Shipra Narang Suri (Moderator) from India, 6 May 2012
Unclear planning policies - the bane of many cities!
Planning policies are often unclear and open to (mis)interpretation, as indicated in the piece on Ottawa below. Is that also the case in your city? Tell us more.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/story/2012/04/26/ottawa-planning-summit.html
Masetori Makhetha, 7 May 2012I do think that policies are generally clear but what seems to be lacking is the necessary support for those policies and institutional strengthening that has to be done on a continuous basis. Planning is a process and if any supports to the process are interrupted the whole process id thrown into disarray. Perhaps planning processes need to be re-engineered such that disruptions to parts of the system do not have an overall impact on other parts to the extent that planning policies are seen not to be clear.
Shipra Narang Suri (Moderator) from India, 7 May 2012Hi Masetori! Welcome to the urban planning dialogue. Indeed, urban planning is a process and all stages of that process, as well as the institutions that support it, must be strengthened, if planning policies are to be properly implemented. Do you know of any cities, especially in the developing world, where such strengthening has been undertaken, and where planning is truly an effective tool to guide urban development?
Priscella B. Mejillano, 22 May 2012Hi Ms Shipra. You might be interested to take a look at what we have in the Philippines with regards to rationalizing the local planning system- linking planning, investment programming, budgeting and revenue administration. Given that national, regional and local levels have planning mandates (e,g, local government units- provinces, cities, municipalities are mandated to formulate comprehensive land use and multi-sectoral development plans; 3 major agencies have mandates to formulate local planning guidelines, in addition to other sectoral agencies that also push sectoral planning), the process of planning becomes so challenging especially when planning is formulated as a stand alone, independent policy. What is have is rationalizing the local planning system- identifying what local structures are responsible to do mandated plans; when to prepare the plans; how to prepare plans. This is being supplemented with a joint policy of four oversight agencies responsible for planning, budgeting and revenue administration. Now, we have rationalized local planning and synchronized local planning and budgeting as we are trying very hard to strengthen the responsible institutions.
Alvaro Arellano from Mexico, 10 May 2012A planning policy should always have intra-consistency and inter-consistency with the general urban policy framework otherwise there is a high risk of running cross purposes efforts and thus spending unwisely the public scarce resources. This is particularly relevant when urban policies have different time horizons or are formulated to be stand alone policies.
Hassaan Ghazali, 10 May 2012Great topic Shipra. I suppose one of the problems we have to contend with--atleast in Pakistani cities--is the various layers of planning institutions that function in a haphazard manner. I think planning policies can be uncluttered if the planning function could be an exclusive domain of only a few institutions.
Shipra Narang Suri (Moderator) from India, 10 May 2012Thank you all for your comments. So I guess what we are saying is that planning policies not only have to be clear, they also have to be consistent with other urban policies; planning institutions have to be properly structured, with adequate capacities for effective functioning; and planning processes have to be transparent and participatory. And this holds true for both developed and developing countries.
Priscella B. Mejillano, 21 May 2012Yes, Ms Shipra. Planning institutions can be properly structured if there is an appreciation that planning in general is primarily an integral function of governance. This means that the entire organizational structure of government itself, including the legislative and executive branches constitutes the proper structures and institutions for planning, given that planning is both a policy-making and a problem-solving activity. This should be applied in both developed and developing countries.
Priscella B. Mejillano, 21 May 2012To Hassaan: The way we are positioning our planning system in the Philippines, we always look at the vertical integration of planning processes and outputs (bottom-up, top-bottom and vice-versa). so, this makes planning as everybody’s business. We may have concerns with the institutional layers, but if the ultimate purpose of planning is to protect the common good or to promote the general welfare then every inhabitant in a local territory has a stake in the process and in the product and in the outcome of planning. Urban planning, given its tremendous challenges, should be anchored on sound governance (given the institutional layers).After all, urban planning is much more than the concern of government. It embraces the concerns of both government, non-government sectors and societal sectors.