Urban Planning: Canberra: Going Global

Below is a group report which was written by myself, Stuart Hunter, Jacob White and Nick Goodman. It discusses how Canberra would qualify as a global city and how it attracts, competes and interacts with other cities nationally and internationally.

Introducing Canberra as a Global City

Emerging in the late 20^th Century, the ‘global city’ as a concept is defined as an economic and social entity that is able to overcome the traditional constraints that the nation-state structure might otherwise place on the free flow of capital, labour, and enterprise. Viewing globalisation through the lens of the ‘global city’ with a strong focus on the networked economy, is an intangible economy based on services and intellectual property. The globalisation process has itself facilitated an unprecedented growth in international business transactions, movements of goods and capital, and has allowed regions and indeed cities to specialise in the production of goods and services that they can create most efficiently. Many of these conventional constraints do not apply to a connected global city in the 21^st century, many constraints which otherwise may have placed an unassailable economic dampener on the development of cities like Canberra in developed economies.

How these global cities compete to attract talent capital from around the world is a point of study for urban and regional planners as they seek to understand and emulate the conditions locally to make a city competitive globally. Many of these developments have been catalysed by the proliferation of accessible and affordable telecommunications, as well as favourable policies by governments to actively liberalise the flow of trade and remove barriers to foreign investment and movement of labour. Michael Porter’s ‘Diamond Model of Competitive Advantage’ outlines the principle factor conditions that can catalyse to create conditions in which global cities can thrive. The model highlights six points upon which this kind of competitive advantage is reliant. Porter’s theory was originally to be applied to firms and the advantages that they would have in international trade, other scholars have since expanded upon this model and it can be adapted to understand how cities compete in the globalised age to grow, attract, and retain talent. How urban and regional planners are able to envisage, plan, and create these global cities has become a major question in the planning field, and this report will seek to highlight Canberra’s movement towards this status as it moves to compete in a globally competitive marketplace.

Evaluating Canberra: Strengths and Weaknesses

How a global city can be evaluated is a broad question as it entails much criteria, particularly as cities are seen as large hubs not just for trading and culture but also for living and operating as a society. This can be applied to Canberra in many different means. Sassen (2005) raises 7 hypothesis of a modern global city. These include;

1.        i.          The geographic dispersal of economic activities that marks globalization, along with the simultaneous integration of such geographically dispersed activities, is a key factor feeding the growth and importance of central corporate functions.
2.       ii.          These central functions become so complex that increasingly the headquarters of large global firms outsource them: they buy a share of their central functions from highly specialized service firms.
3.      iii.          Those specialized service firms engaged in the most complex and globalized markets are subject to agglomeration economies.
4.      iv.          The more headquarters outsource their most complex, unstandardized functions, particularly those subject to uncertain and changing markets, the freer they are to opt for any location.
5.       v.          These specialized service firms need to provide a global service that has meant a global network of affiliates and a strengthening of cross border city-to-city transactions and networks.
6.      vi.          The economic fortunes of these cities become increasingly disconnected from their broader hinterlands or even their national economies.
7.    vii.          One result of the dynamics described in hypothesis six, is the growing informalization of a range of economic activities which find their effective demand in these cities, yet have profit rates that do not allow them to compete for various resources with the high-profit making firms at the top of the system.

(Sassen, 2005)

All of these hypotheses are then seen as necessary to a global city, therefore if each feature is applied to a city it can be decided if the given city is a global city or not, and also what its strengths and weaknesses are.  In the instance of Canberra as this report is based around, these 7 hypotheses can be summarised into 4 main points. The first is that these global cities are largely based around the concept of their own individual economy and how it interacts with others globally, locally and internally. Secondly it can be drawn that often these cities are based around central hubs of businesses and these areas are often the most diverse and dynamic areas within the city, whereas outer areas are often disadvantaged, when compared to these inner hubs. Thirdly, these global economies operating in the cities are filled with networking as the industries within, such as financing operate across borders and between firms with outsourcing forming a large part of this.  Last, however these links between and across borders are not simply business they are also political, social and cultural.

               With all this is mind, applying each of the last four summary points to Canberra will enable an evaluation on Canberra as a global city. The first is that each global city is either planned or based and has developed around its own economy and how that it interacts with others. In Canberra, with it being a planned city Canberra has been planned around it self and thus developed around the economy it has within. As seen in its design, there is a central hub in the CBD and close surrounds houses a large majority of business operations. This is not only housed within the CBD but also the Central areas of surrounding suburbs such as Belconnen, Woden and Tuggeranong. This is consistent with the planning scheme for Canberra and the points raised by Sassen.

               The second point being that these central areas are often the most dynamic and diverse areas of the city, when compared and contrasted to the outer surrounding areas. This can be seen widely throughout Canberra as the CBD is considered a vibrant area, especially with the new developments such as the New Acton area and the Nishi complex. These areas have a large and diverse range of services and cultural offerings in a close area. These areas are also constantly updated and visually appealing. Contrast this with the often-dilapidated suburbs of Lyneham in Belconnen, Northbourne Avenue with its dilapidated building or Phillip in Woden. These areas are old; offer very few services and opportunities for employment or the recreation areas for it citizens.  This is form the large centralized approach to planning that Canberra was implemented with and the way that the money coming into Canberra’s economy comes through these central business hubs first then spreads out to these areas after.

            The third point is the business and operations that take place often cross border and firm within and without this area and economy. This can be largely seen from the outsourcing that takes place from within the Government here in Canberra.  The best example of this is the outsourcing of their I.T. operations. (Holland, 2001) in this example the Government opted to outsource their I.T. operations to up to 60 different agencies. This was large as the private sector could perform these tasks more efficient and to reduce the load on the Government.  This is not only cross between Canberra firms and the Australian Government, which is based here but also firms which have operations in many locations such as Computer Sciences Corporation Limited, which have headquarters located in Sydney but have offices in almost every state in Australia and also offices across the globe.  Thus these links are business across borders, stateliness and local operations and also a degree of political link with these follow.

               The final point of summarizing the hypothesis was that the links are not simply business, but political, social and cultural. As the example above has stated and shown political links and business links can exist across borders and do within Canberra. The most prominent example of Political links is the fact that Canberra itself is the central hub for Australian parliament and thus Government. As the policies made and discussed here in Canberra have far reaching effects across all of Australia and in terms of international business and trade too across to the international scale.  In terms of social and cultural links within Canberra these are some what a little lacking when compared to Melbourne or Sydney which are seen as vibrant social and cultural hubs. Yet Canberra does have social links. Canberra is the sister city of both Beijing in China and Nara in Japan. This Sister city link promotes business links and social programs between the two cities in their lifetime.  From this we then gain their culture and experiences.  However Canberra does have a high percentage of overseas born residents. With over half of the residents of Civic in Canberra were born overseas (Belot, Westcott 2014). This then shows we do have links social and then associated culture that comes with this. This statistic also backs up the second point of the central hub being more diverse. From these points Canberra can be seen as a global city, in terms of its layout, population and economic links, social and cultural links and it political standing within the Australian setting.

How Global Cities Interact, Compete and Attract

Global cities interact, compete and attract in various behaviours and often the characteristics of these means will define a global city. Canberra manages to act as a global city by interacting, attracting and competing with national and international cities to enhance its global presence. Interaction between cities allows businesses to prosper, information and resources to be shared, services to provide to their greatest capacity and for cities to develop a wider sense of community. For global cities to interact there must be a combination of centralisation and dispersal of economic activities (Sassen, 2005, 32). As previously discussed, Sassen (2005) identifies a few specific features of a global city, including: multiple headquarters of different corporations, companies that are large enough to need to outsource some of their services, and consist of companies that provide a service of which the local and wider economy and society needs. Large corporations which centralise in any given city develop networks as they expand, creating more opportunities within more global cities; they expand their services to local, national and international cities, allowing their productivity and business to grow. These businesses form networks with other global cities and economic communities which allow them to interact on a business level and exchange resources and information.

Canberra as the capital of Australia is the political headquarters of the country; it interacts with other global cities in terms of international and domestic affairs, economics and politics, using networks of social media, public and private political organisations. Canberra is also leading the way in Australia in terms of communicative technologies with 69.3 per cent of Canberra homes being connected to broadband internet (ANZSOG Institute for Governance, 2013); this is a feature of a global city of which is reliant on technological communication for interaction between other cities. Global corporations interact via the highest end technological developments, and typically are responsible for the interaction between cities. Sassen (2005, 32) confirms that ‘globalised economic sectors tend to be intensive users of the new telecommunications and computer technologies, and increasingly produce a partly de-materialized output, such as financial instruments and specialized services’.

Cities interact on political and economic levels as they expand and develop, although also compete in a similar manner; for example for corporations to develop headquarters in a particular city, for more professionals and graduates to work in these global corporations and live in the cities, as well as for tourism. How these cities compete can be explained by using Michael Porter’s economic Diamond Model, which explains how industries are competitive. The factors consist of the resources, demand, related industries and inputs as well as a company’s structure and management. These features develop the ‘Diamond Model’ and all combine to answer how industries compete, and can be applied to how global cities compete as well (Porter, 1986). The ‘Double Diamond Model’ which is an extension of Porter’s original theory, adds two additional factors and captures the multinational activity of which Porter did not acknowledge; these factors include government and chance. Australia’s capital city is particularly competitive in terms of professionals and education, as Porter acknowledged, resources and related industries are important factors for competitiveness. Canberra is gifted with internationally recognized tertiary education facilities of which attract many new university undergraduates yearly, also; there is a significant movement of people with high-level qualifications into the Canberra region in comparison to that of Sydney, with a total of 40.6 per cent of people having a tertiary qualification.

Competition also develops over their desire to attract, as the more a city attracts, generally means the more it succeeds and the better the capital. As mentioned previously, tourism is another way in which global cities compete for attraction. Competing for attraction in terms of tourism and residency heavily depends on urban aesthetics, population, attractions, culture, sport and special events (Paige, 1995). Urban design and planning is an important element in this area as the transport systems, urban landscapes and aesthetics. Canberra’s aesthetics and urban design are a main tourism attraction, as well as the special events and significant national attractions such as museums and galleries. The capital city is nationally and internationally competitive, interactive and attractive in many ways, particularly due to its political position, its leading tertiary facilities and because of its history of being a planned city.

Urban Form and Retaining Citizens

Canberra is no doubt one of Australia’s leading cities when it comes to how it has been planned and created though its urban form to attract and maintain an increasing population. Canberra has a population of around 380,000 people, been the eighth biggest city in Australia, making it Australia’s biggest inland city (Bobinoz.com, 2014). In 2012 Canberra’s population grew by 2.3 per cent, the increase being the second highest nationally (McIlroy, T. 2013). From this fact alone we can see that Canberra is increasing its population due to many different reasons.

               At the centre of the city is the artificial Lake Burley Griffin, named after the Chicago architects who designed the city. This is a major element to Canberra appeal for both international and domestic people alike. To complement this element, Canberra has large open spaces designed into it that allow a more natural feel to the city and allow people to enjoy more leisure activities closer to the city centre. This is where Canberra in particular differs itself from the likes of Sydney and Melbourne which are much denser and have a high volume of people condensed into a smaller area. 

Canberra, although feeling more like a country town to its Sydney and Melbourne counterparts with Sydney hosting a population of about 4.7 million people, has the largest proportion of residents with a university qualification which in itself is a very high achievement. This static show that after students finish university many are either moving into Canberra or studying in Canberra. These students who are now looking for work are also more likely to find jobs, be involved in research and innovation fields and in general have high-level of occupations within Canberra (Globalisation and Cities Research Program, 2014). This is partly because Canberra is host to the parliaments and other political infrastructure also helping it to encourage people that support the political elements of Australia to be drawn into the city. The biggest employer in the nation’s capital is easily the federal government which accounts for a lot of the higher end white collar jobs (Bobinoz.com, 2014). It should also be noted that Canberra also has the highest proportion of households with access to broadband internet of any major Australian city (Globalisation and Cities Research Program, 2014) This displays how the residence of Canberra are technological savvy in that they are aware of the opportunities that the internet presents. The internet is a major part of the way Canberra can interact with other cities both domestically and internationally and is a big factor when considering global cities.

The infrastructure that Canberra has is another massive reason it’s among the conversation of being or become a global city. Just the fact that it has two major universities means that there is a massive number of people that will look to Canberra when finishing their high school years to further their educations. Not just this Canberra also has many primary, high and preschools plus the option of Tafe to attract home buyers in this area and provide children and adults with high quality educations that can then be taken into the workforce. When these people finish their schooling Canberra looks to accommodate them with offering many different high level occupations meaning that there level of education can be satisfied with an appropriate level of work. This therefore leads to an increased population through maintaining these students. Canberra is also undergoing expansion with new developments going in a few different places. This also is opening up many job opportunities for Canberra residence and accommodating the rising population that Canberra is faced with. The same format in these developments is generally still being used in that it is going with the general master plan of Canberra.

The way Canberra has been designed has also allowed a good flow of traffic in and out of its ever expanding suburbs. This again helps for people living in the areas of Canberra to reach other parts with ease and even in the city centre it is relatively easy to get around. Canberra still has so much potential when it comes to public transport with a good bus system but other systems generally not as good. But this can be put to the fact that the population has not reached a level where these other elements are needed but in time with the current growth of Canberra other public transport maybe introduced.

Conclusion

Evidently through the information presented, Canberra is becoming an increasingly competitive city, both nationally and internationally. Sassen’s theory suggests many features of a global city that are applied to Canberra and its region, and although Canberra is not formally classified as a global city it poses significant potential in the future. Canberra’s competition with tertiary level international schools increases its attraction from young students across all cities. Its political position and advanced technological developments allows Canberra to interact with other global cities, enhancing its global presence and possibility of being acknowledged as a global city.

Bibliography

ANZSOG Institute for Governance, 2013, Centenary Canberra: A City On the World Stage, University of Canberra.

Belot, H. & Westcott, B., 2014, Overseas-born happy to call Canberra home. The Canberra Times. [online], accessed 19 November 2014, available at: http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/overseasborn-happy-to-call-canberra-home-20140318-350pk.html

Bobinoz.com, (2014). Where to live in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia. [online] Available at: http://www.bobinoz.com/living-in-australia/canberra/ [Accessed 19th Nov. 2014].

Globalisation and Cities Research Program, (2014). Canberra as a Global City?. [online] Available at: http://www.globalisationandcities.com/news/canberra-as-a-global-city [Accessed 19th Nov. 2014].

McIlroy, T. (2013). New arrivals drive Canberra's population growth. [online] Canberra Times. Available at: http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/new-arrivals-drive-canberras-population-growth-20130620-2ol1j.html [Accessed 19th Nov. 2014].

Page, S.J, 1995, Urban tourism: Attracting visitors to large cities, Elsevier Ltd.

Parliament Library, 2014, The whole-of-government IT outsourcing initiative, Canberra: Politics and Public Administration Group.

Porter, M.E. (1986). Competition in global industries: A conceptual framework. In M.E. Porter (Ed.), Competition in global industries. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press. (1986)

Sassen, S. 2005, The Global City: Introducing a Concept, Princeton University Press, Princeton, N.J.

Urban Planning: Smart Cities

The Real-Time City? Big Data and Smart Urbanism - Rob Kitchin 

Rob Kitchin’s article discusses what makes smart cities, and in particular how these cities are connected to ‘everyware’. This connection is by devices ‘built into the fabric of urban environments’ (for example wi-fi, broadband, transport infrastructure etc). ‘Connecting up, integrating and analysing the information produced by these various forms of everyware, it is argued, provides a more cohesive and smart understanding of the city that enhances efficiency and sustainability and provides rich seams of data that can be used to better depict, model and predict urban processes and stimulate the likely outcomes of future further development.’ This connection allows cities and its people to become more knowledgeable and controllable

Big data and cities is the next topic Kitchin discusses, explaining how big data is the collection of large datasets such as national censuses, government records and surveys. The sources of big data are divided into three categories; directed, automated and volunteered. These forms of data are large, detailed and varied. Big data is must be:

• Huge in volume
• High in velocity
• Diverse in variety
• Exhaustive in scope
• Fine-grained in resolution
• Relational in nature
• Flexible

Real-time analytics is a common method for governments to manage how a city functions. This is most common with transportation and the movement of people. This can be measured via surveillance cameras, logging transport usage and even air pollution. There have also been attempts to centralise this information for an open data analytic like in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Communicating this information to the community has been done through ‘city dashboards’ where people can access real-time information about weather, transport, stock market etc. This type of analytics can be extremely helpful for tourists, service workers, firemen, policemen and rescue teams. Concerns about the real-time city include:

• Politics of big urban data
• Technocratic governance and city development
• The corporation of city governance and technological lock-in
• Buggy, brittle and hackable cities
• The panoptic city

Urban Planning: Planning In a Globalised World

The Global City: Introducing a Concept - Saskia Sassen

The chapter by Sassen on global cities discusses what specifically defines a global city and how these features of global cities work. She outlines 7 main hypotheses for the global city model, in summary they are;

1. Geographic location and distribution; where the more dispersed the more complex a firms functions are.
2. Firms outsource their functions to other service firms, for example; accounting, public relations etc.
3. Agglomeration economics; service groups are involved together: ‘mix of firms, talents, and expertise form a broad range of specialised fields makes a certain type of urban environment function as an information centre.
4. Signficant amount of heatquarters of firms
5. Provides a global service or a partnership which strengthens cross border transactions and networks
6. The amount of professionals and proven talent
7. Firms that need to operate- society, businesses and economies need their services

Evidently from these hypotheses, technology and the existence of transnational corporations define global cities. The growth of networks between global cities is dependent on political, cultural, social and criminal factors. The article then goes on to discuss worldwide networks and central command functions, and expands on the importance of headquarters in global cities as well as stock markets, agglomeration economics and trade.

The next section discusses the impacts of new communication technologies on centrality. There is three assumed points about centrality and technology. Firstly there is no longer a distinct correlation between centrality and geographical centres like CBDs and downtown. Second, the centre can extend to form a grid due to expansion like in Paris and third, these centres are fundamental to economic and trading. Other than these listed above, technological communications may also cause inequality between global cities where there are larger economic and social structures. 

The final section discusses the global city as a centre of political power, and when this centre does not possess official political power, corporations hold an even greater power.

Urban Planning: Australian Planning History

The Americanization of Australian Planning - Robert Freestone (2004)

This article by Robert Freestone addresses the impacts American planning on Australia. Australia has been influenced in a number of ways including economic, political and cultural means. Australia as a new country was very open to new technologies, capital and people from across all sides of the world. ‘Modern Australian society is often portrayed as steering between “British cultural imperialism and Coca-colonisation alike.’" Some of the basic American influenced movements and happenings are listed below;

• -        The Aesthetic City; American planners were influenced by American features, buildings and landmarks, in particular by the City Beautiful Movement.
• -        The City Functional; around World War II a functional city planning method was introduced where capital city based planning practices around their communities and locals. ‘The “great difficulty” with Australians, according to James Peddle, was their individualism: “we think of my piece of land, of my lot, of my garden, while our American neighbours think of their city.”’
• -        Toward War and Reconstruction; During war periods Australia was looking towards other countries for ideas and innovation. Urban renewal projects, planned community development and innovative site planning were all introduced in Australia thanks to America in this period. These also included slum clearance, rehousing schemes, master plans, roads and freeways, greenbelt towns and community/neighbourhood style planning.
• -        Post-World War II;’The rise of the planned shopping mall in the late 1950s captured the broader impact of American consumerism and automobilism in the post-war era, with planning systems and strategies largely adapted to accommodate new forms of suburban life.’ Increased traffic demand encouraged the influence of freeways and Chicago inspired traffic models. Freeways were introduced as a link between the infrastructure and accommodates the urban economic growth.
• -        Multiple Narratives; There was then a time when planners were identified as more than just ‘urban architects’ and they were accounted for more analytical tasks and projects including; environmental management, landscape planning, public participation, transference of development rights and human scaled place sensitive planning.
• -        The New Australian Urbanism; was when there was a refocus on design and streetscape, liveability and walkability, compactness and community. 

Progress in Australian Planning History; Traditions, Themes and Transformations (2014)

This piece, also by Freestone, discusses the Planning History of Australia along with the arguments for and against the different historical planning processes. He begins by acknowledging why planning history is important for the development of planning in Australia today. He exclaims how history are ‘the pathway to a more critical understanding of planning’s goals, achievements, limitations and failures’. He then continues to discuss the concerns of depending on planning history for future reference; these include the empirical approach of research, the history is written by the planners and the stories are dominated by Western perspectives.

The article then goes on to discuss more specifically the Australian planning history and its development. Freestone examines five phases of planning history in Australia and their economic, cultural and social challenges and practices.

• Inventing planning (1900s-1930s)
• Post-war reconstruction (1940s-early 1950s)
• The long boom (1950s-1960s)
• Re-imagining planning (late 1960s-1970s)
• Neo-liberalism and beyond (1980s to date).

The next section of the article compares planning history to the history of other fields. This is important to consider as planning is such a multidisciplinary practice. Architectural history explores three main areas interconnecting with planning, that is that many architects moved towards planning as a practice when it first emerged as there was no professionals in the field, there has also been a greater appreciation for architectural management thanks to planning and regulations. The final link is between architecture and urban design; that is the design dimension of planning controls and spaces. Urban history is another aspect that connects to planning, an important connection is the interest of urban growth and control. Key drivers of growth include migration, employment, economic restructuring, car ownership and capital investment. These factors are all researched in urban history and are considered today in planning processes, social history is another branch which crosses paths with planning, for example social structures and development. Environmental history is another practice which forms a connection to planning, particularly in Australia where the landscape is significantly important to urban life and to the Australian identity. The following section acknowledges different areas that have also influenced planning practice in Australia they include;

• Community participation
• Morphology of planned landscapes (urban form, resolution and time)
• Womens contributions to planning
• Children and planning
• Indigenous people and planning
• New data (big data, technology)

The final section discusses further concepts and evaluations which have changed planning history and have given planning a push forward; they include evaluations and outcomes, collaboration with other disciplines and with the community.

Urban Planning: New Directions at the Turn of the Century

New Directions in Planning Theory - Susan Fainstein 

In the article by Fainstein, she addresses what is necessary to improve human life and what can be done by urban planners to contribute to this. Three main concepts were developed to enable an improved urban life; all are not mutually exclusive.

The first is the communicative model; where the planner is the negotiator and intermediary among stakeholders, which include residents, businesses and business owners, political parties, schools, construction managers and many others. Being a mediator for discussion allows different stakeholders to engage and express their varying opinions on the matter. Exchanging opinions and changing language however does not allow agreements to be made, and this is the job of a planner, to mediate what ideas will solve the necessary urban problems.

The second concept which Fainstein believes would help contribute to improving urban life is the New Urbanism model. New Urbanism refers to a design based approach to planned urban development. This concept relates much to earlier planning theorists (as discussed in previous posts). The new urbanest calls for mixed uses, changing the structure of housing for different income groups, building developments. It focuses on having a civic or centre and a well-defined edge where neighbourhoods would lie. It would consist of strip mall developments and freeways which would enhance urban life and engagement.

The third concept is referred to as the Just City. The Just City bases its functions and systems on equity. This is where the city not only provides welfare but also generates increased wealth and embodies middle-class society rather than promoting structural inequality. Participation of decision making is an ideal aspect of a Just City, this also allows minorities to have a voice rather than only major power groups. 

Anglo-American Town Planning Theory Since 1945; Three Significant Developments But No Paradigm Shifts - Nigel Taylor

This article outlines three movements in planning history that are not necessarily paradigm shifts, but are still extremely significant changes to the way planning is viewed as a profession. The first main change is from viewing planners as ‘urban architects’ to planners and organisers of new systems and rational processes. Taylor identifies four points for this change;

1. Towns are now viewed as systems of activities and flux rather than of design and physical being;

2. Planners work by the notion of planning a town via economic, social and physical means;

3. Towns are ‘alive’ rather than a place where blueprints are developed; and

4. More scientific, analytic methods of planning were introduced.

Planning was no longer viewed as simply an art, but more of a practice which involved analysing activity systems. Taylor then begins to explain the change from the procedural method of planning to community involvement, otherwise known as the ‘communicative planning theory’. It began as the question was raised whether a planner, although knowledgeable, would be able to decide what is right for a particular environment without understanding the history, the culture of the people and the needs of the community. This introduced the communicative turn in planning theory. The third change is from modernist to postmodernist planning theory where there was a change in normative planning thought. 

Urban Planning: Communicative Planning

The Communicative Turn in Planning Theory and Its Implications for Spatial Strategy Formation - P. Healey

For this topic I made a group presentation in class where we analysed and explained Healey's document. Rather than writing a post I thought I would share with you the presentation. Unfortunately there are some elements of the presentation that are missing, for example the final case study which we conducted on Canberra Airport.

Communicative Planning - Rachelle Hardaker and Angus Easthope

Communicative planning is about engaging and interacting with those involved in a planning process. It requires planners to reach out to the public and ask for their wants, opinions and suggestions in terms of their environment. The document Angus and I will be focusing on today by P. Healey is called The Communicative Turn in Planning Theory and its Implications for Spatial Strategy Formation.’ It focuses on how communicative planning came about and how it can be applied to the planning process. It begins my putting the need for communicative planning into context, by outlining the questions that were not being answered sufficiently without public participation. The document then begins to address the history of planning and the two main paradigm shifts of education and power of which began to influence the turn towards communicative planning. As a need to communicate with the public was identified, Healey begins discussing the development of research towards achieving public participation. Healey then points out why planners should use communicative argumentation, and what benefits will come when planners consult with the community rather than assuming or guessing their wants. A six step guide delivered from basic questions was developed to be able to work alongside a community in the planning process. Participation in the planning process is critical if the goal is to develop an environment that is suited to a community’s needs and values.

Context

Healey discusses how during the Post War Era there was a growing lack of consistency within urban spaces. Healey states; ‘In their place, urban regions have become containers within which coexist a diversity of social and economic relations, linking people in a place with those in other places, but not necessarily with those in the same place.’ This result in a less communal environment with those in the same area, and the mixing of values between places and networks create tension and conflicts. Over time there was a loss of a clear pattern of development, urban areas became ‘less interrelated and less understandable’. Planning models didn’t apply to the sprawl that had developed and there was inconsistency and inequality between urban regions.

There was then set competitions between urban areas, as to who offered the best capacity to resolve conflicts, reduce tension, had the best resources, locations and who could deliver an environmentally friendly, healthy living environment. There are questions that begun being asked due to the detrimental effects from the loss of confidence in the political system.

How are we to arrive at a spatial strategy? How do we get to understand the complex and diffused dynamics of urban regions? How do we get to agree on what the problems are, and on what we want to promote and safeguard? How can we translate agreement into influence on the ongoing flow of activities through which our regions are continually being reshaped? This persuaded a change in the way planning engaged with the people.

The Turn in Communicative Planning

Planning in the second half of the last century experienced two paradigm shifts; which are changes in the pattern or model of what society deems normal. The first wave of change introduced the typical strategic planning processes language that was based on modelling and dynamics of urban systems. This new vocabulary and education on planning models was used throughout the 1960s and 1970s. It focused on developing urban areas consistently and introducing equality and normality throughout all planning designs. The second wave introduced criticism to the planning community of policies and activity through a shift of power relations in communities. This shift developed from a need to reanalyse the layering of demographics though planning, and look at the vulnerability of some economies. Power struggles occurred ‘between capital and community, between fractions of capital, between economic growth and environmental quality’.  This power shift influences an escape from strategic formal planning by recognising the diverse people amongst communities. The question was then asked; ‘Faced with such diversity and difference, how then can we come to any agreement over what collectively experienced problems we have and what to do about them? How can we get to share in a process of working out how to coexist in shared spaces?’ This led to the development of communicative planning.

Development of Communicative Argumentation

Habermas (1984), discussed the need to reconstruct planning policy to allow for outcomes that reflect the diversity of values and demographics amongst communities. Habermas believed that ‘our sense of ourselves and of our interests is constituted through our relations with others; through communicative practices. Our ideas about ourselves, our interests, and our values are socially constructed through our communication with others and the collaborative work this involves.’ If this is true, then our skills developed from this communication can be applied to a discussion about environmental and planning issues that concern us. Planning practice began moving away from tradition to more inclusionary argumentation, which is a more participatory method of debate. By including the public in decision making it introduced a greater array of issues that needed attention, and more ideas as to resolve those issues.

There are also different levels of which participation amongst the community is reached. The International Association of Public Participation outlines the five levels of participation. These begin with

• 1.      Informing – keeping the community up to date with plans through fact sheets, websites. This is the lowest form of public participation and is hardly interactive.
• 2.      Consultation – this is done with surveys, where the community is asked about if they like the plans.
• 3.      Involving – whereby the community can suggest ideas in workshops or can have a say through voting.
• 4.      Collaborate – where planners are working alongside the public and with stakeholders.
• 5.      Empower – the community calls the shots through juries and delegated decisions.

The IAP2 work by these 7 core values of which can also apply to communicative planning, and highlight the benefits to the community by involving themselves in the process of decision making.

• 1.      Public participation is based on the belief that those who are affected by a decision have a right to be involved in the decision-making process.
• 2.      Public participation includes the promise that the public's contribution will influence the decision.
• 3.      Public participation promotes sustainable decisions by recognising and communicating the needs and interests of all participants, including decision makers.
• 4.      Public participation seeks out and facilitates the involvement of those potentially affected by or interested in a decision.
• 5.      Public participation seeks input from participants in designing how they participate.
• 6.      Public participation provides participants with the information they need to participate in a meaningful way.
• 7.      Public participation communicates to participants how their input affected the decision.

These values are relevant to communicative planning and can be used by planners to navigate their way around community involvement. However, to be able to develop a higher level of public participation in the planning process it is important to identify some key factors that allow communicative planning to begin underway.

Spatial Strategy Formation Through Communication

Attempting to create new spatial strategies can be a challenging and difficult task, and to this this while making the inclusion of communities a primary objective is even more so.  Promoting Planning objectives and problems or managing the small details in changing communities fills a large proportion of work in spatial and environmental planning. When working in the area of planning, actions and movements taken often make multiple assumptions about the current environment and community. When the flow of management in planning continues it is common for assumptions to not change and remain constant. Basically urban regions have fine grain economic and social relations and if planning actions are irrelevant or opposing it creates a divide between what the region needs and what the plan wants. Planning systems can lead to an uneven share of influence towards the most powerful groups leaving little decision making to others. Providing a voice and respect for all members of the urban region, even when many can’t be present in a discussion is a crucial aspect of spatial strategy and requires sorting through a range of information. To sort through this mass of issues, problems, arguments, ideas and policy discussion requires the planner to be an experimental learner finding new ways to think and what to care about and ultimately what actions to take. Healey stated in her paper “it seems almost an impossible challenge in our dynamic, differentiated, complex and conflicting urban regions”. In order to conceptualize a plan to tackle this challenge of communication, Healey created a 5 part strategic planning process. Each part is centralized on an important step in the communicative approach to spatial strategy formation. The following steps will help us understand how to use communication as an important tool in planning.

• 1.      Where is the discussion to take place, in what forums and arenas; how are the community members to get access to it?
• 2.      In what style will the discussion take place? What styles will most likely be able to ‘open out’ discussion to enable the diversity of ‘languages’ among community members to find expression
• 3.      How can the jumble of issues, arguments, claims for attention, and ideas about what to do which arise in discussion be sorted out?
• 4.      How can a strategy be created that becomes a new discourse about how spatial and environmental change in urban regions could be managed?
• 5.      How can a political community get to agree on a strategy, and maintain that agreement over time while continually subjecting it to critique.

The parts listed should be taken not as tasks to complete but questions which a community can contemplate.

1.    Arenas for communication

The first step in forging a consensus among different viewpoints is to create arenas of argumentation, which can significantly aid in providing and receiving information from participants. Previous arguments of where the creation of policy should take place heavily lied within political and legal systems. These systems are great at creating a formal and structured way of allocating speaking rights and debate, although these administrative systems can also give some participants more privileges than others, leaving the less privileged with a smaller voice. The main values that should be taken from these more traditional approaches are the targeting of attention on how arenas are designed and constructed and were the origins of authority come from.

Spatial strategy comes from the appropriate situation where there is a moment of opportunity for change. This could be in something like a “crack in power relations” or a conflict and contradiction of different ideas. When the appropriate situation arises it can make people realize they need to involve a different process and work with a different range of people within the urban region. In this early stage of communication it is up to the planner to have a unique ability to see these opportunities of doing thing differently, reading the breaks in power and to turn the tables into potential change. The people who start this change don’t necessarily have to be in a formal position of leadership and could arise from any setting but they usually have a good understanding and sense of the local economic, social and political relations and structural dynamics within that region. 

Once a new opportunity for change is found, which could be at any level of institution, careful thought about the correct system that is going to be accommodate for the arena is crucial. Existing organisations often already exist though government and can be very effectively used as an arena for argumentation. The difference of “inclusionary argumentation” is that it has stepped ahead of the power of bureaucratic systems and no longer focuses on having a winner and loser.

In Canberra, the system in place to address what the community’s wants are community councils, these groups are made up of members that represent the views of their local geographic community, for example there is the inner north, inner south, Tuggeranong, Woden, Belconnen etc. They meet monthly and prior to applications for development, the applicant must get approval from the council. These community groups are great at addressing that particular urban region although sometimes councils can be very difficult to adjust from a narrow range of interests.

Healey broke the word community into two parts; the first part being focused on the spatial aspect, which is all the people residing in that geographic or spatial position that share a concern due to a change directly affecting that area. The second part being the involvement of stake holders; stake holders can be directly or indirectly affiliated with what is happening in that particular urban region. They care about what people are doing in that place. This could be anyone who shops there, too caring about the local environment and history. In order to conduct spatial strategy formation both of these parts of the community should be addressed. Mapping the stakeholders in a region is a good idea when trying to move a strategic planning process in a forward direction. The Mapping of stake holders involves monitoring new and incoming stakeholders to that area and opening to the idea that new stakeholders will be discovered in the future processes. Often discussion begins before political community members have found out what kind of arenas are preferred and even who all the stakeholders are. Moves and decisions that are made before an arena has been set up correctly can result in a proportionate amount of power being allocated towards one group.

To help reduce the negative effects of these initial first moves two ideas have been created. The first is based on ethical inclusion or in other words, picking the right groups that should be included. Questions must be raised such as who are members of the political community, how are they to gain access to the arena in a way that their opinions can be respected and what stake do they have in the process and outcome. There needs to be recognition of diversity, moving beyond the term that everyone has an equal standing. “All groupings of people should have equal ability to put over their views” (Young, 1990). To enable a moral duty of diversity there needs to be knowledge of the backgrounds of each of the community members and how each of the members can constructively contribute to a discussion.

The second idea is that where should discussion take place. The discussion can shift the different arenas to different levels of institution and at different times. By encouraging discussion in more than one institutional place it helps gather a broader perspective on the different values and actions. The locations can range from schools, business clubs and council chambers etc. The arenas change as the discussion develops and progresses and as long as the original concerns are not lost the discussion may ‘open out’ and become more productive. An inclusionary approach uses its style and ethics to bring forward a greater awareness of the range of stakeholders and lets multiple claims for attention to be addressed in arenas.

2.    Style and scope

The scope and style of discourse is a second set of considerations that concerns what actually get discussed and how. This stage is also traditionally known as the survey stage which identifies what is going on and what the issues are within an urban region, although Healy refers to it as ‘scoping’ or environmental appraisal. Healy uses the word scoping to help open out issues and to see what the issues mean to different people and whether they are actually what they are meant out to be. It involves removing previous practices and assumptions of communities to open up and see an issue in a new light.

The survey stage if conducted for only one particular group of people can reinforce stereotypes and alienate or disregard stakeholders or parties. If the scope takes into account the idea mentioned previously of inclusionary commitment it can move issues past cultural differences and help people learn about each other’s opinions and concerns. Although this is easy to do in small groups within set up arenas, there are many more arising challenges and complexities that must be faced when dealing with the future of much larger urban regions systems.

As mentioned before there is a very potential chance of misunderstanding when scoping urban regions to find out what people don’t like and the causes of unrest. Both Healy and another planner hillier state that the amount of productivity that can come out of this stage is based off how people prepare themselves, how rooms are arranged, how communicative routines can be set up or who is to speak at a particular time, how the discussion is concluded, remembered and then reviewed. Many people have different routines and expectations from this stage. For example a participant coming from a labor union might have a different perspective of how a discussion should be set up compared to someone from company management. This means that the style of the discussion should use a inclusionary approach and recognize that not everyone will be comfortable with how the discussion begins.

Once the style of the discussion is laid down there can still be problems and differences with the way people express there different opinions which brings us to another concern of the language. People who have different backgrounds and cultures may use unfamiliar ironic expression, statements with economic and scientific reasoning or be accustomed to a certain belief or political asserssion of rights. As a result one point made or reference made will have meaning for some and seem strange to another. To successfully use language all arguments should be recognized even if translation is needed.

In order to spread involvement multiple meeting groups can often be set up and this can help include as many participants as possible. increased involvement also demands increased respect, because no matter how much enthusiasm goes towards involving everyone if the ability to maintain levels of respect is not present it can restrict people’s desire to contribute or provide expression towards the discussion. Even when a participant can’t fully be active and involved, they should not be ignored.

A quote from Healy states that” The inclusionary challenge is to prevent those ‘not present’ being absent from the discussion.”

Micheal Pilbrow listed some points about how to deal with a community in a communicative approach. He came as a guest speaker last Tuesday gave a great example were he had to go into a foreign country and apply some of the techniques that I previously talked about to solve the various problems. The style and language of the discussion differed from what is familiar to most of us and I’m sure allot of adaptation would have been required. The ability to set ap an arena for a very different culture would have been difficult due to not knowing who should be involved and who holds allot of power in that community.

3.    Sorting through arguments

With the inclusion of an ‘open style’ discussion a multitude of points, opinions and argument are brought to attention, and having an ability to sort though and find the most appropriate requires not an abstract technical process but an active operation in collective sorting. Strategic spatial planners should take into account not just the point made but the levels of expression and language they use to express themselves, this can help determine the level of passion and urgency behind their argument. It can most importantly display the various values that the community hold.

In allot of strategic planning exercises the material gathered will be filtered in a manner that reduces peoples speech to a single point, which can join to other participants points to form a sort of structured framework where a planner can understand the discussion and make sense of it. Sorting is a component of ‘inclusionary argumentation’ and involves knowing when to start sorting through arguments in a formal matter, when to link the different points and when to pin point the various patterns.

4.    Creating a new discourse

Choosing what strategies and policies to implement is a long process, particularly with a large variety of community input. The selected strategy must manage to meet the majority of the public’s main issues raised, their needs and their wants. As Healey explained; ‘It requires a capacity to reach some agreement across differences as to what the issues are, the purposes of action, and the way the consequences, the costs and benefits of action, should be assessed.’ When analysing all the suggested plans and policies it is important to scrutinise, but to also be open minded to new ways of thinking about issues. It is important for planners to remember that what they are doing is for the community, and that they need to avoid the ‘planning for planners’ syndrome, where planners will do what is best theoretically, but not legitimately. It is important to provide reasons for avoiding or ignoring some suggestions, values or claims, as some things are not necessarily of importance to the majority of people, or it is irrelevant. ‘The challenge for an inclusionary approach to strategic spatial planning is to experiment with and test out strategic ideas in initially tentative ways, to open out possibilities for both evaluation and invention of better alternatives, before allowing a preferred discourse to emerge, and crowd out the alternatives.’ Basically it is important to keep an open mind to new ideas, and not focus on what is first suggested or thought as the answer. Taking use in the communities input and ensuring that their ideas are included creates an informed and interested community, it also develops an interest amongst the community and a sense of ownership in the discourse that is finally developed.

5.    Agreement and critique

The chosen spatial strategy needs to convey positive ways forward and should bring benefits to as many community members as possible. However, it is very likely that there will be participants that will not be happy with the outcome, and will continue to have objections once the final process has been chosen. In these cases follow up processes that should be undertaken, including keeping these unhappy community members in review, and asking what else can be done to meet their needs. Community members should be able to confront those involved in the final decision making and enquire what has been done in terms of their issue. Dealing with these sorts of objections and disagreements can be repetitive, as all participants have the right to criticise and as it is ‘an essential underpinning of inclusionary consensus-building strategies.’

It is important to assess what constraints or barriers the chosen strategy my produce and how it can reflect on the dynamics of social, political and economic relations.  Future implications can alter the effectiveness of the strategy, including changes of power holders, whether the strategy is still relevant to the current times and whether it still is benefitting the community. To avoid becoming a useless strategy, it needs to adapt to changes through continual reflexive critique. By monitoring the relevance of the strategy it can continue being implemented. Periodic reviewing of its usefulness should be undertaken by the community, to analyse whether the strategy is creating a positive effect. The community should decide if the policy needs to be changed or if it should be removed.

References

Habermas, J., 1984, The Theory of Communicative Action, Volume 1: Reason and the Rationalisation of Society, Polity Press, Cambridge.

Healey, P., 1995, The Communicative Turn in Planning Theory and its Implications for Spatial Strategy Formation, Department of Town and Country Planning, Newcastle.

International Association of Public Participation, 2014, Public Participation Spectrum, visited 9/9/2014, http://www.iap2.org.au/documents/item/84.

Urban Planning: Participation and Contestation

This topic addresses the need for community engagement within the planning process, and particularly what levels of community involvement are required to achieve a feasible outcome. Community involvement better reflects citizen values, attributes and needs within urban design, making a better living environment for the people of today and the future. Below I also reflect on Jewson and MacGregor’s Contested Cities: Social Process and Spatial Form, which criticises previous planning practices and theories, as well as suggests new methods of social and spatial processes.

A Ladder of Citizen Participation – Sherry R. Ainstein

Research conducted by Ainstein recognises the levels of engagement between communities and urban planners. The introductory question which is later addressed is; ‘What is citizen participation and what are its relationships to the social imperatives of our time?’ Community participation is essential in regards to planning because outcomes impact whole community’s daily lives. It is important that community members are involved with the decisions of their future. The ladder of participation and engagement proposed by Ainstein consists of 8 levels, which are divided into 3 subheadings. The lowest 2 steps are classified as non-participation. These steps include [1] Manipulation and [2] Therapy, which include persuading and educating people of already made plans. The second section of levels includes; [3] Informing, [4] Consultation and [5] Placation. These steps can be deemed as tokenism, where opinions are heard but ignored, and there is no follow-through. The final stage identifies the various stages of civilian power. The sixth ladder step ([6] Partnership) is a planning ideal, where communities and planners are working side by side in the development and decision making process. The last two steps; [7] Delegated Power and [8] Citizen Control are the highest levels of power, where communities possess the right to decide and the right to criticize. These last, higher stages of the Citizen Participation Ladder may ultimately be detrimental to urban systems and design in the future. Planners possess the history and theory of what practices are best for various situations, therefore professional input should be considered. The sixth step [of partnership] is the best level of attaining a sustainable, timeless urban system that will reflect the communities values, attributes and needs as well as reflecting planning principles and practice.

Contested Cities: Social Process and Spatial Form – Nick Jewson and Susanne MacGregor

Jewsen and MacGregor developed an academic novel based on their research on historic planning theory and practices. Their general argument is for timeless, sustainable planning processes and a united approach to community engagement. This is due to evidence of people feeling alienated within cities by localisation and sectioning of communities, as suggested by Lewis Mumford. Rather than sectioning communities by income, race and political view, Jewson and MacGregor suggest developing communities around common values, for example environmental conservation, social justice etc. This would likely better the genuineness of communities as a whole.

The paper then begins addressing the spatial formation of cities and their need for urban processes that can be sustained over time. The writers argue against past implemented processes, which have negatively impacted urban life now because of their lack of consideration for the future. Urban processes need to be developed in a way so they are flexible and adjustable to the changing values and needs of society. 

Urban Planning: Early Planning History

Modernism and Early Urban Planning - Richard T. LeGates and Frederic Stout

This paper by LeGates and Stout discusses when urban planning was accepted and acknowledged as a professional field. It recognises what points in time changed the way urban planning was used for. The Industrial Revolution and the introduction of the automobile influenced the need for researching urban settlement patterns Technology is a significant indicator as to where urban planning systems will need to develop and change their focus areas on. The Great Depression also hindered the need for urban systems which include plans for affordable housing and efficient transport systems. The various economic, social and political transformations of which developed from these revolutions, promoted the need for professional planners and graduate programs.

As professionals began entering the field of planning there began many discoveries and suggestions about what can be done to improve the life of urban industrialism. The Parks Movement was the first urban shift towards improving urban life. It aimed to provide a healthy outlet from city life and create a recreational and entertainment space. It consisted of parks within industrial cities, an example of this is Central Park, New York. Although significantly famous and beautiful, Central Park does not improve urban life holistically, particularly since New York patrons do not engage with the park during their working days. This problem introduced a second planning shift towards The Garden City Movement first suggested by Ebenezer Howard, who developed the first Garden City of Letchworth. Letchworth consisted of multiple services, parks, tree-lined boulevards and asylums. The aim of this concept was to enhance the engagement with the environment throughout the day to day lives of the working class, which in turn will reduce health problems and create a ‘happier’ city. The Garden City Movement and the similar Civic Design Movement made planners realise the importance of green space and urban health within a city. This introduced an entirely new movement referred to as the City Beautiful Movement. The City Beautiful movement was when planners began making larger, unified plans for cities and regions rather than just smaller areas. It bought about a change in the connectivity between streets and shopping centres, a greater focus on housing and population congestion, and more engagement between planners and communities.

As city planning matured, Edward Bassett developed a thesis of what city plans should consist of. This was called The Master Plan. The Master Plan professionalised the planning field and realised the increasing need for information regarding planning theory and practice. Partners of Bassett; Lewis Mumford and Henry Wright, both had significant contributions to The Master Plan and professionalization of planning. Lewis Mumford acknowledged the importance of better technology and transport systems to create smaller, localised cities which would engage more harmoniously with the whole of New York. Clarence Stein and Henry Wright investigated the relationship between urban geography, neighbourhoods and road systems, which would reduce congestion, particularly around residential areas. It is evident throughout the course of the paper, that the various changes in planning history reflect the social, economic and political changes of the time, which suggest urban planning systems will be forever changing. 

Urban Planning: what is it and why is it necessary?

To answer this question two academic documents by Raphael Fischler and Richard E. Klosterman were perscribed. Fischler outlines the main principles of planning and what common confusions of the practice in his reading 'Fifty Thesis on Urban Planning and Urban Planners'. In Klosterman's article; 'Arguments For and Against Planning', he outlines why planning is necessary and identifies common arguments from the perspectives of different ideologies.

Fifty Thesis on Urban Planning and Urban Planners - Fischler

Raphael Fischler's 'Fifty Thesis on Urban Planning and Urban Planners' aim to develop a common view towards the discipline and eliminate misconceptions about what planners face and what is thought of the practice. Fischler begins by identifying the differences between various views of planning and what planning is used for. It is a common belief that planners are used for developing political power and implementing social structure rather than focusing on community wellbeing and improving urban life. The document then goes on to explain exactly what planners are good for and what planning achieves, including a general aim of solving the 'social, functional and aesthetic problems of the industrial city’.

Planning can be implemented in a way of which emphasises community wants, values and diversity through community consultation and involvement. Good urban planning is achieved when a sense of community, relationships and involvement is produced through the urban policies and design. If a town feels they have appropriate access to supplies, their values are upheld, are in good health, are living in an enjoyable environment, and most importantly feel involved in the decision making or urban policies, then a good urban planning system is in effect. 

The document also discusses the education element of planning, as well as the qualities of urban planners that are needed to create good urban systems. Planning is a multidisciplinary field which means planners are required to have a large understanding of many subjects involved in decision making. They need to be passionate and able to communicate effectively to be able to coordinate and consolidate. They must be able to persuade and explain ideas and reasons, but also be open to suggestions and criticism. Urban planners are required to be creative and innovative to be able to develop urban plans that are beneficial to urban life. 

Arguments For and Against Planning - Klosterman

Richard E. Klosterman outlines main areas of arguments for and against urban and regional planning, which explain why planning is necessary. The three areas which produce the greatest arguments include the economic,pluralist and traditional and arguments. Klosterman begins by discussing the economic perspective, where it is believed it would impose financial and administrative burdens on the economy. Urban planning is a public good, whereby it is provided to the public at no direct cost. It provides benefits to the community including better social capital and connectivity to commute and involve. However there are often externalities, or 'spill-over' effects. However these can be viewed as both due to urban planning and due to avoiding planning. Congestion, traffic, pollution and lack of greenspace are all problems urban planners seek to solve. However in solving these problems there is often a need for detouring, noise and production costs.

Pluralist arguments begin with who owns the power in planning. Planners are seen as political advocates, who follow the policies and frameworks given to them. To avoid creating plans that are do not just consist of government input, community involvement and consultation is needed to involve those that are impacted in the decision making. Urban planners should also be more involved in the decision making at a political level so there is a greater outcome for future communities. 

In the traditional and Marxist arguments there continues to be evidence of community involvement and the need for current urban planning policies and practices to be used, which will in turn better the urban life for the future. There is ultimately a gap between planning's potential and performance, which can be closed by analysing actions before implementation and involving all those who are directly involved. It is also important for planners to be passionate, to be certain and knowledgeable, this will close the gap and ensure they are used to their potential rather than being overlooked.

- Rachelle Hardaker

Introductory Post

Hi there! Welcome to my blog!

My name is Rachelle Hardaker and I am in my first year of completing a bachelor of Urban and Regional Planning at the University of Canberra. I have always had an interest in urban structure and the way society develops, which is why I sincerely enjoy studying this degree! I am currently undergoing a unit called 'Planning Theory and Process (1)'; the content includes information about basic urban planning theories and management plans. The content I will be posting about will be from documentation given throughout the course, where I will be analysing and discussing the key skills that I have personally gained from the texts. 

I hope to offer an insightful understanding and personal reflection of these planning theories that can be interpreted for your own analysis and benefit.

Hope you enjoy!
 - Rachelle Hardaker