Where were the planners?

This post is a few weeks after the fact but the recent APA conference only solidified my resolution to say something.  In early April Teddy Cruz gave a lecture here in Philly at the School of Design.  For those of you not familiar with his work, he has a unique and thoughtful perspective on the relationships between culture, planning and design. 

His hour + lecture described the informal economies that have evolved between San Diego and Tijuana while categorizing how the two cities directly and indirectly influence one another.  Although an architect, very little of the presentation focused on form.  It was instead a lecture on what inspired him as a designer.  Interestingly, what emerges from his reading of the region in which he works is a dire need for regional planning as well as new tools to address informal economies (what i might call micro-planning).

I went to the lecture because I wanted to see him speak about his work and his process beyond what I could discern from the articles I've read.  But I also went because I've been making a concerted effort to attend lectures sponsored by all departments in the School of Design.  What hit me noticeably about the Teddy Cruz lecture was the absence of planners.  Now this is not an issue just with planners as I rarely see architects at planning lectures either.  (and before you ask, i don't expect planners and architects to wear a shirt with a big "P" or "A" on it to identify themselves but having worked here a long time and with connections to Penn, I am confident in my perceptions).  

Is this an issue in tone?   If I can over-generalize (and i will here), the vast majority of planning lectures have focused more on the City as a problem to solve.  The flip side as represented by many lectures in architecture and landscape architecture has an emphasis more on the City as inspiration.  Two very different, but equally important aspects of cities to take into account.  What's interesting in a lecture like Teddy Cruz's as well as a growing body of international work is that the inspiration often derives from a very pragmatic response to real problems.  It would be wonderful if we could better bridge the chasm between professions which I don't think is as conceptually far apart as the attendance at lectures suggests.