This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Friedmann, J. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

The Uses of Planning Theory

A Bibliographic Essay

School of Public Affairs, UCLA

There is a widespread opinion that planning theory is of little relevance to practitioners. This article tries to refute this view by showing the impact that planning theorists have had on the profession during the past 50 years. It suggests three ways that theorizing can contribute to the field, referring here to both practice and education primarily in North America. The first is by evolving a deeply considered humanist philosophy for planning and tracing its implications for practice. The second is by adapting planning practices to their real-world constraints with regard to scale, complexity, and time. The third is by translating knowledge and ideas generated in other fields into the domain of planning. The article concludes that planning theory needs to be perceived as a transdisciplinary endeavor involving a global community of scholars and that their contributions are vital to the profession.

Key Words: planning theory • planning knowledge • planning practice • humanist philosophy

Journal of Planning Education and Research, Vol. 28, No. 2, 247-257 (2008)
DOI: 10.1177/0739456X08325220


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?