Project Background :: Initial Abstract

 

An Investigation of Internet Communications for Urban Planning Endeavors

This project is to serve as both a survey and an analysis of existing websites that touch on planning and urban design issues. My agenda is to evaluate whether current communication trends are sufficient and whether word is effectively “getting out there,” both to individuals within the profession as well as to a broader public audience.

My preliminary survey has focused upon websites suggested to me by planning and environmental design classmates, as well as websites that I have personally accessed or relied upon in recent weeks. Thus the research is closely and intentionally tied to my biases as (1) a planning and landscape design graduate student, (2) a graphic designer and copy editor in practice, and (3) a frequent and comfortable user of the internet.

My initial hypothesis was that the planning profession lacked an online discourse, however I quickly modified that hypothesis to propose that such an online discourse exists but lacks organization and accessibility. The nature of the internet as a medium – specifically its lack of an editing process – ironically undermines the very advantages it offered to the planning profession in the first place: a forum for mobilization, education and cross-pollination of disciplines. Put another way, it is difficult to distinguish the experts from the amateurs, the visionaries from the activists, and the professional goals from the personal vendettas.

With this in mind, I plan to structure my analysis first by placing existing websites into categories that align both mission and scope. It would be both erroneous and unfair, for example, to compare the educational content of a private foundation’s website to the very specific research and rantings of a passionate individual fighting sprawl in her hometown.

Once filtered into appropriate categories, I will address the following issues in order to determine the success of a site, contacting webmasters and interviewing users where appropriate:

:: What is the website’s intended audience?
:: What is the scope of the website? Is it too limiting or too broad?
:: How long has it existed? How many users per day?
:: Is the website well-organized and easy to use?
:: Is the website’s format familiar in any way?
:: Has it received attention or acclaim in any way?
:: Why might a student/professional want to use the site?

I will likely select and compare two websites in each category – one ideal and one “failure” of sorts – in order to generate/demonstrate patterns and consistencies that reveal where the planning profession can capitalize off of the internet’s capabilities and where it ought to be relying upon other media – both more traditional and more advanced. Ultimately I expect this research project to generate both a filter for existing websites as well as a cohesive prototype for future successful websites.

(Abstract written October 2005)