Over the last six months some of my blog entries have highlighted plans and places. This month I turn to processes that are important in planning. This is a bit trickier than plans and places as the web presence of processes tends to be dominated by project examples and how-to instructions. It’s also hard from the web to get a sense of how processes have developed over time—for example what passes as rational comprehensive planning today, complete with numerous participatory processes and evaluation strategies, is quite different from the much criticized technical model of the 1950s and 1960s. Of course that’s a good reason to go to planning school.
Planning Process
Can a 'Case Management' Office Save the Development Process in Los Angeles?
Despite 40 percent fewer employees, the department recently announced a reform plan to expedite the development approval process by bringing the city's Planning Department and the Department of Building and Safety under one roof.
The Planning Report
Improving Planning in San Francisco
The Wall Street Journal talks with Gabriel Metcalf, executive director of the San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association, about where the city is heading and how it needs to change.
The Wall Street Journal
Views Become an Issue in Wind Farm Approval
The planning process for new wind turbines in Eastern Idaho is becoming an "increasingly contentious process," as residents complain that they don't want the structures interfering with their views.
Post Register
NYC Asking Public to Comment on Planning Process
New York City is updating their Uniform Land Use Review Process. Tom Agnotti says there is a lot that is broken and needs fixing.
The Gotham Gazette
Elite Core of Architects Should Make Planning Decisions
Amanda Levete argues that the planning process in the U.K. should be taken out of the hands of government and public process and handed to a panel of qualified architects.
Building
Are Churches Causing Sprawl?
By moving out to areas where planning approvals are faster, rapidly-expanding churches are creating suburban sprawl, according to a recent study from researchers at Ryerson University.
The Toronto Star
Beyond the Bronze Fonz
Controversy continues in Milwaukee as another public art piece is revealed.
Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel
Why Planning is Like the Judicial System, and Why it Shouldn't Be
Planning has become too much like a court case, with two sides and one winner. According to columnist Christopher Hume, this adversarial nature must be changed.
The Toronto Star
Planning System Needs to Look at the 'Big Picture'
Officials in Melbourne, Australia, are so frustrated with the city's lackluster planning process that they are pushing for the creation of a new planning authority -- one they hope will look at the "big picture".
The Age
Is a Bronze Fonz Public Art? Aaaaay!
A proposed public art piece featuring a bronze statue of the "Happy Days" character Arthur "the Fonz" Fonzarelli has many up in arms about the process creating and approving public art.
The Next American City
Das Chinatown
The planning process has taken a little longer than expected for a Chinese investor looking to create Germany's first Chinatown.
Der Spiegel
Democratic Planning in the Face of Immigration
Wed, 06/06/2007 - 04:44
Although the latest immigration bill being debated upon in congress has attracted relatively little attention from planners, the planning implications of reforming or not reforming current immigration policy are huge. Immigration impacts labor markets, and thereby commuting patterns, transportation planning and economic development. Immigration swells the population of many cities and towns forcing planners to rethink their plans for housing, schools and other public services. Often overlooked, however, is f immigration’s impact on the planning process itself.
