increasing number of planning functions which are often interdepartmental in nature.

'Backview mirror analysis' in futures studies

Two central problems in carrying out futures studies in an organization are the lack of interest among the staff in futures problems and the extension of common ground between past and future beyond a few quantifiable variables. This article presents a method to deal with these problems, based on a major specific case study from municipal government in Vasteras, Sweden.

Planning and structural reform in municipal government

This article identifies a widespread problem namely, the need for structural reform in municipal government to accomodate the planning function. Administrative reforms have been marginal and have not taken into consideration the systematic properties in the municipal government machinery. Research on public administrative reforms is fragmentary and does not provide uniform and concise policy recommendations. The article presents a phasing strategy which makes it possible to study structural reforms in municipal government to better accomodate the planning function. It discusses structural reforms for each of the proposed four planning phases. The discussion is then extended to co-ordination of physical, economic and social dimensions of municipal planning.