Different Planning Theories and Concepts and Scholar who proposed that

By Shashikant Nishant Sharma

Planning theories and concepts are diverse and multidisciplinary, reflecting the wide range of issues that urban and regional planning addresses. Here is a comprehensive list of key planning theories and concepts along with the theorists or scholars who proposed or significantly developed them:

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1. Rational Planning Model

Proponent: Herbert A. Simon, Robert M. Solow

Concept: This model emphasizes logical and scientific decision-making, where planners identify goals, gather information, generate alternatives, and select the best solution through cost-benefit analysis.

2. Incrementalism

Proponent: Charles E. Lindblom

Concept: Also known as “muddling through,” this theory suggests that planning occurs in small, incremental steps rather than through comprehensive, large-scale planning. It acknowledges the limitations of complete rationality in decision-making.

3. Advocacy Planning

Proponent: Paul Davidoff

Concept: Emphasizes the need for planners to act as advocates for underrepresented or marginalized groups. It promotes multiple voices and perspectives in the planning process, rather than a single “objective” approach.

4. Communicative Planning

Proponent: Judith Innes, John Forester, Patsy Healey

Concept: Focuses on communication and dialogue between stakeholders in the planning process. It highlights collaboration, consensus-building, and the importance of public participation.

5. Collaborative Planning

Proponent: Patsy Healey

Concept: An extension of communicative planning, this approach focuses on bringing diverse stakeholders together to collectively solve planning problems, with an emphasis on power relations and social equity.

6. Transactive Planning

Proponent: John Friedmann

Concept: This theory emphasizes the interaction between planners and the public, where knowledge is co-produced through dialogue and mutual learning. The focus is on understanding and adapting to local needs through a process of action and feedback.

7. Equity Planning

Proponent: Norman Krumholz

Concept: Argues for planning to focus on redistributive policies that address social inequalities and injustices, particularly in urban settings. Equity planning seeks to ensure that marginalized groups benefit from urban development.

8. Radical Planning

Proponent: Stephen Grabow, John Heskin

Concept: Advocates for a bottom-up approach to planning that challenges existing power structures and promotes social change through community empowerment and direct action.

9. Just City Theory

Proponent: Susan Fainstein

Concept: This theory advocates for the development of cities that prioritize justice, equity, and fairness, rather than efficiency or economic growth alone. It integrates ideas of social justice into urban planning practice.

10. New Urbanism

Proponents: Andrés Duany, Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, Peter Calthorpe

Concept: A movement that promotes walkable, mixed-use, and human-scaled urban environments. It seeks to counter urban sprawl and create sustainable, livable communities.

11. Sustainable Development

Proponents: Gro Harlem Brundtland (Brundtland Commission, 1987)

Concept: Focuses on meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. This concept integrates environmental, social, and economic dimensions into planning.

12. Smart Growth

Proponents: Various urban planners, U.S. EPA (Environmental Protection Agency)

Concept: A set of planning principles that promote sustainable urban growth through compact, transit-oriented, walkable, and mixed-use development to curb urban sprawl.

13. Growth Machine Theory

Proponent: Harvey Molotch

Concept: Focuses on the coalition of business, political, and social elites who work to influence urban growth and land development for economic gains. It examines how these interests drive urban policy and development.

14. Urban Regime Theory

Proponents: Clarence Stone, Regime theorists

Concept: Examines how coalitions of public and private actors work together to govern cities. Urban regimes influence the distribution of resources and decision-making in cities.

15. Modernist Planning

Proponents: Le Corbusier, Ebenezer Howard, Frank Lloyd Wright

Concept: A style of planning that emerged in the early 20th century, emphasizing rationality, functional zoning, large-scale urban development, and the separation of land uses (residential, commercial, industrial).

16. Garden City Movement

Proponent: Ebenezer Howard

Concept: Proposes self-contained, planned communities surrounded by greenbelts to combine the best elements of both urban and rural life. The goal was to counteract the overcrowded, unhealthy conditions of industrial cities.

17. City Beautiful Movement

Proponent: Daniel Burnham

Concept: Advocates for beautification and monumental grandeur in cities to promote civic pride and improve urban living conditions. It emphasized formal planning, public spaces, and neoclassical architecture.

18. Central Place Theory

Proponent: Walter Christaller

Concept: This geographic theory explains the distribution of services, settlements, and market centers in a region, based on a hierarchy of central places that provide goods and services to surrounding areas.

19. Concentric Zone Theory

Proponent: Ernest Burgess

Concept: A model of urban land use that suggests cities grow outward in concentric rings, with the central business district at the core, followed by zones of residential and industrial development.

20. Sector Model

Proponent: Homer Hoyt

Concept: This theory suggests that urban areas develop in wedge-shaped sectors radiating outward from the city center, with different types of land uses occupying these sectors.

21. Multiple Nuclei Theory

Proponents: Chauncy Harris, Edward Ullman

Concept: Proposes that cities have multiple centers (nuclei) around which different types of activities cluster, as opposed to having a single central business district.

22. Participatory Planning

Proponent: Sherry Arnstein (Ladder of Citizen Participation)

Concept: Promotes the involvement of citizens in decision-making processes in planning. Arnstein’s “Ladder of Citizen Participation” outlines different levels of public involvement, from tokenism to full citizen control.

23. Postmodern Planning

Proponent: David Harvey, Edward Soja

Concept: Challenges the uniform, top-down approaches of modernist planning and promotes diverse, context-sensitive approaches that acknowledge complexity, multiplicity, and the importance of place.

24. Political Economy of Planning

Proponents: Manuel Castells, David Harvey

Concept: This theory focuses on how economic and political power influences planning and urban development. It emphasizes the role of capital, class struggle, and economic systems in shaping cities.

25. Ecological Urbanism

Proponent: Mohsen Mostafavi, Gareth Doherty

Concept: Emphasizes the integration of ecological and environmental principles into urban planning and design, addressing sustainability, climate change, and the balance between natural and built environments.

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Conclusion

These theories and concepts reflect the evolution of planning thought over time, from early rational models to more contemporary approaches that prioritize equity, sustainability, and public participation. Each theory offers a distinct perspective on how cities should grow and be managed, influenced by social, political, and economic forces.

References

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1.Rational Planning Model