A Series of City Planning Studies


Book Description




Research Design in Urban Planning


Book Description

"This excellent book fills a significant gap in the literature supporting planning education by providing clear, succinct advice on the design and implementation of small-scale student research projects." - Chris Couch, Professor of Geography and Planning, University of Liverpool "A perfect text for supervisors to give students so that they plan their research projects carefully rather than leap headlong into data collection." - Jean Hillier, Emeritus Professor of Sustainability and Urban Planning, RMIT University, Melbourne "Highly recommended... Ranging across topics such as planning a research programme and data management and the handling of ethical issues, the book will be very helpful to those embarking on a thesis or dissertation in the field." - Peter Fidler, President of the University of Sunderland Research Design in Urban Planning: A Student’s Guide is a brilliantly accessible guide to designing research for that all-important dissertation. Aimed at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels, this text will: · discuss research design, outlining the stages of the research process in clear detail and the key decisions which need to be taken at each stage · explain to students how to re-interpret policy issues as researchable questions, appropriate for investigation · look in detail at how researchers make their choice of methods, helping students to justify their own decisions · reveal the ethical dimension to such decisions in the context of a growing requirement for the ethical approval of student projects · review the issues for comparative studies – important not least because of student involvement in Erasmus programs and AESOP workshops Packed with case studies, exercises, illustrations and summaries, Research Design in Urban Planning is an invaluable resource for students undertaking their first substantial, individual investigations.




City Planning


Book Description

City planning is a practice and a profession. It is also a set of goals and--sometimes utopian--aspirations. Formal thought about the shaping of cities as physical spaces and social environments calls on the same range of disciplines and approaches that we use for understanding cities themselves, from art and literature through the social and natural sciences. Surrounding the core profession of city planning, also known as urban or town planning, are related fields of architecture, landscape design, engineering, geography, political science and policy, sociology, and social work. In addition, the legions of community and environmental activists influence debates and controversies within the field. This Very Short Introduction is organized around eight key aspects of city planning: street layout; congestion and decentralization; the response to suburbanization; the conservation and regeneration of older districts; cities as natural systems; cities and regions; social class and ethnicity; and disasters and resilience. The underlying assumption throughout is that decisions that we make today about cities and metropolitan regions are best understood as the continuation of past efforts to solve fundamental problems that have shifted and evolved over multiple generations. At its best, city planning utilizes technical tools to achieve goals set by community action and political debate. Carl Abbott's addition to Oxford's long-running Very Short Introduction series is a brief but concentrated look at past decisions about the management of urban growth and their effects on the creation of the twenty-first century city. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.




Scenario Planning for Cities and Regions


Book Description

""Describes the emerging use of collaborative scenario planning practices in urban and regional planning, and includes case studies, an overview of digital tools, and a project evaluation framework. Concludes with a discussion of how scenarios can be used to address urban inequalities. Intended for a broad audience"--Provided by the publisher"--




The Urban and Regional Planning Reader


Book Description

The Urban and Regional Planning Reader draws together the very best of classic and contemporary writings to illuminate the planning of cities and metropolitan areas. Forty-seven generous selections include contributions from Lewis Mumford, Jane Jacobs, Ian McHarg, Paul Davidoff, Charles Harr, Susan Fainstein and Charles J. Hoch through to Timothy Beatley; Jonathan Barnett, Alex Garvin, Tom Daniels, Andres Duany and Barbara Faga. The variety and wide selection of readings offers one of the most innovative amalgamations of planning research and practice. The Reader lays out the context, range of concerns, history, methods and key topics for twenty-first century urban and regional planning. Sections on the world of planning, history and theory, classic readings, practice and current issues include writings with a focus on the distribution of space and place, essays on housing, transportation design, environment, community development, the effects of cultural diversity and information technology on land use and other topics. It displays the techniques used to direct and control growth, including zoning, master planning, public budgeting and citizen participation. It explores different types of plans distinguished by their scale and reference type. It references analytical and presentation techniques and outlines ethical issues confronting planners. This Urban and Regional Planning Reader provides an essential resource, for students of planning, drawing together important but widely dispersed writings and the associated bibliography is a resource which enables deeper investigations. The synthesis is also valuable for lecturers and researches in the area and the pertinent editorial commentaries preceding each entry not only demonstrate its significance, but also outline the issue surrounding the topic.







Doing Research in Urban and Regional Planning


Book Description

Doing Research in Urban and Regional Planning provides a basic introduction to methodology and methods in planning research. It brings together the methods most commonly used in planning, explaining their key applications and basic protocols. It addresses the unique needs of planners by dealing with concerns which cut across the social, economic, and physical sciences, showing readers how to mobilise fresh combinations of methods, theoretical frameworks and techniques to address the complex needs of urban and regional development. It includes illustrative case studies throughout to help planning students see how methods can be operationalised on the ground and connect research with urban and regional planning practice to build foundations for action. The book pays attention to contemporary trends – such as the growth in information technology, and general shifts in urban and environmental governance – that are affecting the practicalities and protocols of doing planning research. Doing Research in Urban and Regional Planning also encourages ethical reflection and discusses the ethical issues specific to planning research. Each chapter begins with a chapter outline with learning outcomes and concludes with take-home messages and suggested further readings. It also suggests a range of learning activities and discussion points for each method.




Healthy City Planning


Book Description

Healthy city planning means seeking ways to eliminate the deep and persistent inequities that plague cities. Yet, as Jason Corburn argues in this book, neither city planning nor public health is currently organized to ensure that today’s cities will be equitable and healthy. Having made the case for what he calls ‘adaptive urban health justice’ in the opening chapter, Corburn briefly reviews the key events, actors, ideologies, institutions and policies that shaped and reshaped the urban public health and planning from the nineteenth century to the present day. He uses two frames to organize this historical review: the view of the city as a field site and as a laboratory. In the second part of the book Corburn uses in-depth case studies of health and planning activities in Rio de Janeiro, Nairobi, and Richmond, California to explore the institutions, policies and practices that constitute healthy city planning. These case studies personify some of the characteristics of his ideal of adaptive urban health justice. Each begins with an historical review of the place, its policies and social movements around urban development and public health, and each is an example of the urban poor participating in, shaping, and being impacted by healthy city planning.




Planning Knowledge and Research


Book Description

Planning Knowledge and Research discusses various elements and contributions to urban planning research to show that some seemingly disparate topics do in fact intersect and together, contribute to ways of understanding urban planning.




Intercultural Urbanism


Book Description

Cities today are paradoxical. They are engines of innovation and opportunity, but they are also plagued by significant income inequality and segregation by ethnicity, race, and class. These inequalities and segregations are often reinforced by the urban built environment: the planning of space and the design of architecture. This condition threatens attainment of wider social and economic prosperity. In this innovative new study, Dean Saitta explores questions of urban sustainability by taking an intercultural, trans-historical approach to city planning. Saitta uses a largely untapped body of knowledge—the archaeology of cities in the ancient world—to generate ideas about how public space, housing, and civic architecture might be better designed to promote inclusion and community, while also making our cities more environmentally sustainable. By integrating this knowledge with knowledge generated by evolutionary studies and urban ethnography (including a detailed look at Denver, Colorado, one of America’s most desirable and fastest growing ‘destination cities’ but one that is also experiencing significant spatial segregation and gentrification), Saitta’s book offers an invaluable new perspective for urban studies scholars and urban planning professionals.”