The Values of Contemporary American Planners

Planners' Attitude Toward GrowthA Comparative Case Study

“…It is difficult to interpret with certainty the source of this neutrality; it may, however, indicate a lack of commitment to the issue and some indifference to how growth can affect low-income groups. This interpretation is consistent with the finlngs of a study by Howe and Kaufman (1981). They found planners' attitudes toward the interests of low-income and minority groups basically neutral, and their support going to mass transit, environmental protection and public participation in ~l a n n i n g .~…”

Between conflict and consensus: Searching for an ethical compromise in planning

“…All three of our case studies involve planners working in the public sector and who have to concede to some form of public interest—however, broadly this is defined (see Howe, 1994: 320). In our study, we neither probe into the different specific roles that planners can take on in practice, for example, as a bureaucrat, reformer or analyst (see Healey, 1991), nor the different ethical values that planners subscribe to in each role on different issues (Howe and Kaufman, 1979, 1981). Future work in this area may then comprise of studying the correlation of a planner’s moderated ethical position to the type of compromise this position can elicit.…”

Teaching Planning Students About Strategizing, Boundary Spanning and Ethics: Part of the New Planning Theory

“…what their own ethical values were (through a series of self-administered questionnaires on personal and professional ethics and an exercise they did to devise their own weighted hierarchy of ethical values), how planners thought about ethics and the kinds of ethical dilemmas they faced on the job (through analysis of empirical research on planners' ethics undertaken by the author and Elizabeth Howe (1979), and how planners could better resolve professional dilemmas (through application of techniques such as practical moral reasoning and more negotiation borrowed from the field of applied ethics)…”

“…These include studies of planners in action by Altshuler (1965), Daland and Parker (1962), Rabinovitz (1967), and Needleman and Needleman (1974). A few seasoned practitioners like Jacobs (1978) and Krumholz (1982) have also contributed by giving us revealing insights into their own experiences as planners, although far too few practitioners write about how they really think, behave, and act on the job Some studies which have shed light on the skills planners value in practice (Cremer, Schon, Osterman, and Perry 1976;Hemmens, Bergman, and Moroney 1978) challenge conventional wisdom And a number of studies published within the past six years provide empirical information about the attitudes and beliefs of larger samples of practicing planners (Vasu 1979, Howe and Kaufman 1979Edwards andGalloway 1982, Baum 1983;and Mayo 1982) These studies complement the work of new planning theorists like Bolan, Schon, Forester, and others. My Niche in the New Planning Theory As a teacher, I have devoted considerable attention to how planners should act in pursuit of planned change My efforts are aimed primarily at increasing the sensitivities and skills planning students need to become more effective as practitioners. My concern about planning effectiveness came about as a result of my expenence at ASPO in the 60s.…”