Works planners read: findings from a Canadian survey

Canadian Journal of Urban Research, Summer, 2007 by Pierre Filion, Robert Shipley, Zeralynne Te

Abstract

This article reports on a survey of the readings that have most influenced the professional development of Canadian planning practitioners. Results indicate that influential writings originate from a wide diversity of sources, both inside and outside the discipline. We also detect a relationship between the age of respondents and that of the works mentioned, pointing to the determining effect of influences encountered during formative years. Works published in the 1960s, which are critical of previous approaches, are widely cited in the survey. A large selection of subsequent works proposing alternatives to mainstream planning suggests a lasting adherence to critical perspectives launched in the 1960s. Consequently, few foundational texts, and more generally works predating the 1960s, figure in the survey.

Key words: writings, education, planning literature

Resume Cet article presente les resultats d'une enquete sur les lectures qui ont le plus influence le developpement professionnel des urbanistes canadiens. La recherche identifie des lectures provenant de plusieurs sources, aussi bien a l'interieur qu'a l'exterieur de la discipline. L'article revele aussi un rapport entre l'age des repondants et celui des ouvrages cites, ce qui confirme le fort impact des ouvrages lus lors des annees de formation. Les lectures publiees au cours des annees soixante et qui sont critiques des perspectives anterieures, representent une forte proportion des ouvrages cites. Le frequent choix d'ouvrages subsequents, mais restes fideles a l'esprit critique des annees soixante, confirme l'influence durable de cet esprit. Par consequent, les ouvrages anterieurs aux annees soixante sont peu cites dans l'enquete.

Mots des : lectures, education, ecrits en urbanisme

Introduction

What are the readings that are perceived as most influential by practicing planners? What does this choice tell us about the themes and periods within planning literature they value most? To address these questions we surveyed members of the Canadian Institute of Planners, asking them to identify the three readings that have most influenced their professional development. The main finding of the survey concerns the strong presence of readings from the 1960s and, more generally, of works that are critical of early post-world-war-two planning models and of enduring forms of urban development.

We consider our survey results from four angles. First, we concentrate on the writings that were mentioned most often. This information is of obvious pedagogical relevance for it can provide aspiring planners with a core body of works considered by many practicing planners to be highly influential. Because the survey replicates to some extent a 1987 enquiry, it is possible to compare the present and past lists of frequently cited readings. This will allow us to identify the true classics--most often mentioned works in both surveys--and explore differences between the two listings.

Second, we categorize the readings mentioned in our survey in order to gauge the proportion of writings that belong to planning proper, and thus the reliance of planners on knowledge originating from within the discipline. This exercise will further allow us to discover which domains of the planning literature are most strongly represented in the survey.

Third, we explore the relationship between the age of the readings and that of respondents. And last, since the survey was targeted at Canadian planners, we found it worthwhile to examine the proportion of readings originating from Canada relative to those published elsewhere--essentially the U.S., U.K., and France. We also compared the types of writings from Canada to those from elsewhere.

The Evolution of Planning Knowledge

By questioning planners about the readings that most influenced them, we indirectly asked them to identify salient points in the evolution of planning knowledge. Given the wide age range of our respondents, we can expect a picture to emerge that will mark out high points in the progression of this knowledge over the last decades. In this fashion, our survey parallels compilations of readings found in outlines of planning theory courses, which too related their findings to the history of planning thought (Hightower, 1969; Klosterman, 1981; 1992). The present study departs, however, from the supply-side approach of course outline reviews by concentrating on the reaction of respondents to readings (encountered within or outside of the educational process).

We first engage in a brief discussion of the evolution of planning theory, for among all forms of knowledge associated with planning, theory perhaps best defines the field. As Friedmann expresses it, "theorizing means to think systematically about what planners do" (1995, p. 157). More than any other forms of planning knowledge, theory is actively debated within the discipline and is given an integrative role, evident in its prominence within the curriculum of planning programs (e.g., Friedmann, 1995; 1996; JPER 1995). Other areas of planning knowledge, of a more specific or technical nature, are often imports or adaptations from other disciplines such as architecture and geography.