Planning theory

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Planning theory deals with the theory and practice of spatial (urban and regional) planning and urban development in the past, present and future. Planning theory was established as an independent subject at the beginning of the 1970s at some universities with faculties for architecture and urban planning , for example the chair for planning theory and urban development at RWTH Aachen University , Faculty for Architecture. The second university where planning theory was taught was the Technical University of Kaiserslautern . The theory of planning is also taught at the University of Kassel and the HafenCity University Hamburg .

With regard to the pair of terms 'planning' and 'theory', three different facets can be distinguished:

  • Theories in planning do not describe the planning process itself, but rather the technical and content-related problems of spatial planning, such as questions of the distribution of infrastructure, economic theories in spatial planning, for example the theory of central locations , the export base theory , the new trade theory etc.
  • Theories on or about planning place the main focus on individual aspects of planning, for example planning and communication or evaluation procedures in planning. A comprehensive description of the planning process, or what constitutes planning, is usually not made.
  • Theories of planning serve to structure and analyze the planning process itself and are often understood under the narrower definition of the term planning theory.

The rational planning model and the so-called second generation of planning theory are particularly influential in planning theory:

First generation

The rational planning model, also known as the 'first generation' of planning, is the starting point for most other planning models, which are either a modification of this model or a (counter) reaction to it. In this model, the planning process is understood as a rational optimization process that takes place in different phases from problem understanding, collection and analysis of data, development and evaluation of solutions to execution.
In this "rational" model, the image of the rationally acting person prevails, who makes decisions based on intellectually comprehensible considerations and criteria. He works out various alternative solutions and selects the one with the greatest expected benefit based on rational criteria.

Second generation

Horst Rittel , one of the critics of this rational planning model, contrasted the 'first generation' with the 'second generation'.
According to Rittel, spatial planning does not deal with "benign" but with "malicious" problems.
Benign problems are the task in which the permissible solutions and the goal to be achieved are clearly and unambiguously defined. Examples of benign problems are playing chess or solving mathematical equations.
Malicious problems, on the other hand, are essentially unique, there is no final definition, any description of a malignant problem is preliminary and can be seen as a symptom of another problem, neither has a countable (or exhaustively describable) set of potential solutions, nor is there a well-defined set permitted measures that can be included in the planning. Solutions to malicious problems are not "right" or "wrong" but "better" or "worse". The planner cannot experiment as scientists can do in the laboratory, that is, he has no right to error.
The 'second generation' planning model brings some characteristics of planning problems "to the point", but has the disadvantage that it does not deal with many of the aspects or tasks that occur during planning. As a result, this 'second generation' does not offer a systematic overview of the field of planning theory.

literature

  • Rittel, H. 1972: On the Planning Crisis: Systems Analysis of the 'First and Second Generations'; in: Bedriftsoekonomen, No.8, October; Pp. 390-396.
  • Rittel, H .; Webber, M. 1973: Dilemmas in a General Theory of Planning; in: Policy Sciences 4 (2) June; Pp. 155-169.
  • Jung, W. Schönwandt, W. 2005: Planning Theory; in: Academy for Spatial Research and Regional Planning (ARL) (Ed.) 2005: Manual dictionary of spatial planning ; Hanover: ARL; 789-797.
  • Wiechmann, T. (Ed.) 2019: ARL Reader planning theory (2 vols.). Berlin: Springer Spectrum. doi : 10.1007 / 978-3-662-57630-4 / doi : 10.1007 / 978-3-662-57624-3 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Walter Schönwandt; Wolfgang Jung: Planning Theory . In: Academy for spatial research and regional planning (ed.): Hand dictionary of spatial planning . ARL, Hannover 2005, p. 792 .
  2. ^ Walter Schönwandt, Wolfgang Jung: Planning theory . In: Academy for spatial research and regional planning (ed.): Hand dictionary of spatial planning . ARL, Hannover 2005, p. 793 .