11.201 | Fall 2002 | Graduate

Gateway: Planning Action

Readings

UNIT I: The Framework: Taking Action.

The steps refer to the Seven Step Model of Planning Practice.

Step 1: Define the Problem.

Webber and Rittel. “Dilemmas in a general theory of planning.” Policy Sciences 4, no.2 (1973): pp. 155-169.

Gans. “People and Plans: Essays on Urban Problems and Solutions.” Chapter 16 in Social and Physical Planning for the Elimination of Urban Poverty. New York: Basic Books Inc., 1968, pp. 231-248.

Step 2: Map Stakeholder Interests.

Meyerson and Banfield. “Politics, Planning and the Public Interest.” Note on Conceptual Scheme. London: Collier-Macmillan, 1964, pp. 303-329.

Step 3: Analyze Institutional Resistance and Pressures for Reform.

Krumholz. “A retrospective view of equity planning 1969-1979.” Journal of the American Planning Association 48 (1982): pp. 163-174.

Jacobs. “Death and Life of Great American Cities.” New York, NY: Random House, 1961, pp. 415-427.

Friedmann. “Planning in the Public Domain: discourse and praxis.” Journal of Planning Education and Research 8 (1989): pp. 128-130.

Step 4: Engage the Stakeholders.

Davidoff, Paul. “Advocacy and Pluralism in Planning.” Journal of the American Institute of Planners 31 (1965): pp. 103-114.

Peattie. “Reflections on Advocacy Planning.” Journal of the American Institute of Planners 34, no. 2 (1968): pp. 80-88.

Hartman. “Between Eminence And Notoriety: Four Decades Of Radical Urban Planning.” The Urban Field Service Program. New Brunswick, NJ: Center for Urban Policy Research, 2002, pp. 367-374.

Abrams. “Man’s Struggle for Shelter in an Urbanizing World.” S_ome principles for urban aid._ Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1964, pp. 250-252.

Step 5: Seek Agreement On What Needs To Be Done.

Kent. “The Urban General Plan.” San Francisco, CA: Chandler, 1964, [Chapter 1, pp. 12- 26, Chapter 2, pp. 66-73, pp. 80-86].

Altshuler. “The City Planning Process: a Political Analysis.” Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1969, [pp. 299-304, pp. 311-332].

Step 6: Implement Changes in Policies, Programs and Procedures.

Lindblom. “The Science of Muddling Through.” Public Administration Review 19 (1959): pp. 79-88.

Wildavsky. “If Planning is everything, Maybe it is Nothing.” Policy Sciences 4 (2) (1973): pp. 127-153.

Caro. “The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York.” Edited by Alfred A. Knopf. New York, NY, 1974, [pp. 368-379, and pp. 850-884].

Step 7: Reflect, Encourage Public Learning, Make Assessments.

Schon. “The Reflective Practitioner: How Professionals Think in Action.” New York, NY: Basic Books Inc., 1982, [Chapter 2, pp. 21-69, Chapter 7, pp. 204-235].

UNIT II: Boston.

“General Plan for Boston: Preliminary Report 1950.” 1950, pp. 3, 7, 8.

Kennedy. “Planning the City Upon a Hill.” Amherst, MA: University of Massachusetts Press, 1992. [Collins, Logue, and the New Boston, pp. 157-192].

Keyes. “The Rehabilitation Planning Game: A Study in the Diversity of Neighborhood.” Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1969, [Chapter One pp. 1-19, and pp. 67-87].

Keyes. “Urban Renewal in Boston’s South End: Case Study 1965/75 General Plan for the City of Boston and the Regional Core.” The Role and Nature of the General Plan in Chapter I, pp. 1-4 and Boston’s Physical Assets and Problems in Chapter II (1998), pp. 7-30.

UNIT III: Mexico.

Selection of web articles in English and Spanish.

Ward. “Mexico City.” Lincoln, MA: G.K. Hall and Co, 1990, pp.128-134.

Davis. “Mexico City: The Local-National Dynamics of Democratization.” In Capital City Politics in Latin America: Democratization and Empowerment. Edited by Dietz and Meyers. Lynne Rienner: Boulder, CO, 2002, pp. 241-259.

Ward and Rodriguez. “New Federalism and State Government in Mexico.” U.S.-Mexico Policy Report #9, LBJ School of Public Affairs, Austin, TX: University of Texas, 1999, [pp. 1-4; pp. 21-39; pp. 65-95; pp. 98-126].

Schteingart. “Mexico City.” In The Metropolitan Era Volume 2: Mega-Cities. Edited by Dogan and Kasarda. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications, 1988, pp. 268-293.

Rosan, and Davis, Christina. “¡No Al Aeropuerto en Texcoco! Regional Decision-Making and Community Counter mobilization: The Siting of Mexico City’s New Airport.” Masters in City Planning Thesis, submitted to the Department of Urban Studies and Planning: MIT, 2002.

UNIT IV: Rotterdam.

“Borders to Cross Organisers 2000.” The Border Story: What Happened at Borders to Cross. Amsterdam, NL: Agora Europa.

Schön. “The Theory of Inquiry: Dewey’s Legacy to Education.” Curriculum Inquiry 22, no.2 (1992).

Evans. “Political Strategies for More Livable Cities.” Livable Cities: Urban Struggles for Livelihood and Sustainability. Edited by Evans. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2002, pp. 222-246.

Cities in Transition. Edited by Graafland and Hauptman. Rotterdam: 010 Publishers, 2001.
- Graafland. “Introduction: Cities in Transition.” [pp. 30-35].
- de Bruijn. “The Port of Rotterdam: Synthesis between Rotterdam City and Mainport.” [pp. 70-80].
- Maas. “Project: Port City, 1999.” [pp. 122-127].
- Meyer. “The Port as Public Domain.” [p. 160-167].
- Brusse. “Chaos behind the Sea Wall: Interview with Dirk Frieling.” [pp. 378-386].
- Priemus. “Recent Transformations in Urban Policies in the Netherlands.” [pp. 388-403].

The City Reader. Edited by LeGates and Stout. London, UK: Routledge, 1996.
- Sassen. “A new geography of centers and margins: summary and implications.” _Cities in a World Economy (_1994): pp. 69- 74.
- Castells. “The reconstruction of social meaning in the space of flows.” The Informational City (1989): pp. 493-498.

Healy. “Collaborative Planning: Shaping Places in Fragmented Societies.” Chapter 1 of Traditions of Planning Thought. Vancouver, BC: UBC Press, 1997, pp.7-30.

Laws, Susskind, Anderson, Chapman, Rubenstein and Vagadama. “Public Entrepreneurship Networks.” Environmental Technology and Public Policy Program. Department of Urban Studies and Planning, MIT (2001).

UNIT V

Guttenberg. “Some important facts in the history of American planning.” Journal of Planning Education and Research 7, no. 1 (1987).

Rodwin and Sanyal. “The Profession of City Planning: Changes, Images and Challenges: 1950-2000.” New Brunswick, NJ: Center for Urban Policy Research (2000).

Course Info

Learning Resource Types
Lecture Notes
Projects with Examples
Presentation Assignments