Who is involved?

Planning is a process which strives to be inclusive of all individuals. In particular all major stakeholders (both those who can influence decisions or who are influenced by decisions) such as governments (all 3 tiers), local authorities, residents, bodies, religions and commissions- the list is endless. The process tries to allow participation from all parties involved in a decision to allow for the best planning outcome for a community to be achieved. The level of participation from such stakeholders is dependent on the status of a community and the scale of a problem. According to A decision makers guidebook in 2005, “No one (level of participation) is intrinsically better and different levels are appropriate for different stages in the development of a plan, or for plans tackling with different scales of problem”. The role of a planner then is to best decide the best level of participation to suit the plan and its desired outcomes.

Source: http://bowlingalone.com/, 26/2/2012.

Talked about in Hitomi’s lecture and in the 20 most influential planning books according to the University’s planning faculty.

Social capital: A key role of a planner is to provide plans that enable communities to build up social capital. Social capital according to outcome is the “connections among individuals”. Whilst a planner cannot force this upon a community, by allowing higher levels of communication participation and consultation in the planning process they can work towards this goal. Achieving this goal will allow for more resilient communities who can better deal with disaster, and create community identities for residents which will reduce conflicts and lower transaction costs.

Do you agree with my statement that an important role of a planner is to enable communities to build up social capital?

B