What is Planning?

1. What is Planning? • Planning as a Basic Human Activity • Planning as Rational Choice • Rational Choice is a choice that meets certain standards of logic. • Planning as Control of Future Action • Planning as a Specific Kind of Problem Solving • Planning is What Planners Do. Planning Legislation – Prof. H. Alshuwaikhat

2. Defining Planning: An Attempted Synthesis • “If planning is everything, may be it is nothing.” • What planning is not: • Planning is not an individual activity • Planning is not a present-oriented activity • Planning can not be routinized • Planning has little or nothing in common with trail-and-error approaches to problem solving • Planning is not just the imagining of desirable futures Planning Legislation – Prof. H. Alshuwaikhat

3. Rationality • Rationality: is a way of choosing the best means to attain a given end. • Rationality includes evaluation and choice of goals. • Axioms of Rationality: it ensures internal logical consistency, and rational analysis provides a framework to display the decision maker’s values and assessments. Planning Legislation – Prof. H. Alshuwaikhat

4. MODELS OF THE PLANNING PROCESS • There are many models. • These models see planning as sequential, multi-staged process in which many of the phases are linked to the predecessors by feedback loops. • The conclusions reached at the later stage may lead to review of an earlier stage or a reiteration of the whole process Planning Legislation – Prof. H. Alshuwaikhat

5. Components of the planning process Planning Legislation – Prof. H. Alshuwaikhat

6. Problem Diagnosis Dissatisfaction with the status quo An image of the desired state The image gives form to specific goals, general norms, standards, ideologies, even utopian visions. Definitions depend on an analytical orientation of the individuals involved. Planning Legislation – Prof. H. Alshuwaikhat

7. Goals Articulation Goals related to problem definition Planning was traditionally much more goal-oriented than it is now Master plan: A desired end-state, in future x years, with the attainment of certain goals Translation of vague incoherent goals into operational objectives Planning Legislation – Prof. H. Alshuwaikhat

8. Prediction and Projection Future orientation was emphasized in planning, therefore current data are not enough Need projection to estimate the conditions, needs and constraints Prediction is required for evaluating alternatives Prediction depends on amount of information Planning Legislation – Prof. H. Alshuwaikhat

9. Alternative Development A “good” plan can not be chosen from a “poor” set of alternatives The number of alternatives depend on the problem Each alternative has to be detailed, and its actions, resources has to be detailed before evaluation Creativity and innovation in alternative development Planning Legislation – Prof. H. Alshuwaikhat

10. Feasibility Analysis Can the option be done, given known constraints and available or projected resources? Yes: means the alternatives are well-designed No: reduce the range of options to a short list The planners will have to redesign some options to make them feasible Consider all constraints: economic, physical, environmental, ..etc. Planning Legislation – Prof. H. Alshuwaikhat

11. Evaluation Identify the possible alternatives that can be implemented One alternative: go/no-go decision Evaluation criteria: efficiency Cost-benefit analysis Cost-effectiveness analysis: for human services Equity criterion: “who gets hurt?” Planning Legislation – Prof. H. Alshuwaikhat

12. Implementation A strong political commitment appears to be a necessary, but not always sufficient condition for the adoption and successful realization of proposals Clearly defined goals which are translatable into objectives that can be monitored are important Urban planners must rely upon compromises between strict rationality and qualitative or informed judgments. Planning Legislation – Prof. H. Alshuwaikhat

13. Do we carry problems in search of answers? Are solutions just as often looking for problems? Can goals be identified? Is it easier to plan without goals? Should we develop and evaluate options as prescribed by the rational decision process? There are many alternative models. Planning practices change but the this model of what should be done has yet to be improved. Final Questions Planning Legislation – Prof. H. Alshuwaikhat

14. Planning Process & Policy Analysis Planning Legislation – Prof. H. Alshuwaikhat

15. Planning Legislation – Prof. H. Alshuwaikhat