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l I I h n -

THESIS

LIBRARY

Michigan State
University

 

 

 

   

 

ABSTRACT
THE POLICY A PPROACH
IN
URBAN ANDiREGIONAL PLANNING

by Stephen Craig Nelson

We have reached a point in time where it is no longer
asked: do we need planning, and, is planning possible?
Rather, we now ask: how might existing planning practice be
improved? The challenge of planning has become a matter of
procedures and methods. However, the develOpment of new
methods and procedures can, in turn, raise weighty problems
concerning the theory of planning. The "whys” are inextric-
ably interwoven with the ”hows” of planning, especially in a
democratic society.

Contemporary planning efforts appear to be quite wrapped
up in solving two problems:

1. How to bridge the implementation gap between the

present and the long-range plan? and;

2. How to offer the people a greater voice in deter-

mining their future?
On one hand, we are concerned with making the planning function
produce a better product, and, on the other, we are attempting
to give greater attention to the democratic means of doing so.

The concept of "policy planning" seems to offer a step to-
ward the resolution of these two problems. Policy planning is
the process of developing guidelines for decision (policies)
which proceeds inductively from goal formulation through

directional strategies to the specific tactics of plan effect-
uation. Policies are, in effect, "standing plans" which set

up decision criteria for recurrent public decisions (as opposed
to "single-use plans" which are used one time and then dis-
carded). As such, a policy plan provides a day-to-day guide
for public decision-making. It re-focuses the attention of
planning from generalized end-states to the process of becom-
ing. It thus gives much-needed consideration to the problem of
bridging the gap between the present and the futuristic master
plan.

Policy planning also affords an opportunity for greater
public participation and understanding. Policy formulation
puts the planning function squarely in the light of a decision-
making process, and lays bare the points at which choice ex-
ists. Traditionally these choices have been made intuitively
by the professional planner; the only choice the public had
was a "take-it-or-leave-it" decision upon completion of the
plan. By clarifying the steps of policy development, the
representative body, which will eventually be using the poli-
cies in its decisions, will gain a more comprehensive under-
standing of the function of planning. Consequently, public po-
licy will stand a far better chance of being translated into
action. And, most important, the representative body or citi-
zens committee will have participated more effectively in the
planning of their future environment.

To develop useful policy plans requires some modification
of the planning process. First, we need a better explanation

of how the urban area functions. We need to identify the

critical variables and the decision centers which control them.
Second, we need to investigate more fully the kind of a comm-
unity which its citizens desire. The essence of policy plan-
ning is plotting the courses of action, but until we know where
the community wants to go we cannot realistically determine the
best route to that destination. Thus, we must find better me-
thods of ascertaining community values and goals. Third, with
the decreasing constraints upon urban form we should begin to
identify policy alternatives. The people should be made aware
of the degree of choice which confronts them. Fourth, greater
attention should be paid to developing methods for objectively
evaluating and comparing the consequences of these policy alter-
natives.

It is through the development of these planning methods
that the "whys" of planning can be more broadly understood and

more effectively pursued.

Copyright by
STEPHEN CRAIG NELSON
1964

THE POLICY APPROACH
IN URBAN AND REGIONAL PLANNING

By

Stephen Craig Nelson

A THESIS

Submitted to
Michigan State University
in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of

MASTER IN URBAN PLANNING

School of Urban Planning
and Landscape Architecture

196”

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

 

The scope of this thesis is extensive. It travels across
a wide range of subject matter, allowing only momentary glimpses
of the scenic details. It was not my intent to provide a de-
tailed description of a particular aspect of planning. Rather,
it appeared much more fruitful for me to view the thesis as an
opportunity to synthesize the thought experiences of a challen-
ging three year graduate study program. This thesis represents
my attempt to bridge the gap between a mass of conceptual images
and the develOpment of a practical and comprehensive framework
for professional practice.

I am grateful to the entire urban planning faculty of
Michigan State University for providing me with the conceptual
images from which this thesis developed.

Most particularly, I am indebted to Stewart D. Marquis
for leading me to this topic and devoting his time and assis-
tance in helping me fit my thoughts into a more unified structure.
His ideas and enthusiasm have contributed substantially to what
I feel will be a continuous desire to learn, explore and relate

in the world of ideas.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ABSTRACT . ... . . . .. . . .. . . . . . . . . ... . . ..
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS . . .. . . .. . . . . . . . . ..... . ..
INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 1
CHAPTER

I. POLICY PLANNING: EVOLUTION, BENEFITS,
AND IMPLICATIONS. 8

--Evolution of Pelicy Planning
--Benefits of the Pelicy Approach

--Justifying the Means of Policy
Planning

--Summary

II. RECENT POLICY EFFORTS IN THE FIELD
OF PLANNING. 35

--Uses of Policy
--Approaches to Policy Planning

--Consideration of Policy
Alternatives

--Who Makes the Policy Decisions
--Summary

III. POLICY AND THE PLANNING PROCESS 68
--The Planning Process

--Standing Plans and Single-Use
Plans

--The Sequence of Decisions in
Plan Development

--Models for Decision-Making
--A Planning Decision System

--Policies as a Component in a
Continuous Planning Decision System

IV..

VI.

TABLE OF CONTENTS -- continued

Page

--Fact and Value in the Decision
System

UNDERSTANDING THE SITUATION 103
--The Need for Understanding

--The Areas of Needed Understanding

--The Urban Area or Region as a System

--System Variables and Control Centers

--Values and Goals

--Value and Goal Identification
Methodologies

THE POLICY PLANNING PROCESS 134
A. GOAL FORMULATION

--Characteristics of Goals

--Some Pitfalls in Goal Formulation

--Types of Goals

--The Sources of Goal Formulation

B. IDENTIFICATION OF THE ALTERNATIVES
AND THEIR CONSEQUENCES

--Identifying the Alternatives
--Consequence Identification
C. POLICY EVALUATION AND SELECTION
--Cost-Benefit Analysis
--A Payoff Matrix Approach
POSTSCRIPT ON THEMES FOR PLANNING 171

--Planners as Designers or Managers

TABLE OF CONTENTS -- Continued

--Intuition Versus Scientific Method
--Inevitability Versus Controlled Destiny
--Professional Dictate Versus Public Choice
--Artifactual Planning Versus Holistic Planning

--Conclusion

Figure

Figure

Figure

Figure A

Figure

Figure

Figure

Figure

Figure

Figure

Figure

Figure

Figure
Figure

Figure

Figure

9 0....

10

ll

12

13
14

15

16

LIST OF FIGURES

The Role of the Policy Plan in
Affecting Private Decisions

The Coordinative Role of the Policy
Plan

Alternative Plan Approaches

Regional Form Alternatives -
Year 2000 Plan

Comparative Analysis of Development
Patterns

The Policy Plan and the Planning
Process

Recommended Sequence of Plan
Development

The Bases and Uses of Goals in
Policy Formulation

Examples of Strategic Outcome
Policies - Year 2000 Plan

The Hierarchial Nature of Planning
Decisions

A Theoretical Planning Decision
System

A Decision System for Policy Plan
Development

A Continuing Decision System

The Roles of Value and Fact in the
Proposed Decision System

Characteristics of the Systems and
Segmental Approaches

Aspects of the Urban System

21
45

54

58

69

71

75

77

84

9O

91
95

102

112
113

Figure 17 ....

Figure 18 o O 0 0

Figure 19 o to.

Figure 20 ....

LIST OF FIGURES (CONTINUED)

An Example of value-Goal
Relationships - The Twin-Cities
Approach

Organization of the Community
System

Components of the Pittsburgh
Simulation Model

An Example of Payoff Matrix
Evaluation

Page

121

148

154

167

INTRODUCTION

One of the salient characteristics of history has been
the close correlation between the human events, issues, and
movements and the cultural vehicles used to express their
meanings, More specifically, ideological and technological
change has always been accompanied by changes or modifications
in vocabulary. Conversely, when changes in the vocabulary be-
come noticeable, it is almost certain that such changes are
only the outward indications of new ideas demanding newrmodes
of expression. The planner's vocabulary is presently under-
going just this type of change, as evidenced by recent plan-
ning articles and reports. The traditional terms of "land use",
”circulation", and "public facilities" are now being augmented
by such terms as goals, objectives, aims, strategies, targets,
policies, assumptions, principles, standards and alternatives.

The implications of the new terminology should be evident,
even to the person not familiar with the field of planning.
First of all, the field of planning is becoming more introspec-
tive. The difference in level of abstraction between the tradi-
tional and new terms is evidence of the fact that planning is
getting more concerned with theory. Recognition is being given
to the need for framing action in a body of philosophical pur-
pose, an indication that the profession is beginning to mature.

Closely related to the above trend, planning appears to be
reefocusing its attention. The traditional terms denote the view
of planning as a profession concerned with the community as an

artifact whose parts can be planned so as to create a better

-1-

-2-

living environment. The newer terms, which in no way conflict
with the purpose set forth above, introduce meanings of a very
different sort. They indicate an emphasis upon the human element
in planning for a better environment - an emphasis upon the
means of developing plans for its accomplishment. Planning is
being seen more and more in the light of a decision process.

In fact, the terms described are almost all drawn from the newly
developing body of knowledge called "decision theory". The
terms themselves are not new, but the uses being made of them

are very much so.

It is the hypothesis of this paper that the uses being made
of these terms constitute a newly-developing approach to urban,
regional, and even state planning. That approach is what will
be called, in this paper, policyplanning.

Policy.

"Pblicy" has such a variety of definitions that the use
of the word raises a great deal of confusion. It is more or
less a catch-all term which is frequently associated with
government and management. Webster's New Collegiate Diction-
331 states one definition of policy as being, "a settled course
adopted and followed by a government, institution, body or
individual." Hewever we have generally tended to include just
about any administrative decision in this policy category.

There has been little attention given to the differences between
policy and other types of decisions.

One of the more important characteristics of policy is its

-3-

relationship to time. Policy should be used to guide repeti-
tive decisions. As such policy persists over a fairly long
period of time, and it establishes a course of actiOn. Policies
are normally used to alleviate the time consuming task of
deciding upon frequently arising problems and issues; they
standardize the decision-making process for those types of
problems which do not demand special attention. Policies thus
free the decision-makers for problems which necessitate more
deliberation due to their complexity or uniqueness.

Policies are similar to laws in society. They set the
framework for group action. They establish patterns of consis-
tency and do much to promote efficiency in administration. In
doing so, they also make decisions more predictable.

The important point to be made is that policies set the
framework for action decisions, whereas the capital improve-
ments program sets forth a series of decisions concerning
facilities to be built. A policy merely outlines the steps
and criteria for arriving at these specific improvements
recommendations. A policy thus remains in effect every time
the capital improvement program is drawn up, but a specific
recommendation is discarded as soon as the improvement is con-
structed.

Planning can benefit from greater emphasis upon the use
of policies. The field of planning has, in the past, tended to
produce end—product plans, which are composed of specific re-

commendations for the redesign of the environment.

-4-

The plan recommendations were generally single-use in nature,
so that after they were implemented the community had little
idea of where to go next. Such plans did not set a course of
action.

Also, these plans said very little about how planning could
be administered in the process of arriving at these prescribed
end-states. In other words planning did not live up to its
claim of being a "continuing process". It was only continuing
in the sense that new specific recommendations were made every
now and then. These "plans completed a decision-making process
rather than inaugurating it".1 There were no guides for day-
to-day decision-making, and the only decisions with which plan-
ners concerned themselves were those which were necessary to
develop the plan.

Policies provide a useful tool for making planning a
continuous decision process. They set a framework within which
continuity and efficiency can be increased over longer periods
of time and development. Policies can potentially make planning
a more viable and action-oriented process. We have been too
much concerned with the "plan-development process" and too
little concerned with the "planning process".

The Poligy;Planning Approach.

POlicy planning can be defined as the initial steps of

planninggin which it is determined what kind of a community__

1
Twin Cities Metropolitan Planning Commission, The Ten

Elements of the Joint Pro ram Plan: An InitiaI
Investigation, Design Paper735 lJune, 1953).

 

-5-

(or region or state) is desired, and what courses of action are
necessary to attain it. It is the stage at which the basic
purposes and directions of the planning process are decided
upon. It is also the stage at which decision guidelines are
laid down as aids to the various bodies concerned with develop-
ment. It thus runs the gamut from general to specific, but
at no point does it become involved with specific locational
recommendations. The purpose of the policy planning process
is to build framework for development and to make a set of
statements concerning the methods of accomplishment. The policy
plan is used both as a guide to developing a spatial plan, and
as a theme for operational decision-making.

The policy plan is made up of two basic components -
goals and policies. At the very heart of all planning lies
the task of defining goals. Goals set the criteria for'mea-
suring the effectiveness of all subsequent planning. They de-
scribe the qualities which are desired as the outcome of plan-
ning for the future community. After the goals have been deter-
mined it is then possible to develop policies which, when
carried out, will contribute to the attainment of these goals.
Policies, as stated before, point the directions for action and
the rules for making them manifest.

This approach necessitates a much finer articulation of
the bases for plan development than has previously existed.
Policy development seems to bring about greater emphasis on

the "whys" of planning, and, as a result it makes the degree

-5-

of potential choice more evident. Thus, one of the strong
characteristics of policy planning is the consideration of
alternatives. It is being recognized more and more that urban
development is not only controllable, but that it is also con-
trollable in a number of alternative ways.

Scope and Content of the Thesis.

It is the aim of this thesis to provide an extensive
overview of the role, uses, and implications of policy in
the planning process, as well as to outline some of the ways
in which policy can be formulated. Chapter 1 discusses some
of the reasons why policies are just beginning to be recognized
for their value in the planning process. It also describes
some of the philosophical implications which are raised by the
introduction of policy planning. Some of the recent efforts
by planners concerned with policy are compared and evaluated
in Chapter 2. Based upon the conclusions from the two pre-
ceeding chapters, the third chapter discusses the author's
proposal for incorporating the policy element into the planning
process, and for using policy as a major component in setting
up a continuous planning decision system.

Chapter IV points out the need for a better understanding
of the past, present, and future of the planning area. Systems
theory is advanced as an aid in grasping the whole of the situa-
tion. Once this basic understanding is acquired, it is then
possible to develop policy. Chapter V describes some of the

reasons for and methods of identifying, evaluating, and selecting

-7...

the goal and policy components. And, finally, the last chap-
ter synthesizes the major premises of this thesis and discusses
some implications of policy upon the traditional planning
process.

The topics discussed in this thesis extend considerably
beyond the immediate uses of policy in the planning process.
They overlap into both theoretical and technical considerations
involved in the general process of planning. This has been
consciously done so that policy can be viewed in a meaningful
context.) An attempt has been made to investigate and to
better understand the holistic framework of planning activity
so that policy can become, at least in the author's mind, a

viable instrument for shaping man's environment.

CHAPTER I

POLICY PLANNING :

EVOLUTION, BENEFITS, AND IMPLICATIONS

This chapter will be devoted to a general description
of how the use of policy in urban and regional planning has
evolved over time, how policy benefits and improves the plan-
ning process, and how policy can modify both the results and
means of planning.

Evolution of Policy Planning

It would be unfair to say that the afore-mentioned
changes in planning vocabulary indicate completely new cone
cepts, or to say that policy was an unheard-of term in urban
and regional planning of the past. 0n the contrary, there
are traces of policy statement dating all the way back to the

1920's. The Regional Plan for New York and Its Environsl

of
1929 includes goal statements, consideration of a basic policy
concerning centralization and decentralization, policies for
transportation, and even a discussion of policy alternatives
concerning centralization and decentralization, policies for
transportation, and even a discussion of policy alternatives

concerning highway design principles.
1

 

New YOrk Regional Plan Association, The Regional Plan for
New YOrk and Its Environs; N.Y. (1929).

ii-

-9-

The LansingCity Plan2 of 1938 sets forth functional
policies for transit operation, and, along with numerous
other plans (The Cincinnati Metropolitan Master Plan3 of 1948,
and the Detroit Master Plan4 of 1951), proposes development
principles and standards for recreation and transportationa.
These are only a few examples;

Why, then, is policy planning considered a contemporary
development, and why is it worth detailed investigation? The
reason is that, until recently, policy has been utilized .
only in bits and pieces, as a crutch to help justify a plan.
It has not been thought of as a total and comprehensive state-
ment. It is just since about 1960 that planning reports have
begun to reflect the fact that the essence of planning is ex-
plicit statement of policy - that in order to plan effectively
we must have some consensus on where the community wants to go
and how it proposes to get there. Comprehensive policy plan?
ning involves a hierarchy of decisions beginning with the
most general and obvious and_carrying on through the highly
specific choices. Past efforts have tended to jump in and
out of this hierarchy whenever the moment seemed appropriate.

And because of this, policy was incremental, unclearly stated,

5 .,- “*—
Harland Bartholomew and Associates, The Lansing City Plan;
Lansing, Mich. (1938).

Cincinnati City Planning Commission, Cincinnati Metro-
politan Master Plan; Cincinnati, Ohio (1948).

Detroit City Plan Commission, Detroit Master Plan;
Detroit, Mich. (1951)

 

3

4

-103;

and only partially developed. Policy, if even considered at
all, was only a sidelight of the plan.

 

The Settinggfor Policy Planning. ,It is somewhat diffi-
cult to understand the reasons why policy is only now receive
ing attention from the planning profession. Policy formula-
tion is certainly not a new concept; most corporate organi-
zations have used administrative policies for many years.

The field of business management is already quite advanced
along these lines. The slowness of planning in coming around
to the notion of policy planning is perhaps attributable to
the origins of the profession. Early planning was usually
performed by civil engineers, architects and landscape
architects, and quite understandably planning took on many ,
of the characteristics of these design professions. Although
they differ in some respects, none of them has been overly
noted for its verbal eloquence. They have as their prime
.function the design of man-made components (on the micro-
scale) in the physical environment. Hence, they have ne-
cessarily relied upon graphic representation to portray
their proposals. VThe "picture is worth a thousand words"
philosophy has permeated the work of all three of these design
fields. The reliance of civil engineering upon graphics has
'been due to the highly mathematical and geometric nature of
plan proposals. Architecture and landscape architecture have

used graphics more because they are concerned with the

-11--

creation of visual beauty.

Urban and regional planning, as an outgrowth of these
fields, has inherited this graphic orientation. In addition,
it also inherited the technical orientation of engineering,
even though the subject matter was more at the macro-level.
This visual approach is certainly not bad but the fact that
it was relied upon to the exclusion of verbal justification
was a problem. Policy was supposed to be implied in the
mapped proposals, although in terms of most definitions this
was not policy but rather a series of specific recommendations.
Planners were more concerned with designing outcomes than
with managing action.

The next phase of planning saw a pre-occupation with
data collection and description. This was perhaps the effect
of the social scientist's interest in planning. Substantiating
background data was gradually increased until it was felt that
the physical plan was unquestionably well-justified. As a
result, the study and analysis conclusions became the focus
of attention. Newspaper articles have consistently found the
primary value of the master plan to be what it predicts a-
bout the future - population growth, economic potential, and
land needs - rather than how that future is to be met.

The typical plan of the above-described era was composed
of about 95 per cent study and analysis and five per cent
plan. Although the original map-plan approach was given some
justification, and although the relatedness of the physical city

-12-

to its social and economic characteristics was established,
there still existed a gap between the research and the plan
proposals. And furthermore, increasing concern was being
expressed over the number of master plans gathering proverb-
ial dust on the proverbial shelf in the proverbial city hall.

I Recent Reactions. Planners have in the last few years,
reacted to this shortcoming of the master plan in a number
of ways:

1. They have attempted to make the plan a more drama-
tic document - one which will generate greater
public support.

2. They have attempted to define more succintly how the
plan can be effectuated.

3. They have attempted to involve greater citizen
participation in the planning process.

All three of these reactions seem to have culminated in a
new emphasis upon articulation of planning policy.

First, the plan could not be made mOre dramatic through
pretty pictures alone (although this has helped greatly).
Visual appeal had to be supplemented by new and dramatic
ideas upon which plans can be based. This meant that
greater attention had to be paid to plan concepts and
building blocks. This meant that some of the traditional
planning principles had to be brought out into the open in
the form of explicit verbal statements so that they could be

-13;

evaluated objectively. Too many vague and indefinite prin-
ciples were being freely tossed around as if they were law.
Policy has provided a vehicle through which these principles
and concepts can be expressed, and it has helped seperate the
true concepts from the "rules of thumb" and the "best guesses".

Secondly, after finding that implementation procedures
were not working well enough, planners have attempted to pro-
vide guidelines for the operational day-to-day decisions of
all groups concerned with carrying out the plan. This, again,
meant that the conceptual basis of the plan had to be drawn
out of the map and stated as policies. Such policies can
provide a-reference point for repetitive problems and detailed
proposals, and thus the plan stands a far better chance of
becoming a usable guideline fOr action.

Thirdly, when it was decided that the non-professional
public should play a more substantial role in the develop-
ment of the plan, planners were forced to stop and analyze
their decision-making processes. HOw was the plan really
developed? In most past efforts it had been a relatively in-
tuitive process in which design was rarely consciously struct-
ured. Now planners had to sit down and make plan development
a rational scientific methodology. The problem boiled down
to levels of policy decisions. The Lansing Tri-County Region-

al Planning Commission's effort along this line provides an

.excellent example of how a desire to incorporate a Regional

Advisory Council into the plan development stage caused this.

~1A-

staff to articulate the plan development process so that they
could give a sound explanation of what planning was all
about.5

Thus policy planning is the resultant of efforts to make

the master plan a more viable doucment: by giving it a more
dramatic appeal, by making it more usable, and by encouraging
greater public participation. Through these efforts it has
become necessary to pay far'more attention to where the com-
munity wants to go and how it proposes to get there. This
is, in essence, the process of policy planning.

'nggfits of the PoligygApproach

Basically, policy formulation benefits the planning

operation by:

l. Affording better opportunities for citizen and
public participation.

2. Making public review and continued planning more
effective.

3. Providing a tool for coordination of all agents
concerned, either directly or indirectly, with the
environment.

4. Providing an explicit basis for more consistent

decisions.

 

5Tri-County Regional Planning Commission, The Regional

Advise Council: Its Purpose and Function:
Lansing, MICE. (I953)

 

-15-

5. Eliminating a lot of repititious work required when
decisions are made concerning recurrent problems.

Following is a more specific discussion of the above points.

Public Participation. One of the recurrent themes in
the few articles written about policy planning is the em-
phasis upon its value as a boost to demOcratic planning. It
might be said that all successful planning - that which has
produced lasting beneficial action - has been based upon
Conscious and explicitly stated policies. ”Therefore the
idea of 'policy planning‘ seeks only to place greater empha-
sis on this element of the planning process - to urge more
wholesome relationships between planner and democratic author-
ity - to meet more effectively the growing desire of people
to participate in the setting of directions pursuant to their

own views and understanding of their needs and aspirations."6

Policy planning makes this possible by affording a more
understandable and comprehensive level of choice to the
public. By moving from general to specific, the public is
far more capable of coping with the basic hierarchy of impor-
tant issues, assuming that the relationships between general
and specific decisions are made clear. The people are thus
brought into the planning process at the conceptual level of
decision-making rather than at the detailed development plan

level where policy consideration may be overshadowed or A

 

6Frederick Aschman, "The Policy Plan in the Planning Program",
Plannin l 6 ' American Society of Planning Officials,
Meago 19 35: pp. 110-111.

-16-

obscured by design details.

Aschman points out an excellent example of this advant-
age when the policy approach was followed in developing a
set of cOmplex and advanced industrial performance standards
for the city of Chicago. By avoiding the specifics of the
issue at the beginning of the discussion and starting from
the basic policy level choices, it was possible to keep the
politicians from becoming distracted by possible effects of
the standards on specific properties. "This group developed
and then promoted such an understanding of the critical fact-
ors and the essentials of the policy choices that it was
ultimately possible to secure formal adoption of progressive
industrial land use policies and their translation into leg-
islative measures with amazingly minimal opposition".7

Public Review. An advantage related to the one described
above is that policy planning lends itself well to the review
of policies, basic assumptions, conditions, and planning pre-
mises. It does this much more effectively than the conven-
tional physical plan which only infers mappable policy.
Since it is more understandable and limited to explicitly
stated basic choices, the policy plan can be periodically sub-
jected to staff, commission, and public re-examination in a

more rational and more broadly participative_way.

 

7
Ibid., p. 109.

-17...

It has often been emphasized that planning must be a con-
tinuing process; yet, as many of the older planning commissions
are sadly finding out, most of the plans which need revision
due to changing conditions are impossible to build upon. Poor
articulation of developmental policies and plan premises has
dictated the complete scrapping of many such plans and the
commencement of a new planning program as though there were
no planning precedent. The policy approach can overcome this
problem by setting down an explicit statement of the decision-
makers' values and attitudes at a particular point in time.
Such planning will gain considerably in historical continuity.

A Framework for Coordination. If planning is viewed as
a decision system, then the policy approach plays a crucial
role in making that decision process more coordinated. We
have always talked of coordination but seldom has it been
fully realized in practice. Henry Fagin feels this to be the
pivotal function of the policy plan - to bring together the
physical, economic, and social policies of all agents whose
decisions directly affect the system for which plans are

being developed.8

For the governmental sector of the deci-
sion system this involves a comprehensive statement and
dove-tailing of federal, state and local policies. This

would promote a better understanding of each other's goals

 

8Henry Fagin, "Organizing and Carrying Out Planning Activities
Within Urban Government," Journal of the American Institute
of Plannggg; XXV (August, 1959): pp. 1121113.

-18-

and programs while at the same time making more obvious the
interrelated nature of their decisions. The policy plan,
after sufficient coordination is achieved would then serve

as a frame of reference for subsequent development of single-
use plans, programs, and more specific policy.

By making such a document readily available and under-
standable, the various governmental agencies can present a
unified front to the private sector of the decision system.
It can provide a coordinated informational base upon which
private decision-makers can make their choices. More pos-
itively, through conceptual agreement, government can begin
to influence the images, plans, and actions of its constitu-
ents towards the policies selected by their duly elected
representatives. In a pluralistic society there would be no
sense in planning if such planning could not be used to in-
fluence these private actions. All influencing does not,
however, have to be accomplished through regulatory action;
simple presentation of the values and attitudes of the govern-
ing body plus a little public relations can be equally as
effective (with less strain being put upon the private enter-
prise system) if a unified and coordinated governmental front
can be pieced together. Influencing private decisions can be
much more feasible if the private individuals have had a

better Chance to get their ideas considered in the original

development of public policy.
Figure 1 points out the two ways ¢f influencing private

-19-

decisions. The regulatory influence, although effective in
most cases, does not have the effect of implanting the reasons
for such action upon the actor's mind. The policy plan how-
ever, has the non-coercive effect of influencing the actor's
value structure - of perhaps modifying his images, plans and
eventually his actions. Goals and policies, especially when
portrayed in an "outcome plan", provide a unit of identifi-
cation. They educate the citizen and make him more aware of
where his community is going, and perhaps instill him with a
desire to aid in some small way. This is an era of concern
for directions, and people are interested in what the future
holds.9 And when directions are understood, then regulatory
action is more easily accepted and public development deci-
sions begin to appear less capricious.

The physical environment is affected by a multitude of
public and private actions, made by local governments, county
governments, state and federal agencies, industrial firms,
utility companies, individuals, etc. The policy plan affords
the greatest opportunity for providing a coordinated basis of
decision-making for all these agents. As figure 2 points out,
the policy plan can guide a more rational movement toward a
better environment through coordinating the basic types of

decisions:

 

9
Aschman, op. cit., p. 110.

THE ROLE OF THE POLICY PLAN
IN AFFECTING PRIVATE DECISIONS

Figure 1

      
 
     
    
   

GOVERNING
BODY

COMPREHENSIVE
PLAN
ZONING ORDINANCE
OFFICIAL MAP

DECISIONS

-20..

 

 

 

 

 

m enemas

 

25m N038 mam. mo flow M>HB¢ZHQmOOO 8.3.

-22-

1. Capital decisions

2. Operational decisions

3. Development decisions

4. Regulatory decisions
This coordinative function of policy planning is becoming in-
creasingly important in larger cities and metropolitan areas
where the planning job must be shared by many agencies and
interests. It offers a workable device for relating physical
plans, financial plans, social welfare programs and various
other elements of total community planning which are organized
outside the physical planning agency.

Consistency. Planning commissions are often criticized
as being capricious and arbitrary. Because the policy plan is
designed for dealing with recurrent problems, it can serve to
overcome the inconsistency at which these often valid criticisms
are leveled. Certain precedents can be followed, if explicitly
stated in the form of policy, which will make the decisions of
the commission far less arbitrary. Policy can also be a userl
tool to the citizen who finds it necessary to remind the commis-
sion or staff that it is veering from its stated course. A lot
of extra work and needless public hearings might also be elimin-
ated if policy is so clearly stated as to give the public an
idea of the probable response a commission will give on certain
questions, issues, and requests. For instance, a clear re-
zoning policy would undoubtedly be just as effective in keep-

ing down the nmmber of rezoning requests as the existing fee

-23-

process.

A note of warning should be sounded, however, concerning
the bureaucratic static momentum which policies tend to take
on. Po11cies should not be made so inflexible that even unique
non-programmed type of decisions are crammed into such a
framework. There are certain decisions in which the number
of variables makes it difficult to formulate policy. Further-
more, policy should be placed under periodic review in order
to take into consideration changing technological and design
criteria, readjusted goals or higher level policies, and the
feedback of the effects of existing policy upon the workings
of the system.

Efficiengy. When a community is confronted with a re-
curring problem of the same general nature, the development
of policy statements regarding these critical areas can be
of significant help in reducing staff time requirements with-
out impairing the quality of planning recommendations. Such
time-consuming problems as hill-side development, mobile home
locations, and shopping centers could be handled in this
manner. Each time the same problem arises the agency or the
commission will not be required to start from the very be-
ginning.

Justifying the Results of Policy Planning.

A number of recent articles have attacked present plan-

ning efforts as being overly concerned with portraying de—

sirable end-states.

-24-

As Robert Mitchell states: "Most planning today is static.
It portrays a desired urban pattern at some future date. I
believe the plans of the future will be plans for the nature,
rate, quantity and quality of urban change - for a process of
development. They will be expressed in dynamic, rather than
static, terms. They will start with present conditions and
point the direction and rate of change."lo- It is not that
plans are too utopian but rather that they ignore the means
of arriving at the proposed destinations.

Much of the problem can probably be attributed to lack
of understanding of hOw the community, region, state or
country functions. Decisions concerned with carrying out
plans are not likely to yield the welfare benefits that are
desired unless we can then pursue courses of action which are
directed toward explicitly stated objectives. The Denver
Metro-Growth Plan represents one of the rare investigations

of the way the region grows.ll

Based upon a projection of
changing causal relationships, the Plan proposes a growth

plan staged by decades. Such a plan conceives of the environ-
ment as a dynamic process rather than as purely a physical

artifact.

Means Planning. As both Aschman and Mitchell have

 

10Robert Mitchell, "The New Frontiers in Metropolitan
Planning," Journal of the American Institute of Planners;
XXVII (August, 1961): p. 169.

llInter-County Regional Planning Commission, Metro-Growth
Plan, Master Plan Report #16; Ibnver, Colorado (1961).

 

_25-

emphasized, future planning will be characterized by greater
concern for the means of moving towards stated goals.12
Friedmann has, in fact, defined planning as the process of
society guiding its own development into the future, "in such
a fashion that maximum social_gpod at any point in time may
be realized."13 Master plans have tended, like dictatorial
governments, to emphasize the maximum good only at a distant
point (1980, 2000, etc.), giving little consideration to the
present sacrifices involved.

As Banfield points out, an end may be thought of as hav-
ing both "active" and "contextual" elements. The active ele-
ments are features of the future situation which are actively
sought but which cannot be sacrificed without loss. He cites
the extreme example of the man who burned his house down to
get rid of the rats in the basement. Similarly, the theory
underlying planning often appears to involve sacrifice of the
present context of life in order to actively promOte a better

14

life in the future. (Luckily, however, planning has not

acquired the force to implement this implied aim).

 

12Aschman, and Mitchell, loc. cit.

13John Friedmann, "Introduction" to "The Study and Practice of
Planning', Unesco International Social Science Journal;

XI: 3 (1959): p- 330.

14Edward Banfield, "Ends and Means in Planning", in "The Study
and Practice of Plannin ", Unesco International Social
Science Journal; XI, 3 1959): p. 365.

-25-

The early renewal efforts provide an excellent example
of such disregard for the contextual elements. The primary
aim of renewal, at first, was the elimination of physical de-
cay, but in the process the social context of slum inhabitants
was often shattered and degraded to a lower level than origin-
ally present. Renewal specialists are now realizing that
this "environmental determinism" approach (a theory based up-
on the notion that social welfare and individual behavior are
conditioned by the physical environment) was oriented too
little towards the contextual elements of the future; however,
the problem is still a difficult one to overcome. One of the
primary reasons why it is difficult to overcome is that the
whole field of planning (including renewal) has grown out of
this "environmental determinism" philosophy, and it is diff-
icult to transplant even a young tree in a different soil.
This is one of the major causes of misunderstanding and de-
bate concerning the scope of planning - should we view the
city as a physical artifact or as a total system made up of
physical, social, and economic components?

In summary then, planning must begin to concern itself
with the "contextual" considerations involved in seeking an
"active" end-state. It must consider the means of accom-
plishment, and as such, planning will be more "a process of
becoming".

Planning for What Generation? This emphasis upon "be-

coming" raises the question of what generation should be

-27-

planned for. Developing a picture of a point in the future
to be used as a destination pre-supposes that the generation
which is on hand when that point is reached will have the
same objectives as the present generation. Will our prefer-
ences fit our children's? Will there be an influx of Quite
different types of people whose preferences will differ

from ours? Even if we could truly assess our values it is
questionable that we should attempt to plan for future gener-
ations.

Yet, in spite of the fruitlessness of attempting to plan
for future citizens, we are committed by the very nature of
planning to proposing long term physical projects and facil-
ities whose life of consequences carry over into the next
generation. Whereas business can make incremental decisions
based upon market trends, government is involved in numerous
high-risk, long term decisions concerning capital improvements.

Pitirim Sorokin feels that this carryover of the phyg:
ical city from one generation to the next is one very important
factor which gigg§_culture its continuity, and as such is
very necessary in spite of the inadequacies caused in the
process.15 Lynch points out that the only way to avoid this
problem is to create "disposable cities" composed of nebulous

patterns and low-quality, short-term facilities. However, he

 

15Pitirim Sorokin, Societ Cultureggnd Personality;
Macmillan, N.Y. (1"9T7TJ: pp. 215-251.

-28-

quickly adds that a loose shifting temporary world may be

ideal fOr'meeting major changes in man's circumstances, but
it may also be relatively inefficient for present function
and it may not be a very happy place for human existence.16

A Theogy of.Becoming. 'Thus it appears necessary to re-
concile ourselves to the long term consequences of some of
our decisions, and for this reason long term planning targets
must be set. However, not all of our decisions, especially
when we consider>more than pure physical planning, are of the
long term, irreversible type. "Particularly where 'final'
achievement may be as long delayed or even as illusory as it
is in city development, the attainment of objectives may be
affected more by the process itself than by the final form
that is being sought."17 Because group values (and thus
. goals) evolve and change over long periods of time, that
final desired form may be constantly in the process of modi-
fication and redefinition.. A pure form, as expressed by a
particular group at a particular time may never be achieved
due to this changing nature of goals.

Thus the most important aspect is the means or the pro-
cess of becoming, and that process is described through policy
statement. As HOover states: "It is better to travel the
16Kevin Lynch, "Environmental Adaptability" Journal of the

Amgrican Institute of Planners; XXIV'(1953): p. 23.
17Kevin Lynch and Lloyd Rodwin, "A Theory of Urban Form",

Journal of the American Institute of Planners; XXIV
1 Sing): P. 11

 

 

 

 

 

-29-

road hopefully, than definitely to arrive".18 Idealized out-

come plans are seldom fully realized, but policies are con-
tinuously exerting a directive force (if they are fully
coordinated) upon the development of the environment. This

is the unique feature of democracy - emphasis upon the means -
which master plans have seldom recognized. Through devoting
more attention to this process of becoming we can reconcile
the longevity of physical features against the constantly
changing group goals, as well as against the ever-evolving
state of knowledge and information.

we often fall into the habit of thinking that we are
planning for the future. More realistically we are attempt-
ing to anticipate the future so that better current decisions
can be made. Our concern is as much with the present as it
is with the future, and good planning can only be judged by
how well the public welfare is optimized at all points in
time.

Disjointed Incrementalism. There is some danger in
over-emphasizing the value of "becoming", however, If direc-
tions or outcome targets are lost sight of, planning may find
itself floundering in day-to- day activities. Lindblom sug-
gests that this is the only feasible way to make decisions.
He presents a challenging argument for on-the-spot decisione

making, or, as he has named it, "disjointed incrementalism".

18Robert C. HOover, "On Master Plans and Constitutions",
Journal of the American Institute of Planners; XXVI

eb. 19 0 : p.

 

-30-

This approach is based upon a fear of projecting past ideals
into future generations and upon a lack of faith in our a-
bility to ascertain present value order.

Rather than relying upon previously determined policy,
he suggests evaluating alternative decisions at the time they
arise. Alternatives are compared in such a way as to deter-
mine which one contributes the greatest "marginal value"

(the degree of improvement over the existing situation).
Marginal value is measured according to the decision-makers'
goals at the time the decision has to be made, thus avoid-
ing the difficulties of assessing and ranking pluralistic
goals. Since incrementalism is segmental, serial, explor-
story, and marked by adjustment of ends to means, stable
long-term aspirations are not of primary concern. Such an
approach, which Lindblom maintains is followed by most de-
cision-making bodies, is less concerned with pursuing a bet-
ter world than with avoiding a worse one.19

The policy plan should not put such an extreme emphasis
upon day-to-day decisions any more than it should over-
emphasize outcome targets. Either extreme is dangerous.
Disjointed incrementalism is no more than the type of unco-
ordination and inconsistency which has caused urban areas their
present headaches. Difficult as it is to ascertain goals, we

have no choice but to try if we consider efficiency to.be

 

19Charles Lindblom and Robert Braybroke, Strategy for

Decision; Wiley, N.Y. (1963): p. 116-1 5

-31-

a desirable aim of planning. Incrementalism is what planning
was supposed to replace.

Furthermore, the citizens are beginning to demand great-
er consistency and direction. As Aschman points out, "...we
work for a more knowledgeable and critical public, for people
who are aware of the fact that our programs and our regulae
tions not only touch upon their lives from day-to-day but
also lead to some ultimate end. More and more people are con-
cerned with directions as well as actions, and the longer
range result."20

Justifying the Means of Policy Planning

 

The foregoing section indicates that policy planning pro-
vides a useful vehicle for bridging the gap between the pre-
sent state of affairs and the future as described by the
comprehensive plan. As a result of the policy approach we can
begin to visualize planning as a truly action-oriented acti-
vity, not just a design process.

Policy_and Choice. Yet policy planning is more than a
method Of making planning more productive. It is also impore
tant in its contribution to the means of planning. It clarie
fies the element of choice in the planning process, and, in
doing so, it presents a much clearer framework for democratic
planning. The policy level affords an opportunity for the

community to make its decisions with greater understanding

W‘— .-—"V—' — '~'R v——.-__-_ v‘ —_ ”WW-"w

Aschmn, op. cit., p. 105.

 

-32-

and self-determinism.

In the past the planner developed a plan and then sube
mitted it to the planning commission for one big decision -
the "take it or leave it" approach. This was primarily a
choice indicating the commission's faith in the planner's
professional judgement, and unless there was something to
which the commission violently objected the plan was usually
accepted in total. It can hardly be expected that this type
of choice would encourage public understanding and support
of the plan.

As a requirement in ”701" federal planning assistance
grants, the consultant must now submit the plan in sections
so that the commission can digest the facts and recommend-
ations more gradually, and make modifications inthe course
of plan development. Although an improvement in offering
greater public voice, this process emphasizes only the re-
view of specific findings and recommendations, not the prin-
ciples upon which the plan is based. As Aschman points out,
the public is becoming more interested in the directions and

21 In other

long-term consequences indicated by the plan.
words, the commission should be offered greater choice (not
just review) concerning where they want to go and what kind
of community they want to create. From this initial choice

would evolve a whole hierarchy of choice including selection

 

21
Aschman, op. cit., p. 105.

-33..

of the courses of action needed to arrive at their predeter?
mined destination, and the levels of adequacy which would be
acceptable in carrying out the chosen course of action. It

is this area of choice which is commonly referred to as policy.

New Role for the Planner. This means, then, that plan;
ning is no longer the exclusive domain of the professional
planner. No longer is the planning profession viewed as
something akin to that of the engineers and architects - too
complex and technical for the average citizen to comprehend.
Moreover, the breadth and influence of planning's subject
matter is too critical to be left entirely to professional
judgement; democratic government is grounded upon the premise
that the people will have a voice in the determination of
their future.

The policy approach represents, or at least permits a
return to grass roots planning. In order to make this work
the professional planner will have to move over and make room
for the citizen planner; and this will call for some new work;
ing relationships between the planner, the planning commission-

ers and the public.
Summagy

In an era which is witnessing an ever increasing rate of
change with respect to technological and social development,
it is odd that the field of planning should be reverting to
the ways of grass roots democracy. While we are becoming more

and more reliant upon mechanization and scientific method even

-34-

in the field of planning, we still find it necessary to go
directly to the people for our most basic decisions. Policy
planning provides the tool which makes this possible.

Yet policy planning is more than just a loudspeaker for
public choice. It is a means of coordinating all public
choices into a direction for future. It is a means of making
action more efficient, consistent and rational. It is a
means of meeting the complexity of life with a unified front,
yet with allowance for changes and modifications in human
values.

We have talked of policy in a rather isolated and uné
applied context thus far. It has been noted that policy plan-
ning is a rather recent development and that its introduction
will cause certain procedural and philosophical changes in
the traditional planning process. The next chapter will at-
tempt to analyze how various contemporary planning efforts

have adapted to the policy approach.

CHAPTER II

RECENT POLICY EFFORTS
IN THE FIELD OF PLANNING

A survey of recent urban and regional planning reports,
studies, and plans indicates that a growing number of agencies
are beginning to cope with policy. To a few of these agencies
it appears to be a superficial inclusion of something which
looks and sounds professionally sophisticated. But the major;
ity of these efforts seem to have required some real soul?
searching and practical clarification of the purposes of
planning. Lack of precedent has been forceful in initiating
reflective resanalysis of both the planning process and its
place in the governmental decision-making structure.

In this chapter certain critical facets of selected re-
ports and plans dealing with policy will be discussed, the
purpose being to contrast different methods of treatment.

For full descriptions of the various items refer to the bib-
liography under "reviewed policy reports". It should be
readily evident that these reports vary greatly, but there is
something of value in each one.

Uses of Po1iqy

Generally the reports analyzed as background for this
chapter are aimed at one or more of the following purposes
in their use of the policy approach.

1. EXploratory Study (Technical Research)

-35..

-35-

2. Better Understanding of the Issues (Public Education)

3. Establishing Policy Guidelines for Operational
Decisions.

4. Formulating the Framework for a More Detailed
Development Plan.

5. Presenting the Final or Interim Development Plan.

Exploratoyy Study and Better Understanding. Most of the
reports which were intended to be exploratory studies of
policy implications had, as a complementary function, the
intent of promoting a better understanding of the issues.

The Akron Tri-County study (The DevelOpment of the Region)1
is probably the best example of a report aimed at both the
staff and the citizen public. It investigated the advantages
and disadvantages of spatial form alternatives based upon a
description of what critical variables contribute to the
growth of the region. It is useful to the staff as a tech-
nical document, but is written in simple enough language to
be comprehensible to the residents of the region.

The Baltimore-Washington Interregional Study.also seems
to incorporate both these functions, but the value of the
report is essentially for the planning staffs and commissions

1Due to the numerous references to the selected policy reports
footnotes will be ommitted in this chapter except for those
which refer to sources not specifically reviewed and for
direct quotes. For a complete description of the reviewed
reports refer to the Bibliography.

-37...

which sponsored the effort. It is quite detailed and tech-
nical in its presentation of findings and conclusions. The
real value of this study was its attempt - through the con-
struction of population, employment and traffic flow models -
to convey an understanding of how the region functions.

The Hgytford Regional Plan Alternatives study falls in
between the two above-mentioned studies in terms of its
audience. It appears to be equally directed to both public
and staff. The purpose of this study was toiinvestigate
alternative methods of organizing the region.

The Penn-Jersey Transportation Study is using policies
in a purely technical sense, to run through an urban growth
simulation model. This is to be used to compare policy im-
plications of alternative transportation system plans.

Other studies which place a good deal of emphasis upon
promoting an understanding of the issues include the ngy
2000 Plan, The Dade County Urban Growth report, the Lansing
Tri-County policy plan report, and the San Diego policy re-
ports.

Decision Guidelines. The use of policies as guidelines
for decisions concerning the implementation of a plan has
not received significant attention as yet. The one plan
which does make a conscious effort in this direction, does
so primarily because of its unique circumstances - the Wash-
ington Year 2000 Policies Plan. Since the publication of

this plan, a presidential memorandum has been issued directing

—38-

all new federal building locations to be made according to
the radial corridor policy as presented in the Plan. Such a
location policy was recommended within the original Plan.
Other than this, few policy reports or plans have re-
commended that policies be used as implementation devices.
The Beloit, Wisconsin memorandum on PlanninggGoals, Principles,
and Projections comes close to presenting its policies in
this context, but, as the memorandum states, the real pur-
pose of the recommended principles is to serve as guideposts
for the development of a comprehensive plan. There is little
to indicate that planners are thinking in terms of "standing

plans"2

which can be used for decisions other than those in-
volved in formulating the physical plan.

Two plans have begun to make steps in the direction of
implementation policies, the Denver Metro-Growth Plan, and
the General Plan for the State of Hawaii. Each sets forth
detailed development standards for local level coordination.
Such standards as public facility needs per unit of popula-
tion, site needs for industry and facilities, floor area

needs, and optimum accommodation limits are included. Both

plans tend to visualize policy as a means of setting minimum

R

 

Standing Plans" are those plans which deal with recurrent
and routine problems. They can be used over and over
again as guides for decision-making. They will be dis-
cussed in further detail in Chapter 3.

-38-

levels of adequacy. Yet they have not committed themselves
to the more positive broad implementing policies, which Henry
Fagin says are needed to coordinate spatial relationships and
time relationships.3

Plan Framework. The fourth, and most common, use of
policy is as a framework for the master or comprehensive plan.
In fact, the Michigan State University master planning course
recommends that policy statement be used to synthesize the
study data and to set up the framework for the master plan.
The effect of this policy consciousness in planning schools
should have a marked effect upon the types of plans produced
in the near future. Such an approach will make (and already
has, in some cases) the heretofore ill-defined plan develOp-
ment process a much more conscious and scientific effort.

It will force the planner to reason from the general to the
specific in the tradition of deductive logic, and it will
bring about an awareness to the planner of where his biases
and information gaps lie.

In building a framework for the final plan most agencies
have used three basic policy components; objectives, princi-
ples, and standards. The California State Planning Act, in
fact, requires that they be considered: "The master or gen-
eral plan shall consist of a map and a statement describing

it and covering objectives, principles and standards used to

 

3Henry Fagin, op, cit., p. 112.

-39..

develop it."4 The San Pablo, California Report on Objectives,

 

Principles and Standards 1959 defines the terms as follows:

1. Objectives - Preferences as to the character and
location of the physical elements of the city.

2. Principles - A rule of action, usually based on
experience, which can be used as a consistent
guide in carrying out the objectives.

3. Standards - Established by custom or experience
as measures of the quality or adequacy of the 5
various components making up the physical city.
The objectives describe the community's agreed upon destina-
tion, the principles describe the general means of accomplish-
ment and the standards provide quantitative and qualitative
measurements concerning the manner in which the principles

can be applied. For instance, the following sequence might
be utilized:

Objective - To promote a high quality residential
living environment.

Principle - Residential areas should be designed so
as to provide a variety of environments,
and should be located so as to avoid the
disruptive effects of incompatible non-
residential uses and through traffic,
while at the same time providing easy
access to needed neighborhood facilities.

Standards - a. Desirable residential densities
b. Desirable convenience distances for
various neighborhood facilities -
schools, shopping, parks, etc.
c. Open space standards

E
State Planning Act of California, Article 7, Section 65462.
5San Pablo City Planning Commission, op. cit., pp. 1, 3, 8.

-40-

d. Aesthetic criteria.
e. Street design criteria.

f. Required site improvements - sewer,
water, and streets.

These three policy components are quite satisfactory
categories for the purpose of plan development, but, as will
be further discussed in Chapter III, they do not adequately
cover the action policies needed to guide operational plan?
ning decisions. They are primarily concerned with describing
desired outcomes.

There are several good examples of this use of policy
formulation in final plan preparation. TQQLYear 2000 Policies
Pigp, will be used as the framework for developing both the
District of Columbia Plan for 1985 and the revision of the
National Capital Region Plan. Similar uses have been made
of: the Beloit, Wisconsin memorandum on Planning Goals, Prin-
ciples,_and Projections; The San Pablo, California report on
ijgptives, Principles and Standards; the Norman, Oklahoma
Urban Area General_Plan Policies; the Dade County, Florida
policy reports; and the Lansing TrieCounty Planning Commis-

sion's Regional DeveloEment Goals and Policy Statements. As
the latter report states: "Realistic goals and reasonable

 

policies serve to provide the framework for a regional plan

which is more likely to be accepted and utilized because it

is based upon sound development proposals".6

6Tri-County Regional Planning Commission (Lansing),
OE. Cite, pe 2.

-41-

Final and Interim Plans. It seems reasonable that if
policies are used as a framework for the master plan, they
will be includedLin the text of the eventual plan, such as
has been done in the San Mateo County Master Plan, the gag?)
land City Plan (this plan even included the schematic sketch
policies utilized in developing the physical plan), the
Abilene General Plan, and the Austin Plan.7 Thus policy can

also be used to present and clarify the physical plan.

There is perhaps one more use of policy which has been
found in only one instance. The Year 2000 Policies Plan,
because it is such a complete document and because verbal
policies are well-defined, is in a sense an interim or
pilot plan. It firmly establishes the intent of the spon-
soring agencies, and as such can well serve as a guidepost
fer private and public development decisions. The document
has, of course, even more influence since the issuance of
the presidential memorandum.

In spite of the generalized nature of the spatial plan,
private developers have seen fit to use the plan as a guide
in locating the new corridor town of Reston. The fact that
the Reston developers took enough stock in a policy plan to
use it as a guidepost harks back to what was previously

mentioned as a benefit of the policy plan approach. If a

7City of Abilene, The Abilene General Plan (1959); and
Austin City Planning Commission, The AUStin Plan (195S).
These twOJplans were not specifically rev1ewed as policy
plans but they do represent good examples of the use of
policy in a final development plan.

 

-42-

plan is to have appeal to the decision-makers and to the pub-
lic it must be dramatic and thought provoking. The appeal

of this plan is testified to by the fact that the cover of the
Reston publicity brochure displays how the Reston location
relates to the radial corridor schematic plan. It must be
granted that much of the appeal stems from the grandiosity

of the concept, but such a grandiose idea could not have been
better expressed than through the vehicle of a policy plan.
The detail usually included in a master plan would have cover-
ed up the glamour. This example is a good justification for
starting with the most broad general consideration, and for
not being in a hurry to drag out the details.

It should be fairly obvious from the foregoing discussion
that very few policy reports have only one purpose. In spite
of the many overlaps, however, there appears to be some diver-
gence among various agencies on the use of policies. This
is understandable due to the lack of precedent in urban policy
planning. This variety is also highly desirable in order that
we will have a broad base of experience upon which to build
future planning programs.

Approaches to Policy Planning

There is in poliCy planning the same basic question which
we have always faced in developing a plan, that being where to
set our targets. The horns of this dilemma were well stated
by Robert Carpenter:

Regional planning as it is presented to us is

-43-

based upon an accumulation of historical data,

projected in straight-line trends, which lead

to the ultimate conclusion that all areas in

the path of the assumed and gargantuan expan-

sion of the central city have no other choice

but to brace themselves for the inevitable ;

assimilation into the ever-growing urban mass.

Contrasted with this is the imperative to a-

bandon the archaic trends, concepts and pat-

terns and to provide the vision and the in-

itiative for achieving objectives and partic-

ularly environmental conditions far superior

to any so far realized by the giant urban

centers.8
This quote refers particularly to regional planning, but the
issue - whether it be stated as realistic versus idealistic,
conservative versus liberal, or laissez-faire versus the
welfare state - is equally prevalent at any level of planning.
It is probably the most crucial and most basic policy to be
decided in the plan development process; it sets the philo-
sophy of the entire planning approach.

The Denver Plan. Two of the reviewed policy plans set
the extremes of this issue, and the others seem to fall at
various points in between. The Denver Metro-Growth Plan, on
one extreme, assumes that growth will occur in an inevitable
pattern and that the function of planning is to accomodate
that growth as efficiently as possible. The growth pattern
is assumed to be largely autonomous and therefore beyond the

control of metropolitan planning agencies. As such the re-

 

8Robert D. Carpenter, "Dilemmas of Conflicting Objectives:
For Whom Do We Plan?", Proceedin s of the 1960 Annual
‘Conference of the American Institute of Planners;
Philadelphia (1962): p. 113.

 

-44-

commended plan represents a planned continuation of present
trends, staged by decades from 1960 to the year 2000.

Briefly, the Denver planning approach consisted of
gathering data, predicting growth trends, and attempting to
achieve regional efficiency through coordination of capital
improvements, community plans, and facilities, and the data
used in making private and public decisions. Judging from
the stated plan proposed, the emphasis is upon making the
communities more livable and democratic, with only the most
necessary region-wide coordination. This approach is, more
or less, from the bottom up.

Policy is stated for the Denver region in three ways:
(1) as a recommended growth pattern based upon existing
trends, (2) as standards setting forth levels of adequacy
for various public facilities, and (3) as generalized plans

for the major communities in the region, The emphasis is

obviously upon the communities as building blocks for planned

growth.

The Year 2000 Plan. The washington Year 2000 Plan repre-

sents the opposite extreme in a number of ways. First, it is

more of a pie-in-the-sky approach in that it is far more dar-

ing, dramatic, and innovative than the Denver plan. It is
what Carpenter refers to as an "imperative to abandon the

archaic trends, concepts, and patterns".9 It assumes that

 

9Ibid., p. 114

-45-

trends are reversible (although this assumption is based upon
a somewhat less stable factual base than is that of the Den-
ver plan) and that the role of planning is to guide and mold
growth to fit the needs of the people. The Year 2000 Plan
attempts to present the ways in which we can adjust growth
to people, while the Denver plan attempts to help people
adjust to growth. The results of two such different plan-
ning philOSOphies are understandably quite dissimilar. The
Yg§g_2000 Plan proposes a target which has a high degree of
divergence from existing trends, and the policies which are
presented are of the positive guiding type. In the Denver
plan, the targets represent very little divergence from the
existing trends, and the policies deal only with detailed
minimum levels of adequacy (See figure 3).

An interesting parallel can be drawn between the object-
ives of the Year 2000 Plan and the ideas expressed by Howard
Fisher.lo He maintains that in order to loosen our thought
patterns, we must start the planning process by thinking
through what would be the most ideal future community regard-
less of all physical, social, economic and political limita-

tions - almost as if we were building a new community. Then

after we have decided what would be the utopia modifications

 

10
HOward Fisher, Comments offered as a participant in the

"Metropolitan Form WOrkshop", 1963 Annual Conference of
the American Institute of Planners; Miwaukee (I963).

.ADTERNATIVE PLAN.APPROACHES

Iflyme3

_45-

 

DEGREE OF PROPOSED DIVERGENCE FROM

PRESENT CONDITIONS & PROJECTED TRENDS

-46-

should be made according to the reality of the situation.
Utopia would remain the ultimate planning target, and the mod-
ifications forced by reality would be handled through staging
or phasing out the limitations over time. In other words, one
sets up a target and then discounts back to the present, with
the time intervening between the present and the target being
dependent upon the complexities of accomplishment.

The Year 2000 Plan has, in effect, set the target and
now most of the agencies in the Washington region are concern-
ing themselves with how existing conditions, trends, and tools
must be modified in order to approximate the target set forth
in the Plan. This target setting, it appears, can be most
effectively achieved at the policy planning level. Indications
are that more and more agencies will utilize policy formulation
as an encouragement toward bolder, more innovative planning.

The second major difference is that the Year 2000 Plan is
one of the first plans to offer alternatives for public choice.
Net only is growth controllable, but it is controllable in a
number of ways.11

The third major difference is that the Year 2000 Plan
starts from the largest possible context, both conceptually
and geographically, and works down to the specifics, whereas

the Denver plan appears to work from the community up. The

 

11
This point will be further discussed in the next section.

.4 7-

former is concerned with achieving an ideal whole while the
latter is more wrapped up in making each part of the system
more efficient. Both plans use the communities as building
blocks (although the Washington approach utilized other
equally important components - highways, transit, open space,
and employment centers), but Denver is far more concerned
with what should be done within each of the communities than
in Washington.

To put it another way, Denver views the region as the
context for research and the local units as the context for
planning. Washington views both research and planning as a
necessary function at all levels of the planning area hiere
archy. Thus, it is even more evident that the Denver plan
wishes to show the outlying communities (the City of Denver
is not considered in this plan) how they can best adjust to
the inevitable growth, while the Year 2000 Plan is primarily
attempting to sketch out a plan for the future region so that
plans for the District of Columbia and its Metro-Center can
be coordinated with it. At present, the National Capital
Regional Planning Council is attempting to show the counties
and communities outside the District how they can dovetail
with the policies outlined in the Year 2000 Plan.

leiptic Policy, The majority of other policy reports
tend toward the Denver approach, as do most of the past

master plans, whether policy-oriented or not. very few plans

-48-

consider overall develOpment policy. The Beloit memorandum
on Planning GoalsL_Principles and Projections and San Pablo's
Objectives, Principles and Standards are typical approaches.
In both reports, goals and policies are listed only under the
headings of land use categories and transportation. No broad
policies dealing with overall physical form, direction of
growth, and component relationships are considered. The same
is true for the Norman report, the Hawaii Plan, and most of
the California city and county plans.

Such fracturing of wholes into parts is a direct manifes-
tation of the western philosophy of life. We are not accus-
tomed to thinking in terms of total concepts; because we are
an actionQOriented culture, we tend to place greater reliance
upon our perceptions of reality, which by their very nature
are disjointed and incremental. Generally speaking, western
man has not taken time, or has not felt the need, to develop
a consistent structure which could serve as a method of order-
ing and systematizing his perceptions of the world around him.

In contrast, the eastern philosophies are basically holi-
stic and inductive in structure, devoting vast amounts of time
to understanding the total system and the interrelationship of
its parts. There are strong indications, however, that the
two philosophies are beginning to blend in both cultures.
Eastern influences are showing up in the United States in the
form of ecology, systems theory, and the rise of the behavior-

al sciences. And the beginnings of this holistic and cross-

-49-

disciplinary approach are beginning to find their way into
the field of planning, yet the fragmentized policy reports
indicate that there is a long way to go.

However, it must be recognized that attempts to make
planning more holistic are confronted time after time with
the fragmentary nature of existing planning and action agen-
cies (political, economic, and social). If plans and poli-
cies are disjointed, it may be because of the balkanized
structure of our urban society. It must also be granted,
however, that too much coordination and consolidation is
not necessarily desirable either; so it is doubtful that
planning can ever be completely holistic. But at least re-
search into how the system functions can be holistic. We
must pay far more attention to developing adequate models
for describing and understanding the nature of this loosely
organized urban system.

One method of develOping holistic policies for the total
planning area, which was used first by the Year 2000 Plan, is
the application of urban form or structure studies. The Hart-
ford Capital Region Planning Agency, the Twin Cities Metro-
politan Planning Commission, and the Akron Tri-County Plan-
ning Commission, and the Lansing Tri-County Planning Commis-
sion are also using urban or regional form to tie together
policies for land development. These form considerations

will be discussed in more detail in the next section.

-50-

Consideration of Policy Alternatives

One side effect of the trend toward policy planning has
been the increased emphasis upon alternatives. In forcing
planners to structure the plan develOpment process more
scientifically, planning is being seen more and more as a
decision-making process. And the backbone of decision theory
is comparison of alternatives so that the selection of strat-
egies will be based upon greatest marginal benefit. The
conceptual level of policy planning seems to provide a good
point at which to examine alternative courses of action.

More time can be spent upon the basic issues rather than upon
time-consuming plan details.

Form Alternatives. Although alternatives exist at many
stages of policy plan development (objectives, verbal poli-
cies, assumptions, standards, etc.) most policy reports have
dwelt upon alternative regional forms. The components of
these form alternatives have generally included:

1. Employment Centers

2. The Transportation System

3. Residential Density and Location
Though such alternatives have seldom been tried on smaller
urban areas, it would not be difficult in spite of the necess-
ity for going into somewhat more detailed components.

In many respects this experimentation with generalized
forms harks back to the many utopias develOped throughout
history. Most alternatives are classic in simplicity and

-51-

quite formalized. This is perhaps the natural result of broad
conceptual thinking. Of course, it is highly unlikely that
any of these agencies concerned with form do not realize the
modifications which will be needed when such idealized forms
are superimposed over our existing helter-skelter land pate
terns. Some examples of historic forms which are now being
re-analyzed are yMata's "Lineal City", Ebeneezer Howard's
"Garden Cities", Corbusier"s "Ville Radieuse", Wright‘s
"Broadacres", and Doxiadis‘"DynopoliS?.

The most frequently used forms fall into the following

categories.

1. Continuation of Present Trends. This alternative,
sometimes referred to as sprawl or scatteration,
is usually thrown in as the "straw man" - the evil
against which planning is contraposed. As such,
it does serve a useful purpose in the comparison
of alternatives. We cannot know the advantages of
other alternatives until we seek out the consequences
of continuing our present patterns. This alter-
native provides a comparative basis for measuring
the marginal benefit of the other alternatives.

2. Planned Sprawl - This alternative assumes that the
present pattern of residential and employment de-
centralization will continue, but that sub-centers
for community services and commercial services will

emerge, linked by highways; and that these will form

-52-

a sprawling but partially nucleated suburban pattern.
There is also the inference that some area-wide con-
trols will be established for better coordination.
This alternative has generally been rejected immed-
iately upon the basis of its similarity to our pre-
sent problematic pattern; however it deserves a
great deal more attention than it has received to

date.;2

3. Radial Corridors i This alternative, like the one
above, is a contiguous nucleated growth pattern.a.
However, rather than the alleover growth pattern of
urban sprawl, this one proposes extension radially
along major highways and mass transit routes, leav-
ing wedges of open space projecting in toward the
region's central core area. The pattern would sup-
posedly focus the region's parts upon the core area,
while at the same time providing for smaller semi-
contained nucleations. It is based upon that tradi-
tional pull which transportation routes have exerted
upon growth patterns. This alternative appears to
be the eleven to one favorite among most planning
agencies, due to its classic purity of form, and its

functional advantages.

 

12See Jack Lessinger, "A Case for Scatteration", Journal of
the American Institute of Planners; XXVIII. (August,
“@657: pp. 10521 'l'l‘ .

-53..

4. Separate Settlements - This non-contiguous pattern
assumes a Justification similar to that of the
"Garden Cities" and "New Towns" in England that
most of our cities have already reached the point
of diminishing returns in terms of size. Population
growth should be decentralized to new and/or exist-
ing balanced communities outside the direct influ-
ence of, and spatially separated from, the central
city. Normally the recommended maximum population
of these semi-independent communities would be
from 80,000 to 200,000. Such proposals have been
called by various names - "new independent cities",
‘peripheral communities", "ring of cities", "green-
belt towns", and "satellites". This alternative
will likely receive greater attention since the
introduction of new towns legislation by President
Jehnson.

The staff memoranda used in developing the Year 2000 Plan
indicate an interesting approach to form studies (figure 4).
A similar analysis technique was used by Robert Edwards in
applying operations research methods to comparison of the ad;
vantages for various form alternatives.l3

In a thought-provoking article, William Wheaton assails
two recent policy plans (Year 2000 Plan and the Denver

 

Robert Edwards, The Form and Shape of Cities; Unpublished
Paper (Mimeographed .

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-55-

Metro-Growth Plan) for their lack of objectivity, although he
does admit that they are among the best to date.14 He main-
tains that the Year 2000 Plan did not go far enough in weigh-
ing the pros and cons of its identified alternatives, and that
the Denver plan did not even make the pretense of considering
alternatives. In both cases he feels that the final decisions
were less influenced by scientific analysis than by traditional
planning biases, such as:

l. The present pattern of scattered development is
inherently evil.

2. Open space will elevate the lives of all who see,
enter, or use it.

3. The city and region must have a high density cen-
tral core, containing a high proportion of the
area's shopping, banking, commercial, managerial,
civic, educational, and cultural functions.

4. The Journey to work should be reduced by short-
ening the distance between places of residence
and places of employment.

5. American people desire a wider tange of choice in
the types and locations of dwellings.15

Mr. Wheaton is by no means inferring that these notions are
necessarily false; rather he is taking issue with the lack of
scientific objectivity in even the better planning efforts.
Planning Principles, such as those listed above, have too

often been taken for granted.

 

'luwilliam L. c. Wheaton, "Operations Research for Metropoli-

tan Plannin ", Journal of the American Institute of Plan—
ners;.XXIX NOvember, 1963): pp. 250-259.

-56-

Consideration of policy and form alternatives calls for
substantial spelling out of consequences so that comparative
advantages and disadvantages can be weighed by the decision-
makers. Hewever, this is an extremely complex and elusive
task, as indicated by the frustrations of cost-benefit
analysis. Non-material costs and benefits are difficult to
quantify, and thus comparison still rests upon the shaky de-
cision bases of personal values and preferences. A further
complication is the process of determining long-range im-
plications of proposals. We have no well-developed tools for
proJecting policies over time to test consequences. Policy
consequence determination can be no better than our predic-
tions of future trends, and these must be made under diffi-
cult conditions of uncertainty.

Most of the reports reviewed seem to have skipped over
this problem very lightly. The Year 2000 Plan and the gart-
ford Plan Alternatives sketch out some rough implications of
the alternatives, but very unsystematically. They fail to
provide criteria for choice between the alternatives pre-
sented. Kevin Dynch and Lloyd Rodwin advocate a better re-
lationship between planning goals and urban form. "Not only
are goals put in a confused or even conflicting form but
also the physical forms decided upon have very little to do
with these goals. Choice of form is most often based on cus-
tom or intuition, or on the superficial attraction of sim-

plicity. Once constructed, forms are rarely analyzed for

-57...

their effectiveness in achieving the objectives originally

Bat. "16

There is one example which indicates a good step in
this direction. The Maryland National Capital Park and
Planning Commission's Wedges and Corridors Plan includes a

short section on the goal-form relationships (see figure 5).17

In this section a simple but rather innovative attempt was
made at scoring how well each alternative meets the prescribed
goals. However, it is rather disheartening to find this
table at the conclusion of the plan, included primarily

to justify the selected corridor pattern over the other al-
ternatives. Furthermore, the planner's biases and intuitive
selections are obvious. Sprawl is painted as all black and
the corridor scheme as all white. It is evident that goals
need to be described in greater detail in order to analyze
the comparative advantages systematically. It is difficult
to visualize differences at this level of generality.

Other Kinds of Alternatives. Very few of the policy re-
ports have considered anything more than ferm alternatives.
Mappable policy still seems to claim the attention of most
planners. Two exceptions are the Erie plan which looks into
alternative economic systems, and the Penn-Jersey Study which

is investigating alternative courses of action for designing

 

l6Kevin Lynch and Lloyd Rodwin, op. cit., p. 209
17

Maryland National Capital Park and Planning Commission,
Wedges and Corridors Plan (1962): p. 148.

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-59-

transportation systems.

The Twin Cities Joint Program is following a quite un-
ique approach to policy formulation. Their staff has been
divided into three sections each of which is approaching po-
licy formulation from a different tack. One section is tak-
ing a values - goals - policies approach, placing primarylre-
liance upon the abstract human value system. The second
section is moving from issues to goals to policies, thus using
practical metropolitan problems as the starting point. The
third section is following a design approach, moving from
metropolitan form to goals to policies. When the three groups
have completed their respective tasks they will get together
and synthesize the results of their work with the result
being a set of goals and policies which reflect a comprehen-
sive answer to the values, problems, and design character—
istics of metropolitan activity. The study admirably goes
beyond the mappable planning orientation which has been so
characteristic of other policy formulation efforts.

1 Simulation and Growth Models. In reference to the prob-
lem of projecting policy consequences into the future, some
agencies are devoting a great deal of time to simulation and
growth models. The Penn-Jersey Transportation Study, for
instance, has posed five alternative courses of action which
will be plugged into a mathematical model ofhow the region
will grow. The growth model will simulate the region's;

-60-

development according to a particular policy alternative for

five year increments, and at each increment consequences will

be observed, noted, and compared to the consequences of other

alternatives. In another interesting effort, the Pittsburgh

City Planning Commission has been developing a similar method

of simulating community renewal policies into the future.

The Baltimore Urban Renewal and Housing Authority will also

use this type of model to test renewal policies. Such attempts

point out the increasing desire to understand how the system

functions before trying to remedy its problems through policy

recommendations.

Summary. Consideration of policy alternatives has been

characterized by:

l.

2.

Reliance upon simple classic urban and regional
forms, expressed schematically.

Little attention given to other types of alterna-
tives - goal alternatives, verbal policy alterna-
tives, alternative assumptions and predictions,
and alternative standards.

Emphasis upon the statics of the system, and little
attention to the dynamic interrelationships.

Sketchy analysis of policy alternative implications -
selection is usually highly intuitive.

Little correlation between goals and alternative
policies.

Difficulty of assessing and comparing future con-
sequences of policy decisions.

Negligible concern for the means of accomplishment -
financially, legally, and politically.

-61-

Who Makes the Policy Decisions?

Policy plan development has tended to highlight the pub-
lic decisionsmaking function and, as a result, the role of
democratic government in carrying out that function. It is
being realized that many of the decisions previously made
by the planner can, and should, be made by the governing
body or its duly appointed representative. Consequently
there has been a strong rise in concern for the citizen's
voice in planning the environment in which he resides - a
revival of grass roots planning.

President John F. Kennedy set the direction for greater
citizen participation in his special message to Congress on
Housing and Community Development:

The city and its suburbs are independent
parts of a single communitygbound together
by a web of transportation and other public
facilities and by common economic interests.
Bold programs in individual jurisdictions
are no longer enough. Increasingly, commun-
ity develOpment must be a cooperative ven-
ture through the common goal of the metro-
politan region as a whole.

This requires the establishment of an
effective and comprehensive planning pro-
cess in each metropolitan area embracing
all major activities, both public and pri-
vate, which shape the community. Such a
process must be democratic - for only when
the citizens of a community have partici-
pated in selecting the goals which will
shape their environment can they be expect-
ed to support the actiong necessary to
accomplish these goals.1

 

18
President John F. Kennedy, Special Message to Congress on
Housing and Community Development—(March 9, 1961).

-62-

In addition to the democratic significance of citizen
participation, many people also feel that the planner, re-
gardless of his professional and technical qualifications,
cannot be all-knowing and all-wise. "A soundly conceived
plan must incorporate the combined knowledge of many people
who are informed about the Region (or any other planning
unit). Besides, the planners' ideas of what is 'good' or
'bad' development does not always correspond with the public
ideas. And one of the basic concepts of our political system
is that socialggoals should be set by the people ...... not
by the professional."19

Citizen participation, however, is not without its com-
plications. We live in a pluralistic society whose goals are
based upon a constant interaction of changing individual val-
ues. The planners' client is a large group, difficult to talk
to, often incoherent, and usually in some conflict with itself.
And the larger the representative group, the more frequently
conflicts arise, the more general must be the level of agree-
ment, and the more time it takes to reach a consensus. In
the face of such complications, the planner is often forced,
or thinks he is forced, to rely upon his own intuition. This
is extremely hazardous because he himself may be a member of

a rather small class or interest group within that society.

 

19Tri--County Regional Planning Commission, The Regional

Advisory Council: Its purpose and Function; Lansing,
I‘Oh, l 3 : p. 9.

-63-

What then should be the role of the planner in such im-
portant policy decision? Lynch and Rodwin state that the
planner should be reliant upon democratic processes to some
degree in establishing group goals and to some extent he
must use sociological techniques to uncover them.20 He does,
however, have some responsibility to urge a modification of
the citizens' goal system or to acquaint them with new alter-
natives - to break them away from the status quo.21

The Lansing Tri-County Regional Planning Commission,
which proposes a Regional Advisory Council of about 100 mem-
bars (in addition to the Commission), defines the staff-
council relationship in a similar fashion.22

Staff Council

1. Compile factual data. Review.

2. Presentation of goals, Suggestions and
policies and standards. Changes.

3. Submission of sketch Review discussion,
plans. and changes.

4. Preparation of publi- Recommendations sub-
cations outlining Coun- mitted to Planning
cil recommendations. Commission.

 

2
0Lynch and Rodwin, op. cit, p. 208.

2
1For additional discussion of the role of the planner in the

development of policy, see: Keith Honey, Comprehensive Pol-
igerlans for the LansinggTri-County Region: A New Dimension

n the Plannin 'Process; Unpublished Masters Thesis, schooI"'
of Urban PIann§n and Landscape Architecture, Michigan State
University (1964?.

2
2 Tri~County Regional Planning Commission, op. cit., p. 18.

-54-

The policy formulation was handled in a similar manner
for.Beloit, Wisconsin; San Pablo, California; San Diego
County, California; Dade County, Florida; and Denver, Colo-
rado; although without the use of an expanded citizen par-
ticipation program.

In contrast, a number of the policy reports placed com-
plete faith in the planners' perception of goals, principles,
and standards. These include the Year 2000 Plan, the General
Plan for thg State of Hawaii, the San Mateo CountyAMaster
$233, the Penn-Jersey Transportation Study, and the Wedges
and Corridors Plan. These reports were eventually submitted
for review to the representative bodies, but only after the
reports were completed and in final publication form. The
drawbacks to this approach are numerous but two specific
examples provide a good lesson.

1. The Year 2000 Plan was developed entirely by staff
with little contact with the two commissions in-
volved and no contact with the Council of Metropoli-
tan Governments, which has since been given sole re-
sponsibility for carrying out the citizen education
function. When it came time for the National Capi-
tal Regional Planning Council to endorse the plan, it
would only issue a one-sentence statement and has since
been of negligible value in promoting the plan. Luck-
ily, however, the Council of Metropolitan Governments

has given full endorsement and is performing its

-65-

function effectively.23

2. The Wedges and Corridors Plan, an elaborately pre-
pared document, was submitted to the Maryland Nation-
al Capital Park and Planning Commission in 1962 as
an extension of the Year 2000 Plan. However, it was
flatly rejected and it has taken two years to make
the necessary modifications, thus allowing two years
of intervening development not in accordance with an
accepted plan.24
In both of these cases, it is reasonable to assume that
with a better communications system between commission and
staff and public many of the final time-consuming disagreements
could have been avoided. It is also interesting to note that
the National Capital Regional Planning Council is now engaged
in a reassessment of goals for the region. When it came time
for the more detailed planning of open space preservation,
they found the assumed and highly generalized goals included
in the Year 2000 Plan to be of little or no value.
Conclusion

The state of policy formulation in the field of urban
planning is embryonic. It has been slow in arriving but now
that it is here it seems to have generated a great deal of
enthusiasm and support. The potential value of policy in

 

23This information was obtained during an informal inter-
view with Larry Hodges, staff member of the National
Capital Planning Commission, on February 18, 1964.

eulbid.

-66-

planning is being recognized by a growing and diverse number

of agencies.

Although heterogeneity has characterized the various

agencies' approaches to policy planning, there are some gen-

eral directions which have been set thus far.

1.

The policy level of planning has affordar greater
opportunity for boldness and creativity. Plans are
being framed in broader and more comprehensive terms.
They are reflecting a changing philosophy of plan-
ning; that is, that physical growth is not an in-
evitable and fixed path. Planning is becoming more
a tool and philosophy of change, and the policy
level appears to be the point at which this process
begins.

The policy emphasis has forced a clarification of
the procedural steps involved in plan development.
Planning is being seen more as an inductive reason-
ing process with emphasis upon a hierarchy of de-
cisions ranging from general to specific.

There has been increased interest in identifying
and clearly stating the issues for decision.

There has been a rejuvenation of "a faith that to-
gether we can supplement each other‘s understanding,
not alone through an intellectual exchange, but

also through a sympathetic involvement in facing

the same problems and searching for unique aspects
of the same truth".25 In other words we find a
greater interest in the team approach - a team com-
posed of both professionals and civic leaders - to
solving common problems.

5. There is increasing recognition of the fact that
there is more than one way to reach the goal of a
better physical environment.

6. Policy formulation is giving public bodies a more
concrete and usable set of guidelines foruoperation-
al decisions, thus facilitating better coordination,
cooperation, and consistency.

7. Because of the emphasis upon the decision-making
function of planning, it has been necessary to
understand the types of critical decisions which
exert an influence upon urban and regional growth.
This has led to new and comprehensive attempts at

modeling the operations of planning units.

 

2 .
5Robert Hoover "0n Master Planning and Constitutions",

Journal of the American Institute of Planners; XXVI
(F95., I966j: p. 98}

CHAPTER III
POLICY AND THE PLANNING PROCESS

Heretofore, planning programs have often failed to con-
sider the policy level of the planning process. With the
growing interest being shown in policy planning, it will be
necessary to re-examine our traditional methods of carry-
ing out planning. This chapter discusses where policy fits
into planning, how the introduction of this new element
affects the comprehensive plan, what components comprise the
policy plan, and how policy can be incorporated into a con-
tinuous planning decision system.

The Planning Process

Figure 6 presents a general conception of the steps in
the planning process. Based upon study, analysis and syn-
thesis of the characteristics, problems, needs, human values,
policies, and resources of the planning area, goals are form-
ulated. From these goals can be developed a set of policies
which will set the courses of action for decision-making and
for the development of comprehensive plan recommendations.
The last step is that of implementing these recommendations
and of using the policies as a guide to more consistent and
objective decision-making on the part of the representative
body.

Too often, planning operations have skipped right from
the synthesis step to the specific plan recommendations, with-

out first trying to sketch out an idea of what is desired

-68-

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(goals) and how it should be attained (policies). These are
the two basic components of the policy plan, and securing
agreement on them is essential to avoiding the danger of
proceeding to design and programming on invalidly assumed
policy. It is important to emphasize that the formulation of
policies proceeds from general to particular, with each level
of policy-making supplying the foundation for subsequent more
detailed determinations. It has been assumed by too many
planners that such higher level decisions would be implied

in the comprehensive plan recommendations, even if they were
not specifically considered in the plan development process.
Standing Plans and Single Use Plans

There are a number of types of plans used in the plan-
ning function. Figure 7 presents a diagram of the relation-
ships between these plans and a further breakdown of the
policy plan components.

The first important distinction to be noted is the one
which identifies the significance of the policy plan. Poli-
cies, as noted in the Introduction, are distinguished from
other plans by the fact that they deal with recurring prob-
lems and questions. They are what is referred to in busi-
ness management as "standing plans".l They set the frame-

work for consistency and predictability in human patterns

 

1

William H. Newman, and Charles E. Summer, The Process of
Mana ement: Conce ts Behavior and Practice; Prentice-
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-72-

of behavior. Annexation policy and subdivision regulations
are good examples of standing plans. They can be used over
and over again, and they do not lose their value after one
decision is made. Some of the advantages of such standing
plans are:

1. Authority can be delegated (such as has been done
with the building code and engineering specifica-
tions). The desirability of doing so in planning
will depend upon the specificity of the policies;

2. They improve the quality and consistency of opera-
tional decisions; and,

3. They make both decisions and physical development
more predictable.

Standing plans are effective in dealing with what Simon calls
"programmed decisions" - those which are repetitive and fair-

ly standardized in nature.2

In contrast, the other plans are called "single-use"
plans.3 They deal with the non-programmed, non-repetitive,
exceptional types of decisions. As the name implies, they
have a one-time use, and are designed to lay out the princi-
pal steps of accomplishing a mission. Most of the plans
presently used in urban and regional planning tend toward

this type, although none but the very shortest in duration

 

2Herbert Simon The New Science of Management Decision; Mac-
millan, N.Y. (1960): p. 89.

3Ndwman and Summer, op. cit., p. 202.

-73..

can be considered purely single-use. Examples of purely sing-
le-use plans are the annual budget, engineering plans, and
renewal project plans. These plans are the final step before
the action which they describe takes place.

The comprehensive plan, zoning ordinance, official city
map, and the capital improvements program fit this category
of single-use plans less easily. They all indicate a set of
recommendations to be fulfilled within certain time limits.
This is in a sense a singular purpose, but because the target
date of accomplishment is fairly distant (5 years for the CIP,
about 10 years for the official map and zoning plan and 20
years for the comprehensive plan) the documents and maps
serve an intermediary function as policy guides. For in-
stance, any one, or all, of these plans may be referred to
when the commission reviews a subdivision proposal. However,
because eachcof these plans is related to locational descrip-
tion of a specific desired end-state, they must be considered
primarily single-use plans. Any policy value is merely a
result of their aid in predicting, spatially, the future de-
velopment pattern, and this is only implied.

The Spguence of Decisions in Plan Developpent

The planning process is made up of outcome and action
decisions. The first-level decision sets forth a desired out-
come. The second-level decision is concerned with defining

the actions necessary to carry out that first-level decision.

-74-

But from the standpoint of the third-level decision, the second-
level decision becomes an outcome for which more detailed action
plans must be developed. Thus there is a complex outcome-
action chain in which each action becomes an outcome for the
next lower decision. This makes it extremely difficult to
define the steps of the planning process. For example, we
have always considered the official city map as an implemen-
tation tool or an action plan. But in reality it is also a
short range desired outcome. We can only say that plans be-
come more action-oriented as they get shorter in time range
and more precise in locational detail.

Qgglp, The top of this outcome-action chain begins with
the formulation of goals (see figure 7). They are derived
from the predominant human values and the important issues.
-Thus goals are based upon the shared abstract sentiments of
the inhabitants as well as upon the pragmatic issues which
currently demand attention (or upon anticipated issues).
G6als state positive directives as well as problem solution
needs. In addition, goals could also set forth the para-
meters for future development, such as the projected popu-
lation and population needs which plans must meet. These
are sometimes referred to as the critical dimensions of the
planning process. Figure 8 diagrams the relationship be-
tween values, issues, and goals; and shows how goals even-
tually serve as the evaluative criteria for selecting from

alternative policy solutions.

evaluation against goal criteri

THE BASES All) 11333 or
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VALUES

 

 

POLICY

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Figure 8

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POLICY
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EVALUATION
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-75..

 

racnc
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E

 

 

-76-

The first function of goals, then, is to provide a guide
to the development of subsequent policies and plan recommen-
dations. They do this by stating criteria which the results
of planning activity must satisfy. Secondly, their function
is to outline the criteria for achieving the desired outcomes.
This forces the planner to justify his methods as well as
his results, and this is a strong basic tenent of all democra-
tic planning.

Goals are thus, according to this definition, much more
than mere glamorous statements of planning intent. They are
the working measurement rods for plan and action evaluation.

Strategic Policies. Goals are typically quite general.
Strategic policies can be used to define more specifically
the courses of action which will lead to goal-attainment.
Strategic policies first set forth descriptions of outcomes
which will supposedly meet the criteria prescribed by the
goals. These are strategic outcome policies. They usually
deal with broad land use relationships, urban form, desir-
able distribution of employment, the flows of people, and
so forth. They might be considered the same as planning
~principles. When portrayed on a map, strategic outcome
policies are differentiated from the comprehensive plan map
by the fact that they are only schematically delineated with
little attention to locational detail. The form alternatives

presented in the Year 2000 Plan provide an excellent example

EEAMPLES OF STRATEBIC OUTCQPE
POLICIES - YEAR 2000 PLAN
Figure 9

 

NEW INDEPENDENT CITIES

 

 

 

RADIAL CORRIDOR PLAN

 

7177 "

-78-

of strategic outcome policies on the regional level (See
figure 9).“

Next, strategic action policies should be formulated as
the broad actions necessary to promote and create these out-
comes. They might cover such matters as rate of growth, rate
of change, priorities for growth and change and the degree
of interaction between components.

The principal use of strategic level policies is in
outlining a framework for comprehensive plan development. In
effect they set down a rough outline for the more specific
comprehensive plan recommendations. However, strategic poli-
cies do differ from the comprehensive plan in their scope.
These policies will cover a wide range of subject matter, not
just the purely spatial considerations.

Tactical Pelicies. The distinction between strategic and
tactical policy is a matter of level. Tactical policies are
decision rules concerning specific methods of procedure for
achieving the strategic policies. They are, in effect, stra—
tegic policies extended down the hierarchy to the operational
level where they can be directly translated into action. They
include: subdivision design and improvement standards, con-
venience standards, blight criteria, recreation standards, re—

newal priorities, taxing policy, financing techniques, and so

 

4
National Capital Planning Commission and National Capital
.Regional Planning Council, A Policies Plan for the Year 2000:
The Nationig Capital. (1961): pp. 34146.

-79..

forth.

The tactical policy discussed here should not be confused
with Guttenberg's "tactical plan".5 He makes the distinction
between the capital improvements program as a "city-serving"
device and the tactical plan as a "cityebuilding" tool. For
the purposes of this discussidn, the tactical policies encom-
pass both of these motives.

Policy Evaluation and Selection. As shown in figure 8,
policies are grouped into alternative policy packages. Each
package includes a set of strategic outcome policies, stra-
tegic action policies, and tactical policies. After the poe
licy alternatives have been formulated they are compared and
evaluated against the previously-determined goals. Upon the
basis of maximum goal-attainment, one policy package alter-
native is eventually selected.

The Comprehensive Plan. Then it is necessary to formue
late specific recommendations for effectuating this policy
alternative. At this point we move from the policy plan in-
to the comprehensive plan. As previously mentioned, the com-
prehensive plan is somewhat of a renegade - difficult to
classify as to its purpose and real functions. It overlaps
both the standing plan and single-use plan classifications.
Traditionally it has included a conglomeration of policy and

 

SAlbert Guttenberg, "The Tactical Plan", in Explorations into
Urban Structure, by Melvin Webber, et al. University 0
Pennsylvania Press (1964): pp. 161-188.

-80-

specific recommendations. However, if policy is developed be-
forehand, as espoused here, then the role of the comprehensive
plan becomes more clearly one of translating policy into spec-
ific recommendations. The following examples should portray the
proposed relationship between the policy plan and the compre-
hensive plan.. These decisions would of course, be preceeded
by the formulation of a set of goals. Also, in spite cf the
fact that these decisions move in a logical sequence, it would
be of doubtful utility to evaluate comprehensive plan recommend-
ations as part of the policy alternative. They would probably
be more logically developed after the basic policy plan has
been selected.
1. a. Strategic Outcome Policy - a more balanced and
. stable economic base. This might be displayed
as a statistical distribution of employment to
manufacturing, service retail, wholesale, govern-
ment, and agriculture; or as desirable economic
-input and output flow levels and rates. The
Erie, Pennsylvania planning study has used
input-output diagrams to demonstrate three
alternative outcome strategies.6
b. §££ategic Action Poligy - encourage the expan-

sion of heavy industrial activity in the planning

 

6M.E.H. Rotival and Associates, Erie CountyI CityI CBD -

Planni Conce t Report: Part II’- Operational Research
(I955) 3 DP- 35-35-

 

a.

b.

-81-

area.

Tactical Policy - organize an industrial develop-
ment committee; offer tax concessions to desir-
able industries; put a high priority on improving
the functional environment of industry.
Comprehensive Plan Recommendations - develop in-
dustrial parks at such and such locations; im-
prove the major highway access; put in a new sew-
age disposal plant.

Strategic Outcome POlipy,- a strong single central
core area serving as the symbolic and functional
focal point of the entire planning area.
Strategic Action Poliqy - increase the density of
core area activities; renew the core area facil-
ities functionally and esthetically; develop a
strong symbolic image; promote residential living
in the core; reduce traffic flow within the core
area.

Tactical Poligy - route through-traffic around the
core area; provide perimeter parking lots so that
core area visitors need not walk more than x
minutes to reach their destinations; locate all
civic facilities in this area; promote a land
coverage of about x percent; encourage the re-

newal of the old residential portions of the core;

-82-

give top priority for new schools and parks to
the core area.

Comprehensive Plan Recommendations - a new free-
way loop around the core area; renewal of such
and such areas; construction of a new civic
sports arena in such and such location; develop-
ment of new parking lots on the inner edge of the
freeway loop; allow higher density development

in such and such areas; close such and such
streets for malls.

Strategic Outcome Policy - a star-shaped urban
pattern accomodating growth along a few radial
channels extending from the central city and
separated from each other by vast wedges of open
space.

Strategic Action Policy - hold the wedge areas
out of intensive development; promote radial
growth along high speed mass transit and free-
way routes; decentralize employment centers to
the radial channels; promote a high rate of
growth; promote the development of well-balanced
radial communities.

Tactical Policy - push for more restrictive rural
zoning; allow tax increase immunity for wedge
areas which are beseiged by spreading urbanization;

use highways and rail transit lines to lead

-83-

urbanization; top priority should be given to
growth in the NE sector; radial community develop-
ment should be at a density of x persons per acre
and should have a population range of between y
and z.

d. Comprehensive Plan Recommendations - Such and such
areas should be reserved as open space wedges
and the corridors should be located in such and
such areas; a new freeway should be built at
such and such location.

Because of the hierarchial relationship of the plan com-
ponents it would be helpful to portray the decisions in pyra-
midal form. The examples listed here could tend to be some-
what disjointed unless this were done, and demonstration of
the interrelationships between policies and recommendations
is of critical importance. Such a decision pyramid for one
policy package alternative is presented in figure 10. Vis-
ualizing the various decisions in this manner will aid in
showing the decision-maker exactly why a particular decision
is necessary and what affect it will have upon higher level
decisions. In addition, it will encourage the relating of
decisions in one area to the decisions of another. If policy
alternatives were represented in this form, it would be easy

to determine the points of difference and similarity.

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Models for Decision-Making

To meet the increasing complexity of planning problems
and to formulate effective policies, it is necessary to de-
velop more scientific and more open models of the decision
process. A quick glance through recent literature will show
that almost every pure and applied discipline is now in the
midst of re-analyzing its decision-making processes. In
business administration, Newman and Summer set forth the
following steps in a decision-making model: (1) Diagnose,
(2) Find alternative solutions, (3) Analyze and compare al-
ternatives and (4) Select a plan.7 The Armed Forces p332;
Officers Field Manual proposes: (1) State and develop the
mission, (2) Analyze the situation and problems, and develop
alternative courses of action, (3) Determine outcomes of
alternatives, (4) Compare, and (5) Decide and translate into
a complete statement showing who, what, when, where, how, and
why.8 From the field of operations research Abe Shuchman
recommends: (1) Identify alternatives, (2) Define "best",

(3) Predict outcomes, (4) Compare, and (5) Select.9

 

7Newman and Summer, op. cit., pp. 253-341.
8Ibid., Discussed in Newman and Summer: p. 253.

9Abe Shuchman, Scientific Decision-Makin in Business; Holt,
Rinehart and WInsten, N.Y. (I963): p. IO-II.

-86-

"Chester Barnard lists means, ends, and conditions as
the requisite components of decision-making. However,
Herbert Simon suggests that when you adopt the Barbardian
dichotomy of means and ends, factual judgements and value
judgements are confused. Dr. Simon defines factual judge-
ments as decisions regarding the implementation of values and
value judgements as decisions in which you select final
goals. In addition, this usually leads to separation of
means from ends, which is inadvisable; it can, in fact, pro-
mote the "ends justify the means" fallacy.ll

Even in the field of planning some interest is being
shown in decision theory. Paul Davidoff and Thomas Reiner
recently set forth a choice theory of planning in which they
portray three levels of planning: (1) the selection of ends
and criteria, (2) the identification of a set of alternatives
consistent with these general prescriptives and selection
of a desired alternative, and (3) guidance of action toward

12 Although this model, like Barnard's is

determined ends.
based upon the ends-means scheme, due recognition has been
given to the differences and relationships between value and

fact premises. Such a theory introduces a step which has

 

0Glenn W. Ferguson, "Comments on Decision-Making and Planning",
in Planning and the Urban Community by Harvey s. Perloff (ed);
Carneg e ns u e 0 Technology and University of Pittsburgh
Press (1961): p. 194.

llHerbertA. Simon, Administrative Behavior; Macmillan, N.Y.
(1958): p. 65.

l2
Davidoff and Reiner, opL cit., p. 103.

 

-87-

seldom been considered in planning - the identification of

alternatives.

A Planning Decision System

Most of the decision models which have been proposed have

four common elements which can be used as the core for a plan-

ning decision system:

1.

Understanding the Situation. Planners have always
recognized this as an important area of concern;
however, it has seldom been approached from a truly
holistic viewpoint. This is an area which needs
much greater attention in any planning effort, es-
pecially since we are becoming more concerned with
simulating the results of our planning recommenda-
tions. We need to focus greater attention on under-
standing how the total system functions, what the
critical variables are, who controls those critical
variables, what their past and present plans and
policies for control are, the criteria for measur-
ing levels of adequacy, the interrelationships of
seemingly independent problems, and the means of
projecting the system into the future.

SettinggGoals. Where goals have been defined at all,
the results have left a great deal to be desired.
Usually they have been nothing more than "anti-sin"
and "pro-motherhood" statements. A major part of the

inadequacy of such goals has been due to the failure

-88-

to carry general goals down to the operational level.
Another reason is that too often the planner has
merely assumed that he knew what was best for the
community. Goals, when viewed as the starting point
for all eventual policy, will become a much more im-
portant component of the planning process. This may
even involve broad goal surveys and citizen discuss-
ion sessions.

3. IdentifyingAlternatives. After goal statements have
been formulated, methods of attaining them must be
developed. This involves a comprehensive search for
all the feasible alternatives. Each alternative
should be simulated into the future so that conse-
quences can be more rationally identified and com-
pared.

4. Evaluation and Selection. Once the available alter-
natives have been reduced to those regarded as most
suitable, the next step is to evaluate the pros and
cons of these alternatives, and to select the one
that offers the best probability of contributing to
the previously-formulated goals within the limits of
established decision criteria.

Figure 11 presents a schematic diagram of how these four

basic decision components can be fitted together in the form
of a decision system. "Understanding the situation" is shown

as a continuous process from which a simulation model of the

-89-

real system is developed, and from which goals are formulated
(based upon a flow of information concerning the state and
changes in issues and human values). Neither the model nor
the goals are static because they are connected to a con-
stant stream of information from the real system.

After the alternative plans, solutions or proposals are
identified they are fed into the simulation model and pro-
jected several years hence so that long term consequences can
be ascertained. These alternative consequences are then com—
pared against the goals (outcome or consequence criteria) and
the most beneficial alternative is selected.

The decision is then officially accepted and applied to
the real system, and the results will feed back to the "exist-
ing situation" component so that we can begin to collect em-
pirical evidence for subsequent decisions. In addition, if
the decision has some immediate effect upon the system model
structure (i.e., if it modifies one of the variables or para-
meters), then it should be incorporated as part of the model.

What has been described above is only a general or
theoretical decision system. Figure 12 is an application of
the system to the policy plan development process. The first
two steps are the same as in figure 11; however, the identi-
fication of alternatives and the evaluation and selection
steps take place at each level of policy decision. Also, each

decision feeds back to the next higher decision in order to

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-92-

test consistency and compatibility. The final selected poli-

cy package becomes a very important component of the simula-
tion model in all subsequent consequence testing.

Policies as a Component of a Continuous Planning_Decision System

The foregoing section concentrates upon the use of a
decision model in plan development. In fact, where policies
have been used in planning operations they have usually been
visualized purely as an element of a plan. Yet one of the
major points of this thesis is that policies serve a valuable
function in day-to-day decision-making. Once formulated,
policies become operational tools for guiding and coordinating
development-oriented actions. Thus policies not only set the
framework for the comprehensive plan, but they also act dir-
ectly as implementation devices.

Routine Decision-Making. Subdivision regulations are an
example of tactical policies which standardize a particular
set of repititious decisions, thus making administration more
efficient and more consistent. The policy merely outlines
the criteria and standards which the applicant must meet in
order to receive approval. Without such a policy, the re-
viewing body would be forced to review each submission as a
separate and unique proposal. Needless to say, this would
be a wasteful misuse of time as well as a haphazard decision
process.

Yet, just such a waste presently occurs in many of a

-93...

planning commissions' decisions. They often find themselves
faced with recurrent questions concerning parking, annexation,
hillside development, school location, shopping center appli-
cations, and so forth. Policy can be used to standardize

some of these decisions, just as subdivision regulations have
been handled. Every decision body should be equipped with a
comprehensive policy manual to aid them in dealing with re-
current issues.

Non-Routine Decision-Making. However, the procedure is
not so simple when highly significant non-programmed decisions
or new policy decisions come before the planning commission.
This requires a more complex procedure.

Figure 13 presents a diagram of a decision system which
is based upon the model described in figures 11 and 12. It
may be most helpful to follow a specific example through the
whole process. Suppose that a regional planning commission
has recently completed a policy plan much like that described
thus far (goals, strategic policies, and tactical policies).
The approved policies should then be incorporated into a sim-
ulation model of how the region functions. Thus, the model
will be composed of controlled policy variables, uncontrolled
variables, and their equated relationships. The model would
be kept continuously up-to-date through some type of feedback
process from the real system. The feedback would be composed
of: (1) new data concerning trends, levels, and rates of

change for the uncontrolled variables (i.e., population,

-94-

employment, money flow, rate of obsolescence and deterioration,
population, preferences, etcetera.), and (2) the results of
applied public policy and decisions (tax rates, renewal poli-
cy, capital improvement priorities, annexation policy, re-
source conservation policy, regional form policy, etcetera.).
Such feedback would be used for continual review of policy
effectiveness, and would integrate the features of a simula-
tion model and a data bank.

With this model of the real system completed, the planning
commission is, so to speak, open for business. The following
discussion will describe two possible applications of this
model to operational decisions. The first deals with a unique
non-programmed decision, and the second with the formulation
of a new policy to be plugged into the model later.

A developer comes before the commission with a proposal
for;a complete new town in the region. He wishes to feel
out the commission's ideas concerning such a development. In
figure 13 this is step number 1, introduction of the problem.
The commission then discusses the proposal and identifies
the alternative choices open to them (step 2). They might
come up with the following decision alternatives:

1. Locate in area A.

2. Locate in area B.

3. Locate in area C.

4. Postpone the development for the time being.

 

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-96-

Each alternative is then fed into the model and run for suc-
cessive five year iterations up to, say, the year 2000 (step 3).
When the outputs of the model are retrieved (step 4), an
analysis of the alternative consequences is made (step 5).
Perhaps, alternative #4 is rejected because it might discour-
age the developer, and alternatives #1 and #3 are unsatis-
factory but they do not promote the strategic policies which
the commission has agreed upon. Alternative #2 will pull
urban expansion toward the highest priority growth area. Thus
alternative #2 is selected and recommended to the developer
for action.

As the developer applies the commission’s recommendation,
there will be a constant feedback of data concerning the de-
velopment and its effects upon the overall region. If the
situation is not developing as was indicated originally by
the model, then either the variable relationships in the model
will have to be modified to achieve a higher degree of pre-
dictive accuracy, or else the policy variables will have to
be re-adJusted so as to better produce the desired consequences.

The second example to be run through this decision sys-
tem involves a need for the commission to develop a policy
concerning flood plain development. The problem has become
so recurrent and critical that a statement of public policy
is necessitated. The commission must first decide its alter-

native courses of action. This may also involve manipulation

-97-

of some of its already existing policies (i.e., give a higher
priority to clearing deteriorated housing located on flood
plains, give a lower priority to the development of new pub-
lic facilities for these flood-prone areas, give greater re-
cognition to multiple—use of river control sites, etcetera.).
The alternatives might be:

1. To prohibit all flood plain development.

2. To allow the local units of government to settle
the problem.

3. To buy development rights to all flood plain
areas.

4. To devise flood plain zoning regulations which
would permit any development if certain fill
requirements are met.

After simulating these alternatives into the future, it
will be possible to compare monetary costs, levels of pro-
tection for natural resources, legal problems, social costs,
effects upon regional form, and so forth. One alternative
will be selected and integrated into the model as a policy
variable. Also, of course, it will be translated into action
and the results will be feeding back into the model's data
storage component.

It may be some time before a decision system, such as
the one described here, can be taken from the conceptual draw-
‘ing boards. The most complex task will be that of identify-

ing the system variables and their relationships; however,

-98-

progress in this area of model building and computer program-
ming is occurring at a rapid pace.

However, until adequate knowledge of model development
techniques is developed, there is no reason why non-computer-
ized conceptual simulation models cannot be used. This simply
involves an attempt to more consciously and objectively anti-
cipate the effects of decision alternatives upon the exist-
ing and future state of the system. This is essentially the
method which has been used in recent policy plans (i.e., the
Year 2000 Plan, the Wedges and Corridors Plan, the Twin Cities
Joint Program and the Metro-Growth Plan). In other words,
conceptual models will have to suffice until the more complex
mathematical models become more widely understood.

The decision system does point out two very important
ideas. First, the human brain and the computers and models
are complementary functions. The model does not subsume the
decision-making function. It merely aids in remembering the
variable relationships and in predicting the future state of
the system. The human decisionemaker still has to identify
alternatives, tell the computer what to consider, compare
the alternative outcomes, and make the final choice.

Second, P0110ylis an integral part of any model. Too
often, the model-building task has assumed a certain inevi-

tability to the future. However, we do have the power to

-99..

shape the future through the formulation and manipulation of
public policy, and it is thus important the policy variables
be built right into the structure of the model.

Fact and Value in the Decision System.

The fact-value dichotomy in planning is an important but
elusive topic. There is no such thing as a correct decision;
or at least there is no known way to find out for sure. This
infers, then, that decisions are something more than pure fact-
ual propositions. They are, in part, valuations. If a goal
states that some particular state of affairs ought to be or
that it is preferable, then the goal performs an imperative
function and is neither true nor false, correct nor incorrect.13

The Judgmental character of many decisions is an essen-
tial and crucial aspect of policy development, for it indi-
cates man's potential power over the shape of his environ-
ment. However, value decisions should not be consideredcas
untestable premises for planning. Facts can be disprosed or
confirmed by comparative observation of reality, but value
verification is much more complex. As mentioned previously,
values cannot be truly proved or disproved, but they can be
tested for validity or acceptability in two ways:

1. By relating value premises to the next higher level

on the value hierarchy. Consistency indicates val-
idity; and

2. By confronting values with facts or consequences.

 

1
3Herbert Simon, Administrative Behavior; op. cit., p. 46.

-100-

Once a particular set of values is posited, know-
ledge of the facts is needed to determine the rela-
tive weight and feasibility of a particular value.
For example, value X might be preferred, but upon
examination of the cost facts it is found that an-

other value might be better suited (The Year 2000

 

Plan provides an example of failing to confront
values with the implementation facts).

Value and fact premises are interspersed throughout the
policy development process, and it is often quite difficult
to pull them apart. Davidoff and Reiner list some areas of
inseparability:

l. Factual statements and their analysis reflect

the values of their makers; if only in the
importance attached to them or the sequence in
which they are studied.

2. Our personal experiences show that our values
are colored by our understanding of the facts.

3. We can make factual assertions about values:
for example, their distribution in a given
group. Conversely, one can make value asser-
tions about facts, as does the city planner
who desires to counter the fact of public
apathy about a public program.14
Yet, generally, each type of premise has a particular
and necessary place at certain points in the planning process.
Figure 1% presents the fact premises as being particularly

important in understanding the existing system, predicting

 

1“ Davidoff and Reiner, op. cit., p. 105.

~101-

the future of the system (although value Judgments also play
a significant part here), and projecting the consequences of
alternative policies. Value Judgments prevail in setting
system objectives, developing policy alternatives, evaluating
alternatives and in selecting the final policy.

Fact premises developed from the prediction stage should
not be presented as inevitable constraints upon the range of
policy choice. "All too often planners first predict the
nature of the future, then help set in motion programs that,
fulfill this prophecy, and thus limit men's aspirations."15
Greater creativity will be encouraged if policy discussion
operates under the assumption that all things are possible,
given the willingness to meet their costs. Only when the pub-
lic decision body reveals that costs are excessive should the
alternative be excluded from consideration.

The value-fact distinction is also pertinent to Wheaton's
discussion of "planner's biases".l6 Planners have too often
regarded planning principles as accepted facts, often uncon-
sciously. _It is important to realize that, although the plan-
ner has an obligation to propose certain accepted planning
principles (preserve open space, retain single core area focus,
provide variety of housing types, etc.), these are value judg-
ments rather than accepted facts. If this is kept in mind, po-
licy formulation will be far more objective and receptive to new

ideas.

 

15Ibid,. p. lou.
16 -
Wheaton, op. cit., pp. 250-259.

THE ROLES OF VALUE AND FACT
IN THE PROPOSED DECISION SYSTEM
Figure 14

FACT PREMISES VALUE PREMISES

   
 
    

SITUATION

PREDICTING
THE
FUTURE STATE ‘
OF THE
SYSTEM

      
   
     
 

'/

A LTERNATIVES

u
.I I= \’
'Dl I \
2:: I
)\
"“z: I): 6‘\
2"“ I» ‘9,
nl< H"
.4 - C
-ig} t,
0| |: IDENTIFYING
3: :° ' POLICY
:2
| I
I

 

SELECTION

 

CHAPTER IV
UNDERSTANDING THE SITUATION

If planning is to become an effective decision system
we need a better understanding both of the decision processes
and the subject matter with which planning deals. Or, in other
words, greater attention must be paid to the valuative and
factual premises of planning decision. The last section of the
preceeding chapter has dealt with the respective positions of
values and facts in the decision system; this chapter will ex-
plore the types of facts (including facts about existing values)
which are needed to formulate policies. The next chapter will
discuss the valuative processes involved in policy planning.
The Need for Understanding

The artifactual city has always been the focus of urban
planning, even though it has often been necessary to conduct
research on the social-economic-political city in order to
better organize the artifactual city. As Webber points out:
"By tradition and by the professions choice, city planning is
primarily concerned with the physical plant within the muni-
cipal territory and with the locations at which people conduct
the various types of activities in which they engage. The
typical planning agency is only tangentially concerned with
the nonslocational aspects of the population's activities, and
is scarcely concerned with the operating programsrof the var-

ious service agencies in local government."1

 

1Melvin webber, "The Prospects for Policies Planning," in
The Urban Condition by L.J. Duhl; p. 322

-103-

-104-

It would appear that urban planning is suboptimizing in
that it has taken as a starting point a sub-unit of the total
system. We are optimizing the objectives of one set of sub-
systems without really relating them to the objectives of the
total system. We have only occasionally attempted to relate
the physical and non-physical city.

As planning becomes more sophisticated it will become in-
creasingly necessary to start with an understanding of the
total system, especially if we hope to fathom the consequen-
ces of our physical policies upon the non-physical city, and
vice versa. "Unless we try to find our way through the com-
plex web that ties us all one to the other, we can never be
confident that what each of us does with one hand is not un-
done by his other, or that what one of us does is not unwit-
tingly countered by the actions of his colleague."2

Dr. Warren Weaver presents an interesting analysis of
our evolving approach to better understanding of the world.
He lists three stages of development in the history of scien-
tific thought:

1. Ability to deal with problems of simplicity. This
era, which took place roughly during the seventeenth,
eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, tackled prob-
lems with two variables (i.e., gas pressure depends

upon the volume of the gas). Other variables were

 

21b1d., p. 329.

3.

-105-

usually ignored or held constant.

Ability to deal with_problems of disorganized
complexity, After 1900 came the rise of concern for
solving problems dealing with millions of variables.
To carry out such analyses some new powerful tech-
niques (statistics and probability theory) were
developed. This type of analysis was concerned

with averages - predicting the average frequency

of telephone calls, the probability of financial
loss, the motions of atoms, median income, standard
deviation, etcetera.

Ability to deal withgproblems or organized com-
plexity. These problems, as contrasted with the
disorganized situations with Which statistics can
cope, show the essential feature of organization.
Examples are: what makes an evening primrose open
when it does?, what keeps salt-water from satisfy-
ing thirst?, and what causes a city to develOp in

a certain pattern? These are all problems involv-
ing great numbers of variables but they fit together

into an organic whole.3

Jane Jacobs maintains that planners have failed to realize

that the city is a problem or organized complexity.4 With-

 

3

Warren weaver, 1958 Annual Report of the Rockefeller Founda-
tion (1958).

Jane Jacobs, The Death and Life of’Great American Cities;
Random House, NiY. (1961): pp. E28-418.

-lO6-

out getting into the matter of her personal opinions, it
appears that even if the city is purely a problem of organ-
ized complexity, certain analytical benefits can be obtained
also through statistical techniques. At any rate, it should
be obvious that the problems with which the planner must deal
are multivariate, highly complex, and impossible to solve by
intuition alone.

In Models of Man, Herbert Simon has stated that, "the
capacity of the human mind for formulation and solving com-
plex problems is very small compared with the size of the
problem whose solution is required for objectively rational
behavior in the real world - - or even for a reasonable ap-
proximation to such objective rationality".5 Simon has
labled this the "principle of bounded rationality". Decision
models can never be infallible but their development can at
least reduce our fallibility to a level of reasonable secur-
ity. (We will never know for sure if there is a limit to ra-
tionality unless we keep pushing to test its limits.

The Areas of Needed Understanding
A What, then, do we specifically need to know before we
can begin using the decision system.

First, we need to develop a holistic understanding of
how the urban or regional system works, so that a model of
the real system can be constructed. As described in the fore-

going chapter, such a model would serve as the policy alternative

 

Herbert Simon, Models of Man; Macmillan, N.Y. (1960): p. 47.

-107-

testing component of the decision system. Through examination
of development over time it will be possible to begin form-
ulating a conceptual theory of the dynamic forces which have
contributed to the present state of the system. Too often

the research phases of planning have unfortunately concentra-
ted upon understanding the problems and needs of the present,
or when the past was considered at all it was seldom used to
exemplify the nature of growth processes.

Rather than centering our attention upon the symptoms
and results of system activity, we must begin to focus upon
the reasons, the causal relationships, and the processes which
underly the present state. This involves greater research
into the variables which make the urban area or region a dy-
namic and ever-changing system. The principal use of this
information will be in simulating the consequences of even-
tual policy.

Second, we need to identify the control centers which
guide these variables, either directly or indirectly. The
identification of these critical decision-makers will aid the
policy formulation process by pointing out which decisions
public policy must directly influence. After initial identi-
fication of these control centers, it will then be necessary
to investigate their existing values, goals, policies, and
plans. Public planning has seldom included the private sec-
tor as a planning agent; but in recent times some of them are

doing more planning than the public agencies. We must

-108-

influence, and thus must understand, both public and private
policies, especially since the policy plan is portrayed here
as a direct guide to operational decision-making by all agents
whose actions affect the environment.

Third, we must develop an understanding of what kind of
a community or region is desired. This we should do in two
ways: (1) by studying the state of the present system and
identifying the critical issues for decision (problems, cri-
tical dimensions, and needs) both in the present and the anti-
cipated future; and (2) by ascertaining the values of the
people concerning desirable attributes of future life in gen—
eral. Based upon these two premises, goals can be developed
which will describe the criteria for measuring the acceptability
and effectiveness of policy proposals.
The Urban Area or Region as a System

If, as Dr. Weaver suggests, today's research must be
directed towards organized complexity, then planners should
begin to pay more attention to building conceptual models
of how complex urban and regional planning areas are organ-
ized as wholes. By doing so, planners will learn more about
how the planning area grows and changes, how and why prob-
lems develop, and how policies can best deal with these prob-
lems. In addition, we will obtain some better clues as to
how the urban area or region will perform in the future,

according to alternative sets of planning policies.

-109-

The Systems Approach. General systems theory appears to
provide a useful approach to understanding and designing or-
ganized complexity. It is a cross-disciplinary approach
which emphasizes the interrelatedness of problems, functions,
and processes. It may be helpful to set down a definition of
what a system is. Perhaps the simplest (and one of the first)
definition of a general system is that given by Ludwig Berta-
lanffy: "A complex of interacting elements".6 Johnson, Kast
and Rosenzweig expand this somewhat by stating that a system
is, "an organized or complex whole; an assemblage or combin-
ation of things of parts forming a complex or unitary whole."7
Other definitions include reference to the fact that a sys-
tem strives to maximize a set of objectives. Thus it can be
inferred that a system is complex, that is a whglg made up of
interacting_parts, that it is organized, and that it seeks
goal attainment.

Issacs lists the following as some common system charac-
teristics:

l. A system is comprised of elements, components,

or subsystems, grouped or organized in some
mscggr to accomplish a set of overall objec-

2. Each component has a particular function that
differs from the total system function, yet

 

EImdwig Vbn Bertalanffy, "An Outline of General System Theory",

British Journal for the Philosophy of Science; Vel. I (1950:
p. as.

7Richard Johnson, Fremont Kast, and James Rosenzewig, The
Theory and Management of Systems; McGraw-Hill, N.Y. ("619 3):
p. o

-llO-
contributes to the overall system perform-
ance.

3. The components generally do not perform
their functions in an isolated fashion but
require some functional support and/ r
communication from other components.

The systems approach emphasizes the interrelationships
of components and subsystems, and thus provides a new way to
view reality. Past research has been segmental due to the
segmental nature of our research and design disciplines. We
have the social scientists who study the interactions of man;
we have the engineer and architect who design artifacts; and
we have the biologist and resource specialist who study and
attempt to preserve nature. In very few cases have we deve-
loped disciplines or professions whose purpose it is to deal
with the interrelationships of man, nature, and artifacts.-
The systems approach is an answer to this need for cross-
disciplinary knowledge and action.

Figure 15 contrasts the segmental approach against the
systems approach. In the segmental approach the three major
components are considered separately, and, in fact, many
aspects of the same component are usually considered separ-
ately (economics and sociology both deal with man's interre-

lationships but there has been little integration of these

two disciplines). The systems approach, on the other hand

 

Herbert Issacs, "System Considerations in Building a Metro-
politan Data Bank for Urban Research"; Systems Development
Corp., SP - 862 (June 29, 1962): p. l.

-lll-

attempts to relate the study of man, artifacts and nature
both vertically and horizontally.9

Aspects of the System. The distinguishing characteristic
of the urban or regional system is its spatiality. Planners
are, of course, most directly concerned with this aspect.
But as Foley emphasizes, we must first understand the non-
spatial aspects of the urban system.10 He presents a diagram
(see figure 16) of what he believes to be a holistic approach
to the understanding of an urban system. At the basis of all
system activity and structure are the normative aspects of the
human components including social values, cultural patterns and
the institutional setting. These normative aspects are mani-
fested in the distribution of human functions, roles, and pat-
terns of behavior. The planner's concern is directed towards
the manner in which these functions, roles, and behavior pat-
terns are allocated throughout the spatial environment; and
correspondingly he becomes involved in understanding and de-
signing the natural and man-made components so that they are
compatible with the needs and desires of these human components
(as expressed through their functional characteristics).

Decentralized System Control. In a democratic society the
urban area is loosely organized and the controls are quite de-

, 0" v
'|.\:

9Extracted From Notes on Systems Theory, by Stewart Ma uis;
Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan. (1 4).

O
1 Donald Foley, "An Approach to Metropolitan Spatial Struc-
ture", in Ex lorations Into Urban Structure by M. Webber,
et. al: UnIversity of Pennsylvania Press (1964): p. 24.

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SYSTEMS
.AND SEGMENTALMAPPROACHES*

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Figure 15
SEOMENPAL SYSTEMS
APPROACH APPROACH
r I I
HUMAN HUMAN L.T.E,P
COMPONENTS P s S K COMPONENTS O. R | D 'R
O c O I c A U 0
L O c N A'N'cID
I N I s ARTIFACTUAL L' S I A IU
T O o H COMPONENTS IP T|C
I M L I GIOII'T
c I 0 P OIR.O.I
s c G VIT N.O
S Y NATURAL E A' 'N
COMPONENTS R:T: ,
N I
AEIIFICTUAI. T S B C M | o I I
COMPONENTS R E U 0 E N | I
A W I M N I I
N A L M T! J |
s c D U ' +
P E I N
O N I
R G c
T S A
T
I
O
N
NATURAL s c w A
COMPONENTS O L A I
I I T R
L M E
A R
T
E

 

 

 

 

 

 

* Ektracted from Systems Notes by
- Stewart Marquis, Michigan State
University, East Lansing, Michigan.(1964

-ll2 -

1.

3.

NOrmative or
Cultural

Aspects

Functional
Organizational
Aspects

Physical

Aspects

ASPI‘IJTS OF THE URBAN SYSTEM*

Figure 16

A. Aspatial Aspects

B. Spatial Aspects

 

lA
Social values; cul-
ture patterns; in-»
stitutional setting;
technology.

lB

Spatial distribution of
culture patterns and norms;
values and norms directly
concerned with the qual-
ities and determination of
the spatial patterns of
activities, population and
the physical environment.

 

2A

Division and allo-
cation of functions;
functional interde-
pendencies; activity
systems and subsys-
tems including per-
sons and establish-
ments in their func-
tional-role sense.

2B
Spatial distribution of
functions and activities;
linkages (functional re-
lations spatially con-
ceived); spatial patterns
of establishments, by
functional type.

 

 

3B
Physical objects;
the geophysical en-
vironment, man-de-
veloped material im-
provements, people
as physical bodies;
qualities of these
fibjects.

 

3B
Spatial distribution of
physical objects; the
resulting spatial pattern
formed by the distribu-
tion of land forms, build-
ings, roads, people, etc.
distribution in space of
varying qualities of phys-
ical objects.

 

 

*Excerpted from:

Foley, Donald L.,

-"An Approach to Metropolitan
Spatial Structure" in Explora-
tions Into Urban Structure, Univ.

of Penn. Press; 1964:

-113-

p. 24.

-ll4-

centralized. The normative aspects are subject to a great
deal of diversity, and, thus, so are the functional and spa-
tial manifestations. This is in contrast to the business and
military systems in which all components serve a monolithic
purpose. Because of this trait, planning must be directed to-
wards a vast number of decision-making agents.
An Open System. It is often quite difficult to define
the spatial extent of the urban system., This is due to the
system's openness to its environment.11 The urban area is
an open system interacting vertically with higher level sys-
tems (region, state, nation) and horizontally with other ur-
ban systems of the same order. This is a trait which has gain-
ed considerably more impact over the last few years due to
rapidly increasing mobility and interdependence, and it will
probably continue to increase in impact until it will be imposs-
ible to define anything smaller than regional systems (i.e., the
East Coast Megalopolis). Much of what occurs in a community
today is actually controlled from some part of the environment.
System Structure and Process. What we need in planning,
and what is facilitated through the systems approach, is an
understanding of how its structural components are interrelated.
Urban theories, and most planning efforts, have centered atten-

ion on the structure of the system. Little study has been

 

Stewart Marquis, Communities and PlanningAAreas: A Systems

Approach to Spatial Community, Papert#10 in a Series on
Spatial Patterns of Development in the Lansing_Region; Insti-
tute For Community Development, Michigan State University,
East Lansing, Michigan (Feb., 1963): pp. 57-58.

-115-

directed towards the flows and processes through which these
structural components interact. Thus we have a knowledge only
of the system statics and this is only half of how the system
functions. We will not be able to construct models suitable
for simulation until we understand both the statics and dyna-
mics of system behavior.12
System Variables and Control Centers

The urban area has one unique characteristic which sets it
somewhat apart from the systems referred to in business manage-
ment and the military. In most systems there is some external
agency that conceived the requirements to which the system was
designed. The urban system is not so tightly organized. "The
urban system.....evolved almost randomly with perhaps some guid-
ance from city administration and federal agencies concerned
with general economic and social affairs. In fact, upon exam-
ination, it becomes apparent that severalccomponents of the
system design and develOpment."l3 Thus there are no agreed upon
objectives for the total system; they are more often a compos-
ite of various decentralized objectives.

Variables. This "fact of life" means that many of the

 

critical variables which determine growth and development will

not be directly controllable through planning. It is important

 

2
1 Ibid., p. 26
13
Issacs, op. cit,, p. 4.

-ll6-

that these variables be discovered and classified according

to their controllability and predictability. If the systems
approach described above is followed it should automatically
bring to light many of these variables. Chapin and Weiss have
been conducting studies on critical development variables, and
have come up with the following list:

1. Location of water areas and areas subject to “'
flood. *
2. Location of major highways.
3. Location of work areas.
4. Location of city's water service area.
5. Location of city’s sewer service area.
6. Location of city's fire protection service area.
7. Location of city's police protection service
area.
8. Location of city's school service area.
9. location of city's zoning jurisdiction.
10. Location of city's subdivision control
jurisdiction.
11. Location of areas of mixed land use.
12. Location of blighted residential areas.
13. Location of non-white areas.l

Out of this list there are seven variables over which local
government has direct control (numbers four through ten).
Chapin and Weiss call these "primary actions" - actions which
will guide and direct secondary private developmental actions.
In addition, local government exercises at least partial con-
trol over the locations of major highways and work areas

(variables number two and three). Variables one, eleven,

 

14
Stuart Chapin Jr. and Shirley Weiss Urban Growth Dynamics;
Wiley, N.Y. (i962)? p. 450. ’

-117-

twelve, and thirteen are not really subject to control, but
they are influencable through the planning efforts of local
government. Armed with such a knowledge of critical variables,
policies can be developed to control and influence these var-
iables toward goal attainment. It should be noted, however,
that the variables listed here are only locational. There

may well be many other variables which are non-locational
(i.e., rate of investment, population growth, job availability,
etcetera).

Control Centers. Not all policy can be translated into
direct regulatory control. So we must pay special attention
to the arrangement of decision-making centers throughout the
system. Too many plans have failed because they did not re-
cognize the fact that local government is only one signifi-
cant maker of decisions in the system. In fact, of the six
bases of power - (1) control of wealth, credit, and resources,
(2) control of mass media, (3) control of solidary groups,

(4) control of jobs, (5) possession of charisma, popularity,
acceptance, etcetera, and (6) control of legal power - govern-
ment figures significantly in only (1) and (6).15

Identification of this myriad of decision centers will
aid policy development in four ways:

1. It will reveal who really controls the critical

variables;

 

15Robert A. Dahl, "The Analysis of Influence in Local Commun-
ities", in Social Science and Community Action by Charles
R. Adrian (ed); Institute for Community Development, East
Lansing,-Hichg {1950): p. 32.

-118-

2. It will offer an opportunity to identify and analyze
the existing policies and plans being followed by
these decision centers. This will lead to greater
coordination possibilities;

3. It will show where the potential for policy change
exists; and

4. It will provide key persons for aiding in future
policy development. Through understanding the role
of decision-making in the system, policy plans will
be given a greater opportunity to be realistic and
effective.

Values and Goals

The third need for understanding is in the area of fac-
tors which contribute to goal formulation. As has been pointed
out, this includes issues and values. Issues can be determined
during the two previously mentioned phases of research. Plan-
ners have never had much trouble identifying the issues which
need attention.

However, the study of values as part of the planning

process has been sadly neglected. The following section dis-
cusses the benefits of value identification and the relation-

ship of values to goals.

values and Culture. Culture has been defined as the inter-

action of meanings and values (irreducible absolutes of qualityl6)

16
Julian Huxley, Man in the Modern World, as quoted in Values

and the P1anning_PTocess by Twin Cities Metropolitan Flan-
ning COmmIssion; St. Paul, Minn. (1963): p. 6.

 

-1y9-

along with their forms of expression.17 In other words, cul-
ture is both ideological and material. For example, a feel-
ing is nonexistent unless the human being can find the words
or actions through which it can be communicated. Thus our
language is an important part of culture. Similarly, the
urban environment is a language for the expression of plur-
alistic human values. To be more specific, the urban environ-
ment is the unplanned resultant of innumerable individual val-
ues and value expressions (actions).

One of the purposes of planning is to coordinate and
establish tome degree of order among this myriad of values,
so that the future urban environment will reflect a greater
consensus of direction. In order to realistically carry out
this task the planner should have some notion of what values
the inhabitants hold in highest regard. And most important,
”he;must-determine the degreemto;whibh;theseyvariouscimportant
valueSfarp PFPFPAWBPQ the rank in which they are preferred.

Why Study values? There are good reasons for examining
the effects of values On the planning process. They can be
summarized as follows:

1. "As values are at the root of a social order re-

ference to them will avoid possible conflict be-
tween individual goals and their attendent policies

and implementation devices. Conversely, they may

 

l
7Pitirim Sorokin, op. cit., p. 247.

-120-

also explain seeming goal contradiction as being
different aspects of a values system."18
2. "Values, being so often implicit, may become blurred,
or even forgotten in the process of time. By making
them explicit they can take their rightful place as
foundations of society, or be rejected as being anach-
ronoUs, shallow, or even destructive."l8
3. "Through a knowledge of values, we may be in a better
position to create an equable balance between goals
and expose false goals."18
4. Because of the difficulties of avoiding personal
bias in a field such as planning, there is a danger
of creating plans for planners rather than for the
public. By starting with the investigation of val-
ues it should be easier to avoid unintentional bias.18
5. The planning process may seem esoteric and arbitrary
to the layman. "If, however, policies and plans were
approved on the basis that they satisfied certain
agreed values and goals, the decisions as to policy
and plan can be recognized as means for furthering
our deepest needs rather than appearing to be ends in

themselves."18

The study of values represents an attempt to dig into the

 

18
Twin Cities Metropolitan Planning Commission, Values and the

Elanngpg_Process, op. cit., pp. 6-7.

-121-

knowledge gap between the stimulus and response components of
human behavior. To plan without such a knowledge is to assume
universality of behavioral response for particular stimuli.
Human beings are considerably more complex than such an assump-
tion would imply.

The Twin Cities Metropolitan Planning Commission staff
has set up an interesting and apparently useful framework for
values and their expression through goals. They feel that ale
though the planner is chiefly interested in environmental goals,
he must first analyze the total human value structure because
the environmental forces are grounded in an extremely broad
aura of values. They list the most primary values as those
which deal with survival (security, sustenance, and continuity).
From this base a set of development values arise as the means
of social cohesion (cooperation, extension, surplus, and choice).
Finally, man's values extend into the non-material area of ful-
fillment values (beauty; goodness, truth, immortality, recrea-
tion, and happiness).19

From this broad analysis of values the staff then develop-
ed a set of planning values which could be directly reflected
through goal statement. Figure 17 presents the results of this
endeavor. The resulting goal statements are considerably more

comprehensive than any others investigated by this author.

 

19
Ibid., pp. 12-16.

AN EXAMPLE OF'VALUE-GOAL'RELATIONSHIPS

THE TWIN-CITIES APPROACH

PLANNING‘VALUES

INDIVIDUALITY

MATERIAL WELFARE
LEISURE

COMFORT

DEMOCRATIC GOVERNMENT

COMMUNITY PRIDE

NATURE

COOPERATION

EQUALITY

SECURITY

FLEXIBILITY
SPACE

PRIVACY

NEIGHBORLINESS

Figure 1?

PLANNING GOALS

 

Give individual identity in the
community

Facilitate wide choice for buying

Shorten: a; Journey to work
b Journey to play

Maximize protection from in-
clement weather (Improve micro-
climate)

Scale community to human perception

Increase imageability of the
community

Preserve and give access to the
countryside

Increase cohesiveness of the metro-
politan area

Do not favor one group or age
above others

Give a sense of permanency in the
metropolitan form

Build in adaptability to change

Create spaciousness in the develop-
ed area

Arrange adapted spaces to avoid
intrusion

Create conditions fostering inter-
personal relationships

~122-

CHOICE

HISTORICAL CONTINUITY

ENCLOSURE

CONSERVATION

HEADTH

SAFETY

DIVERSITY

Figure 17 (cont.)

Create maximum accessibility
between all urban functions

Integrate new development with
the old

Create a metropolitan form en-
abling meaningful space rela-
tionships between buildings
and other elements

The efficient use of land,
energy, human life

a) Provide efficient water
supply and sewage disposal

b) Give easy acess to medical
facilities

a) Maximize ease of fire pro-
tection and police patrol
b) Reduce road and traffic
, hazards

Increase range of possible
living environments

-l22-

-123-

However, there still appear to be some basic discrepancies

in the transition from values to goals. First the values do
not appear to be fully represented in their attendent goals.
For instance "democratic government" should mean a great deal
to planning,more than just the scaling of "community to human
perception?. The value of democracy should have quite a bit
of reference to the techniques and methods to be used in
attaining other goals. Similarly, "leisure” can certainly be
reflected in qualitative goals as well as the quantitative
goal of shortening journeys.

The second point is that values and goals have not been
translated into measures of preference. We have no way of
knowing whether privacy is a more important value than neighe
borliness. It might be useful to view values as existing in
sets. Dynd maintains that there is a certain set of rock
bottom values which exist in every culture, but they usually
exist in pairs of apparent opposites such as: security and
risk, coherence and spontaneity, novelty and latency and
rivalry and mutuality.2O In reality they are no more opposite
than sleep and waking. The planner's function is not to max-
imize certain values, but to present the greatest opportunity

for perpetuating each of the values.

 

0

'Robert S. Lynd, "Persistent Cravings of the Human Person-
ality" in Knowled e for What by Lynd; Princeton University
Press (1945): pp. IB9-20l.

-l24-

Value and Goal Identification Methodologies

Values and goals can be identified in four ways: (1)
Professional Assumption, (2) Verbal Survey, (3) Observational
Survey, and (4) Citizen Participation.

Professional Assumption. The first method, in which the
planner assumes values and goals either implicitly or explic-
itly, on the basis of his professional competence and comm-
unity familiarity, has generally been the accustomed approach
in past efforts. This approach finds justification in the
difficulties of social and attitude surveys, and in the feel-
ing that the planner has the responsibility "to know", in
the full sense of the word, anduthe role to lead.21 In other
words, the planner because of his professional training is
expected to be a specialist in perceiving the values and goals
of the public, or, at least, he is expected to know better
than anyone else what the people need in terms of the physical
environment.

Recently there have been rumblings of dissent against
such an approach. There are many who are beginning to feel
that the planner is not so omniscient as he once thought he
was. Does his professional training make him any more per?

ceptive, detached, or objective than other members of society?

 

21Ronald Reed Boyce, Paper presented at the Symposium on
"Public Opinion and Goals for Planning," Proceedings of the
1963 Annual Conference of the American InStitute of Planners;
Milwaukee (I964): p. 181.

 

-125-

Actually he leads a personal life just like everyone else;
he joins social and religious organizations, has certain
preferred patterns of living, and even states opinions con-
cerning current affairs. There is thus some danger of the
planner promotinglin his public life, values which are not
really those of the democratic majority. He may also be
proposing goals in areas where he is not competent.

Verbal Survey, One of the methods of avoiding these
dangers is the verbal attitudes or values survey. Verbal
surveys may be approached either formally or informally.

The informal survey relies on open-ended priming questions.
General questions are offered by the interviewer with the hope
that they will elicit expository answers concerning any sub-
jects which the interviewee feels strongly about. Serendipity
has great value in this approach. Good planners make use of
this "technique whenever they come in contact with the lay
public. The other, and more common, type of verbal survey is
the "specific question-specific answer" survey. It is more
highly structured and formalized, and is often carried out
through written communication.

There are two very good examples of this latter type
of verbal survey which it might be useful to describe. The
first one is the Goals for the Region Project conducted by
the New York Regional Plan Association. Their methodology

was basically to go out and stimulate the creation of small

-126-

citizen groups, which were usually rather homogeneous and
thus without communication impediments (there were neighbor-
hood groups, employee groups which were encouraged by employ-
ers, and social, fraternal and religious organizations).
After these groups were organized (with a total of 5600 par-
ticipants), a set of five meetings was scheduled each of which
consisted of: (l) a half-hour special television program dis-
cussing the issues for that meeting, (2) an informal discuss-
ion among the group participants of these issues, and (3) fill-
ing out questionnaires related to the discussion. Before each
meeting the participants were sent a brochure describing cer-
tain background information so that they could have a chance
to think out their feelings in advance of the meeting. How-
ever, it was revealed later that less than 50 per cent had
read the brochures.
The five meetings dealt with a history of the region,
the need for planning and the present problems, projections,
goals, and means for accomplishing the goals. The small dis-
cussion groups were used for the following reasons:
1. They were the easiest way to reach the people, con-
sidering time and money limitations.
2. The surveyers could be confident of regular meet-
ings and attendance; and,
3. It seemed most likely that these were the kinds of
groups which would continue to work with the Region-

al Plan Association.

-127-

This project, because of its attemptto deal with such
a large spatial area, has been viewed as a milestone in the
field of planning. However, as with any innovative endeavor,
some criticism have been leveled at the Regional Plan Associa-
tion:

1. The participants turned out to have well-above the
average income and level of education of the Region,
and they were 9T% white despite efforts to enlist
the cooperation of various racial and ethnic organi-
zations. There was thus a strong middle-class bias
to the views expressed.

2. Many people have criticized the surveyers for brain?
washing the participants before asking the questions
(through the Regional Plan Association's presentation
of so-called facts and research conclusions which were
presented in the television series and on the infor-
mation brochures).

3. Related to the above is the criticism that choice
was unduly limited - not enough alternatives were
d‘fered. As Boyce has said, "...to ask the public
whether it prefers a 'spread city or a city with
more variety in density, housing types, transporta-
tion opportunities and urban agglomerations' hardly

seems a fair choice when phrased in this manner."22

_______Ib1d0 9 p0 179.

-l28-

The only choice offered was between good and evil.

Although these criticisms probably have some validity,
the approach has contributed significantly to the cause of
planning in the New York Region. Citizens have been made
more aware of the issues and the potential value of planning,
a large number of local leaders and groups with a willingness
to work have been identified, and the Association has a much
better idea of what the public feels it needs in terms of
regional goals.

A second example of the verbal survey approach has been
outlined, and tested in two North Carolina cities, by Robert
L. Wilson.24 Whereasqthe New York project was issue-oriented,
the purpose of this survey was to investigate some of the
factors which seem to contribute to the general image of a
livable city. As such, this survey was values-oriented. In
contrast to the Goals for the Region Project, this was based
on personal interviews chosen on a random sample basis (thus
ensuring a better socio-economic distribution). The survey
was quite detailed with each interview taking two to three
hours.

Four types of questions were asked:

 

23
For a more complete description of this project, see William
Shore's paper for the Symposium on”Public Opinion and Goals

for Planning"; op. cit.

24The techniques and survey results are described in: R. L.

Wilson, "Livability of the City: Attitudes and Urban Devel-
opment‘, in Urban Growth Dynamics, op; cit., pp. 359-399.

-129-

1. Personal questions. These were concerned with basic
social, economic, and occupational background data,
plus a series of questions designed to gain some
understanding of the respondents personality.

2. Preference questions. These were aimed at developing
a satisfaction-dissatisfaction scale concerning the
neighborhood, the city and life in general, and at
determining preferences for improvement.

3. Neighborhood,photographs. In this part, respondents
were asked to compare, evaluate and state their pre-
ferences between pictures of three different types
of neighborhoods. Through this technique a basic
understanding of their values (privacy, safety, clean-
liness, convenience, variety, etcetera.) was derived.

4. Choice game. This was viewed as a realistic test of
value application. Respondents were given a certain
amount of hypothetical money with which they could
purchase the types and qualities of public services
and facilities which they felt were most important
(paved streets, police protection, sewer system,
water system, street lights, etcetera.). The intro-
duction of limited resources to the idea of choice
provided interesting and quite realistic results.

Although this survey did not aid in public education

and leadership identification, it did provide extremely useful

data concerning both the concrete preferences and the basic

-130-

values of the resident population. The survey results appear
to contribute significantly to the information needed in goal
formulation.

Observational Survey. The third approach to value identi-
fication has been called observational survey. It is based, in
part, upon the contention that ”talk is cheap”, ”actions speak
louder than words", and"money talks”. The advocates of this
approach maintain that the respondent in a verbal survey cannot
help but be influenced by the question and the manner in which
it is phrased. In addition, it has been proved by research
that people will often say one thing and do another.25 We
actually use a great deal of information gathered from obser-
vation - traffic counts, sales indices and trends, and obser-
vations concerning the trend toward decentralization.

However, there is a great danger in deriving values from
observable actions. Sorokin, in discussing culture as being
made up of values and the vehicle of expressing them, cautions
the reader as to the loose relationship between these two
cultural components.26 For example, out-worn customs often
live on even though their meanings are obscured and out of
touch with reality. Yet if, 500 years from now, an anthropo-
logist were to examine our value system through our vehicles

of expression, he might surmise that the value commonly

 

2
5Boyce, op. cit., p. 178.

26
Pitirim Sorokin, Op. cit., p. 222.

-131-

associated with that custom was, in fact, held by our culture.
The same can happen when the observational approach is applied
to urban life. Because we patronize a shopping center does not
necessarily mean that we categorically prefer shopping centers
to the central business district; it merely means that in the
context of certain existing circumstances this is our prefer-
ence. With other alternatives we might have different prefer-
ences. This approach indicates the best choice in a bad sit-
uation, and thus only perpetuates the status quo.

Another danger of this approach lies in the difficulty
of interpreting the meanings of actions. The surveyor usually
must assume his values to be fairly universal when he attempts
to make such interpretations. However, he can never be sure.
We can say that people live in slums because they have no
choice, and from a middle class suburban view-point this would
probably make sense. But, in reality, there could be any
number of reasons why the slums continue to hold a large seg-
ment of our population, not the least of which is a fear of
failing to make the best of change. We can never be sure un-
less we actually analyze the values behind these actions.

Citizen Participation. The fourth approach to the identie
fication of values and goals is "citizen participation”, which
is basically applied group decision-making organized in such
a way as to reveal the value motivations of all decisions.

It is less time-consuming than the verbal or observational

-132-

survey, and if the selected citizen body is large enough and
diverse enough,the cross-section of values should be fairly
representative. And, in addition, it shakes the burden of
goal selection off the shoulders of the planner. He does,
however, play a crucial role in providing the alternative
goals for a discussion starting point, and he should help
guide and control that discussion.

Such an approach can be quite frustrating, in that con-
sensus of agreement is increasingly difficult as the group
becomes larger, more diverse, and as the goals become more de-
tailed. The Lansing Tri-County Planning Commission staff
found their greatest problems to be that many of the Citizens
on the Citizens Advisory Council were either unconcerned about
physical goals or were too wrapped up in a basic suspicion of
"creeping government".27 It has been suggested that to over-
come these two problems it might be beneficial to start the
goal formulation process at a higher level where the needs and
goals of the entire region (not just the physical aspects)
would be considered without getting into the details of how
the government will accomplish them. Then after everyone has
agreed upon the needs, the role of government and its policies

can be considered more objectively. In addition, starting at

the higher level would provide issues which are more easily

 

27
Keith Heney, op. cit., pp. 102-110.

-133-

related to the individual's personal values. The citizen gen-
erally does not have any feelings concerning the relationship
of land use to circulation, but he undoubtedly has some opinions
and interest in the promotion of jobs, the role of the indivi-
dual, the standard of living, etcetera.

Combining the Methodologies.‘ None of these four discussed
methodologies is all bad or all good. Planning, if possible,
should make use of all these methods. The professional planners
do have a certain degree of expertise in the field of needs
determination and issue identification, and if he has a well
rounded education he may have some understanding of how and
what values need to be promoted through planning. HOwever, to
cover his inadequacies and unconscious biases, he needs to do
a certain degree of objective survey work. These techniques
provide a testing mechanism for his understanding of values
and goals. And, as the final test of the validity of values
and goals, the planner ought to compare his information with
the decisions of the planning commission and lay bodies which
might also be involved in the making of planning decisions.

CHAPTER V
THE POLICY PLANNING PROCESS

After gleening a basic understanding of the points dis-
cussed in the previous chapter, it is then necessary to be-
gin thinking in terms of how the system can be altered by
redesign orlmanagement to perfor more effectively in meeting
human purposes.

This chapter delves into the valuative phases of the
proposed policy plan development decision system (see figure
14 for a breakdown of the fact-oriented and value-oriented
steps in the decision model). More specifically, this chap-
ter discusses:

A. Goal formulation;

B. Identification of the alternatives and their

consequences; and

C. Policy evaluation and selection.

The result of performing these steps will provide the basis
for the type of continuing planning decision system presented
in figure 13, and will provide a logical framework for develop-
ment of the comprehensive plan.

A. Goal Formulation

Goals can be thought of as general descriptions of the
desired outcomes and actions toward which the community strives.
They set the parameters for planning and action. Goals can

have negative and positive characteristics; that is, goals are

-13u-

-135-

usually directed both at the correction and elimination of
problems and at the promotion of change, growth, improvement,
and advancement. Goals reflect the aspirations of those per-
sons who control the system.

Definition of the system goals can fulfill several types

of purposes:

1. They can delineate the decision-makers' areas of
concern.

2. They can be utilized as guides for action, espec-
ially in providing a framework for making unique
non-programmed decisions. (The later-to-be devel-
oped policies would be the guides to standing or
programmed decisions).

3. They can set the criteria or standards for "good
system performance". This will be of great value
when it comes down to evaluating alternative plans
and policies.

4. They can be used to unify and dove-tail various
operations involved in goal-attainment.

5. They can explicate and clarify the role and pur-
poses of government in the development of the
urban system. This should lend greater reliability
to governmental decisions.

Characteristics of Goals
The idea of goals and values has long been avoided by

planners. It is often assumed that goals and objectives

sl36-

cannot be formulated, and especially not by a planner. It is
not so much a matter of goals being non-existant or of their
being considered unimportant, as it is a matter of operational
difficulties. Goals are just plain difficult to formulate.
Lindblom lists the following reasons for this operational

difficulty:

1. Multiplicity of values. People have many different
interests which may be expressed in many ways. A
liberal;democrat will be willing to subscribe.to.a
rule about encouraging private enterprise, but such
a rule would differ greatly in content and form of
expression if stated by a conservative republican.

2. Instability and fluidity of values. Our conception
SPIthe circumstances will vary from moment to moment
and so will the values which we call to mind. In
addition, we often do not know quite what our values
are on some points because we have never had to face
a concrete choice. For instance, with what compe-
tence can an individual who has never tasted either
decide his preference for a hypothetical dinner of
guinea pig or armadillo?

3. Conflicts among values and combinations of values.
Values do not stand by themselves. They must be
related quantitatively and qualitatively to other
values. There are no rock-bottom, across-the-
board preferences.1
In addition, as Friedmann points out, the elected representatives
each have their own personal preferences which arise, in part,
from "drive for political and economic power".2
Webber contrasts government against business in terms of
preference determination. Private business is able to analyze

customers' relative preferences by offering goods and services

 

lLindblom and Braybrooke, op. cit., p. 47.
2
Friedmann, op. cit., p. 332.

-137...

on the open market where they can buy or not buy as they
choose. Government, on the other hand, must handle its
service provision outside the natural principle of supply
and demand. In thegface of value pluralism, it is difficult
to know just what the customers prefer and hence what com-
bination of services and facilities would benefit the commu-
nity most.3 Carrying the comparison somewhat further, when
it comes time to confront the customer with an alternative
which he has never before experienced, business has the added
advantage of being able to set up a test market. The situa-
tion in planning is considerably more complex, although some
attempts are being made at the simulated testing of plans.

In the face of such barriers to goal formulation, it is
tempting to merely step aside and leave the task for someone
else. However, although the planner is ill-equipped to do
so, he is forced to at least hypothesize which goals are to
be pursued; for there is no other professional staff agency
which has the responsibility. And without at least implied
goals, planning is a functional impossibility.
Some Pitfalls in Goal Formulation

Higher Level Goals. One of the most common pitfalls in
formulating objectives is failure to recognize the higher
level goals. As was pointed out earlier, a system has layers

of subsystems, each of which has its own goals that should

 

3Webber, "Prospects for Policies Planning", pp, cit., p. 321.

-138-

also contribute in some way to those of the system. "It might
appear then that it would make sense to begin with some broad
'given' or accepted objectives; to derive from them appropri-
ate local or subobjectives for the systems problem in hand;
and then to design the analysis to maximize, in some sense

the proximate objectives."4

To not respect these higher level "givens" is to "sub-
optimize". We must first look towards regional, state, and
national objectives before we can complete the building of
goals on the local level.

There has, however, been good reason for some of the
suboptimum planning which has occured. In many metropolitan
areas there is no set of given goals. This fact has been
wrestled with in many of the recent transportation stUdies.
The staff of the Chicago Area Transportation Study, when faced
with an absence of clearly-stated metropolitan objectives, de-
cided that they were not policy-makers and thus would promote
strictly the goals of the transportation system. The Penn-
Jersey Transportation Study staff, on the other hand, decided
that they had a vested interest in the whole region and thus
had to develop their own goals for regional development.

Under-Defining. Another common pitfall in goal formula-

tion has been "under-defining? — not stating goals in a com-

 

uHitch, op. cit., p. 45.

-139-

prehensive organized framework or else stating goals so gen-
erally as to be meaningless. In reference to the first type
of under-defining, Hitch provides an amusing but illustrative
story.

One of my colleagues, a sophisticated system
analyst, once tried to solve a personal prob-
lem by rigorous maximization of an objectives
function supplied by his doctor. He needed

to lose weight, so be determined by consulting
the experts his minimum requirements for pro-
teins, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins, minerals,
etc. He also obtained the quantities of each
of these food elements in the 500 or 600 foods
on theaBureau of Labor Statistics list. Then,
on the plausible theory that mass is filling
and that most dieting attempts fail because
the subject feels hungry, he maximized, sub-
ject to various constraints, the weight (not
counting water content) of the diet that would
give him his minimum caloric requirements.

The answer, ignoring minor quantities of var-
ious foods, was that he should drink 80 gal-
lons of vinegar per day (vinegar is a weak
acid and its weight per calorie is remarkably
high).5

The problem, of course, was that he did not define all of the
relevant goals. In planning we must be careful of the same
thing. we do not want to burn down the entire house just to
get rid of the rats in the basement, nor do we want to max-
imize the rationality of land use relationships to the point
where variety and deviation are non-existent, nor do we want
to promote renewal at the expense of rupturing the social
fabric of the community. These points may seem obvious but

it is not unusual for a person to get so enchanted with one

 

5Ibid., p. 49.

-l40-

goal as to wear a set of blinders to shield him from all other
competing goals.

Over-Defining. A problem closely related to "under-defin-
ing” is"over-defining". Goals are seldom fully achievable, due
to the fact that many singly desirable goals are governed by
the principle of "zero-sum-game". That is, to fully realize
one goal often makes another less attainable, and the more goals
that are considered the greater the chance for conflice becomes.
For example, to maximize speed of movement might make it diff-
icult to maximize a goal of safety, or to emphasize a goal of
renewal might drain the financial effort which can be put into
the resolution of pollution problems. Competing goals are
constantly pressing for attention, and to blatantly state that
one wants to improve everything is a naive and useless frame-
work for action.

The only way to get around this problem is to rank goals
or establish priorities. However, it is important that these
priorities be continually reviewed and rearranged. The im-
portance of any goal depends on how much of it we have now;
the more there is the less value we attach to additional
effort (Except, however, with goals which are never maximized -
orderly fringe growth, facility maintenance, social identity,
etcetera). Lindblom raises some interesting and difficult
questions concerning the ranking method (he calls it the
"naive conceptions model").

1. What if we have to choose between substantially

-141-

extending the second priority goal at a low cost

or promoting the first priority value at a high

cost?

2. What happens if you have to choose between a pol-

icy offering promotion of the first, fifth, and

seventh priority goals, and one concerning the

second, fourth and sixth priority goals?6
These are queStions which would involve a loosening of the
decision model, and the dedision would probably have to be
made as if the problem was of the non-programmed type. In
other words, such decisions could not be guided strictly by
goal rank; other criteria would have to be developed.
Types of Goals

Goal formulation can be approached either idealistically

or realistically (for instance, the Year 2000 Plan approach
versus the Denver approach). If goals are set high, many people
feel that the work effort will be stronger and more continuous.
If goals are set realistically in terms of what one expects to
accomplish, the decision-makers are respected for their grasp
of the real world. In the latter approach, rewards are more
frequent, whereas in the former, rewards may never be received.
Planning has been beset by the extremes of both approaches -
the utopias and the status quos. Goals, if they are to be both
useful and challenging, must find a happy medium.

 

6Lindblom and Braybrooke, pp. cit., p. 67.

-l42-

Targets and Optimizing Indices. Roland Artle disting-
uishes between two types of goals:

1. Optimizing an index of community welfare.

i.e., a. Maximize total income/Capita
b. Maximize growth rate
c. Maximize local government revenue
d. Minimize costs
2. Setting targets as levels of adequaqy.
i.e., a. Area density
b. Number of face-to-face contacts
c. Rate of growth
d. Maximum population7
Most of the efforts at defining goals have followed the opti-
mizing approach, but this is perhaps due to the fact that few
have carried goals down to the specific levels.

Level of Generality. Goal statements have usually been
of a fairly generalized nature (i.e., to protect and enhance
the esthetic environment; to achieve coordinated arrangement
of land use and transportation facilities which will meet the
range of social, economic and cultural needs of the citizens;
to provide maximum opportunities for all types of recreational
activities; etcetera.). These more general goals have the

advantage of relative stability; they are applicable to more

 

Roland Artle, "Public Policy and the Space Economy of the

City", in Cities and Space by Lowden Wingo Jr.,; John
Hopkins Press, Baltimore (1963): p. 164.

7143-

situations for larger groups over a longer period of time.
Also, the more general the goals the greater the potential
for achieving consensus.

HoweVer, they have the corresponding disacvantages of
lack of precision and difficulty of application in any spec-
ific problem. As Lynch and Rodwin point out: "General goals
should be more than top-level showpieces, or covers for hid-
den motives. They must be related to goals farther down the
hierarchy." This raises some question in respect to the re-

commended policy plan components:

 

 

-GOALS STRATEGIC OUTCOME STRATEGIC ACTION TACTICAL]
POLICIES 7 F17 POLICIES _ ffOLICIESfi

More detailed goals begin to overlap into the strategic out-

 

come policy area, because this model is basically just a
hierarchy of decisions. Yet goal statements should be fairly
detailed if we are to compare policy alternatives against
them. One way to make the distinction between goals and
strategic outcome policies more clearcult might be to dir-
ect the goal statements at the entire system and policies
only at the spatial aspects of the system. Such comprehen-
sive goals would deal with all aspects of the system - social,
economic, cultural, as well as physical - whether or not the
government has direct control over them. Thus, when we

arrive at the point where policies must be compared to goals

-144-

we will have a truly comprehensive and rational basis for
evaluation. And by doing so, the dangers of suboptimizing
will be avoided. This type of approach would also provide a
better framework for other governmental programs and services,
and would place the responsibility for goal-formulation with
the official elected body rather than with the planning com-
mission.
The Sources of Goal Formulation

Values. The previous discussions of goals might lead one
to believe that goals are merely extensions of values. In a
very realistic sense, this is true because values are the most
basic roots of social behavior. However, for the purposes of
planning we must go beyond pure values. Values are quite ab-
stract; they are much like standing plans because they are
usually discussed in an unapplied context. The study of val-
ues indicates long range desired outcomes - those qualities
that would contribute to an ideal civilization. Planning is
of course very much a part of this pursuit of the ideal.

Issues. However, planning is also a problem-solving
activity. In order to reach those valued ideals, planning
must squarely face the immediate issues or problems. Thus the
goals in addition to stating positive ideals, must set down
the concrete problems which must be solved and the needs which
can be expected. This balances the abstract approach (value
determination) with an applied approach (issues and needs

determination).

-145-

Issues are visualized as particularly important problems
which plague the efficient operation of the urban or regional
system, such as river pollution, strip commercial, decaying
central area, sprawl, lack of suitable land for industry, and
so forth. Issues also include the anticipated needs of the
system such as housing, jobs, investment, services, and land.
Issues, in effect, delineate the areas of concern which are
determined in the study and analysis phase of the planning
process.

There is a strong interrelationship between the abstract
values and the concrete issues. They are, in fact, two ways
of approaching the same problem. Issues are the result of
innumerable past and present values (and resulting policies)
and once the cause and effect can be identified it will be
easier to derive more effective and acceptable policies and

plan proposals.

B. Identification of the Alternatives and

Their Consequences

As emphasized earlier, choice permeates the entire po-
licy planning process. For this reason a conscious effort
should be made to explicate points of choice and to identify
alternatives whenever it seems apprOpriate or necessary.
Choice will begin with goal formulation (although there is
also room for choice in preceding basic research) and carry

through the selection of strategic and tactical policies,

-146-

and eventually into the various derivative, single-use plans.
The actual degree of choice varies greatly between diff-
erent cities, regions and states. Not only are there differ-
ences in subStantive focus of various planning agencies, but
there are also vast differences in what is already there and
in probable future rates of expansion. For instance, the
choices open to New York City, Los Angelos, Denver, and Miami
differ due to such factors as:
1. Dominant functions.
2. Particular endowment of resources - wealth,
knowledge, energy, ability, and existing
natural and man-made attractions.
3. Area and character of land available for
new development and redevelopment.
4. Capacity for effective action toward com-
mon ends via market and political processes.9
Identigying_the Alternatives
Initially the desired areas of policy formulation should
be designated and the alternatives identified. For instance,
the transportation system problems might be met through a
freeway emphasis, a mass transit improvement, a combination of
the two, or possibly through reducing the need and incentive
to travel. Growth might be best facilitated through a policy
of new towns, radial corridors, or an extension of present
pOlicies. A community may have a number of choices concerning

the most fruitful dominant function to be promoted - industrial

community, educational center, state capital, vacation haven,

 

90atherine Bauer Wurster, "Form and Structure of the Future

Urban Complex", in Cities and Space,'op. cit., p. 77.

-147-

etcetera. There might also be a certain degree of choice be-
tween economic emphases (for instance, Erie, Pennsylvania has
considered various relationships with the St. Lawrence Seaway
and the industrial complex of Pittsburgh). And at the tacti-
cal level, various taxing rates, assessment procedures, and
exemptions might be evaluated.

Systems Approach to Policy Categories. The type of sys-
tems approach discussed in chapter four provides us with an
interesting and seemingly fruitful set of policy categories.
Figure 18 diagrams, schematically and non-spatially, the ore
anization of the community as a system.

The most basic units are the components - humans, arti-
facts (cars, building, bridges, streets, etcetera). and nature
(woodlots, rivers, lakes, muck-lands, etcetera). These com-
ponents, when they interact, become parts of numerous Oper-
ating subsystems, such as households, factories, schools,
parks, shopping centers, and so forth. Some of these compon-
ents are permanent parts of the subsystem (building, trees,
humans buried in the cemetery, etcetera); others are quite
mobile (humans, animals and transport vehicles) and move
about from subsystem to subsystem.

Subsystems are usually part of certain community processgs.
For instance the production process is composed of energy sub-
systems, raw material subsystems, parts supply subsystems,

transportation subsystems, the actual production subsystems,

ORGANIZATION OF'THE COMMUNITY

SYSTEM

Figure 18

 

.~_-“— I- - I-

 

 

- I——— *— ".-

 

 

 

 

—— nun—-

Components

@O
@O
u

Subsystems

-. O: Processes

I -l48-

 

"'9 . Flows

£3

Community
System

 

-149...

and the household subsystems which supply labor. Other pro-
cess categories might include goods distribution, socializa-
tion, recreation, education, and government.

The interactions which take place between the subsystems
of the processes are called flpyp (flows of materials, organ-
isms, energy, information and people). In addition, these
flows relate certain subsystems to other processes, including
processes which are part of a system on a higher level than
the community.10

These categories suggest then that policies might be
developed in the following way:

1. Policies for the total community system --- size,

growth rate, rate of change, etcetera.

2. Policies for the community processes --- production,
goods distribution, social identity, land develop-
ment, watersheds, etcetera.

3. POlicies for the community flows --- flow rates,
directions, periodicities, volumes,etcetera.

4. Policies for the operating community subsystems ---
stores, schools, transportation companies, develo-
pers, real estate concerns, etcetera. (It is espec-

ially important that policies be directed to the

 

10

I am indebted to Stewart Marquis for this set of systems
categories. They were first brought to my attention in:
Develo ment of Community Centers, 18 O - 1960: An Analysis
of tfie EvquEIon 0? Human Community ystems in the Iansing
Tri-County_Region,*Paperw#7 in a Series on Spatial Patterns
of tDevelopment in the Lansing Region, Institute of Community
Demxgelopmgfeélt) Michigan State University, East lansing, Mich.

 

 

 

-150-

subsystems because these are the units which actually
exert control over the flow, process, and total sys-
tem variables).

5. Policies for the components -- Individuals, building
design, subdivision design, natural resources,
etcetera.

There may be some overlap in such an approach but it at least
provides a comprehensive framework for policy development.

Policy_Packages. The next step is to group these alter-

natives into fairly cohesive policy packages; each including
a basic strategy and a description of the means needed to
promote it. We have too often attempted to review, evaluate,
compare, and choose.from alternative urban and regional forms
without any evidence concerning the feasibility or acceptabil-
ity of the effectuating means (i.e., The Year 2000 Plan and
the Hartford Regional Plan Alternatives). Ends should be as
much adjusted to means as means are to ends.ll To make eval-
uation more realistic then, each alternative policy package
will include a broad description of the tactical policies
needed or desired, the new legal tools needed, and the costs
of accomplishment.

It should be cautioned, however, that it would not be

necessary to go into all the details of tactical implemen-
tation at this point. To do so would involve more work and

cost than the benefits Justify. In addition, such details

 

llLindblom and Braybrooke, op. cit., p. 69.

-151...

as zone standards, subdivision standards, and specific blight
criteria would only make comparison and agreement more diffi-
cult. They should be developed after the basic strategy
alternative has been selected.

Consequence Identification

In tackling problems of choice, people in all walks of
life have found it helpful to think about the consequences
of alternative policies rather than to choose on the basis
of coineflipping. To assist them in this process they use
models of the real situation. Such models range from intui-
tively perceived sets of relationships to highly complex
mathematical equations derived from laboratory experiment.
In no case are these models photographic reproductions of
reality. If they were, they would be so complicated as to
be of little use. By necessity, they abstract from the real
world.

Recent developments are making model utilization an
increasingly\more frequent and sophisticated operation in
today's society:

1. Rapid development of all the sciences so that

it has become possible to say much more about
the relationships of one phenomena to another.

2. More and better data.

3. Refinements in the methods of statistical

inference - for instance, in the use of

small samples, sequential sampling, and ex-w
perimental designs - and in techniques of
computation and model building, such as linear

programming.

.4. The fact that electronic computers are

-152-

becoming financially feasible for an increased

number of agencies and organizations. It is

this development which will make it practic-

able to utilize all the other refinements.12

The use of models can be an extremely useful exercise in
determining the consequences of policy alternatives. "Through
the use of a model it will be possible not only to understand
the region (or any other planning area), but also to test the
effects of alternative decisions and policies before critical
comments are made. In this way, it will be possible to mini-
mize the reliance on 'intuitive' decision-making so character-
istic of the past."13
Simulation. This process is called simulation. A sim-

ulation model is dynamic in that it "acts like" the system it
represents. This is in contrast to a static or iconic model
(i.e. a photograph or a three-dimensional model) which "looks
like" what it represents. The critical advantage of simula-
tion for planning purposes is its capacity to project and
predict the future operation of the system. It can compress
the results of policy applications to that system from 50
years to one day.. In essence, it is like running a 33 1/3

r.p.m. record at 78 r.p.m.'s so that you hear the conclusion

8001161“.

 

12Pittsburgh Department of City Planning, Data Processing and

Simulation Techniques (1962).
13Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission, Region-

al Planning Systems Study, Planning Report-#1, (1962):

p.‘2.

-153-

The development of a System Simulation model should be
started in the first phase of the policy formulation process -
"understanding the situation”. In fact the framework for the
data collection and analysis Should be,in part, set by what
will be needed to build a system model. Particular attention
should be paid to identifying the controlled and uncontrolled
system variables and their interrelationships, because they
are the basis for any model.

It has been assumed by many that the only way to simulate
is with a computer. A computer undoubtedly offers the fastest
and most accurate method, but the planning agency often does
not have the necessary human, financial, and technological
resources to take advantage of such a high-powered methodology.
At minimum, such an agency can still attempt to set down cer-
tain critical relationships, and perhaps equations, which will
serve as guides to purely human system prediction.

The Pittsburgh Example. Figure 19 represents the simu-
lation elements being used by the Pittsburgh City Planning De-
partment in developing their community renewal program. Val-
ues are to be established for the "policy variables", which
are viewed as levers to the manipulation of "environmental
variables". The latter are those elements which are indirectly
affected by the planners, and as such represent the planner's
environment. The specified "processes" relate policies to the
affected elements of the city. Given the impact of the policies

and other external influences upon the environmental variables

 

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-155-

(in each time period that the model is run), the model will
then proceed to test the reactions of these variables against
certain specified "constraints", such as those imposed by
zoning, housing codes, federal policies, restrictions on land
assembly, and so forth (Some of these constraints can be re-
laxed as they are also policy variables). Finally the outputs
of the model are calculated and described by the factors listed
in the "criteria" block. The results will yield certain feed-
back modifications in the policy variables and very likely in
the component relationships upon which the model is based.

This is an important point to realize. Simulation models
are not necessarily based on fact premises. The selection of
kinds of data and data relationships are only Judgmental.
”Needless to Say, with so many interrelated variables and
assumptions, it will be extremely difficult to assign any but
the crudest 'confidence level' to these (the model's) predict-
ions,"l4 Thus, simulation models are not like the ”Genie" and
the ”magic lamp”. One must rub the lamp many times (run num-
erous test iterations) before even a rough degree of validity
can be assigned to its outputs.

The Southeast Wisconsin Example. The Southeastern Wise
consin Regional Planning Commission is taking a somewhat more

comprehensive approach to simulation.15 They feel that the

 

14Pittsburgh Department of City Planning, op. cit.

15Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission, on.
cit.,p. 3.

-156-

complexity of the regional situation necessitates the construce
tion of several autonomous but interrelated models:

1. Regional Activity Model

2. Spatial Activity Model

3. Transportation System Model

4. Water Resource System Model

The first two models recognize the distinction between
the structure and process of the regional system. The region-
al activity model is a functional model representative of the
primary economic activities of the region, including the flows
of goods, services, money, capital equipment and information.
This model "is spaceless because it considers all activities
of the region to be concentrated at a point".16 Thus the econ-
omic and population predictions of the activity model will be
fed into a spatial activity model which distributes activities
to areal locations within the region. The outputs from the
spatial activity model will, in turn, become the inputs (in
the form of service demands) for the various working models.
These working models will be used in the design of spatially?
oriented services such as transportation and wateresewage
systems. The spatial activity model will have to be modified
in a feedback fashion when these Service systems reach the dee

Sign stage.

 

l6Ibid, p. 5.

-157-

When to Simulate. There is some divergence of Opinion
concerning the point in the planning process at which altere
natives should be simulated into the future. The Lansing Trie
County Regional Planning Commission, for instance, does not
anticipate the need for building a growth model until they
reach the detailed land use and transportation plan develops
ment stage (single-use plans). Objectives, goals (which they
view as more detailed objectives), policies, and standards
are being developed without consideration of alternatives.

The only policy-level alternatives in their program are in
terms of regional form, and they appear to feel that such gen-
eral policy consequences can be identified and compared with-
out resort to a simulation model.

In contrast, many other agencies (The Penn-Jersey Transe
pgrtation Studi, the Southern Wisconsin Regional Planning
Commission, the Pittsburgh City Planning Department and the

Baltimore-Washington Interregional Study) have introduced, or

 

are planning to introduce, simulation at the policy level.
Within the context of the procedural model presented here,
this latter approach is more appropriate. One of the prime
Justifications of the policy planning approach is that not
all planning policy can be portrayed on a map plan. And
similarly, plan alternatives cannot be comprehensively com-
pared on the basis of mapped outcomes; there are numerous
other non-mappable, non-physical and indirect policies

(tax rates, programming priorities, subsidies, etc.) which

-158-

must also be compared. Simulation at the detailed single-
use plan level does not encourage this type of comprehensive-

ness.
C. POLICY EVALUATION AND SELECTION~

In the preceeding section the policy alternatives were
identified and their respective outcomes were predicted.
Yet without some method of assigning payoff values to these
outcomes it is difficult, if not impossible, to evaluate
alternative policy plans in an objective way. Mathematical
models make it possible to predict more accurately the cone
sequences of an alternative, but without rational criteria for
evaluating these consequences, we are no better off. We must,
then, determine how the manipulation of system components
through policy formulation will affect the attainment of the
previously - determined set of goals. In other words we must
develop a preference scale which can be utilized in final po-
licy selection, as well as in any subsequent planning decisions.

Cost - Benefit Analysis

 

One way of expressing the purpose of planning (or of any
service for that matter) is to say that it seeks to select that
policy which obtains the highest benefits at the lowest cost
(social as well as monetary). This puts planning squarely in
the context of cost-benefit analysis, a tool which has long
been thought to be of some value to urban and regional plan-

ning; however, it has seldom been carried beyond the "thought"

-159-

stage. There are several reasons for this:

1. "In their fight for recognition planners have had
to rely upon emotional reaction against squalor,
inefficiency, and the mistakes of the past gener-
ations; and some might prefer to continue to Jus-
tify a particular plan by demonstrating the draw-
backs of no planning."17

2. Some politicians, and planners as well, might
prefer to keep the motivations and considerations
behind their decisions unclouded by awkward facts.

3. There are several mechanical problems inherent in
the application of cost-benefit analysis to plan-
ning, such as:

a. Some costs and benefits are "one-time" and
others are continuing.

b. From whose viewpoid:should costs and benefits
be compared - the politicians, the planners
or the citizens?18

c. How do you quantify such intangibles as bene~
fits to freedom, mental health, social identity,
and so forth (this is probably the most fre-

 

l7Nathaniel Lichfield, "Cost~Benefit Analysis in City Planning”,
Journal of the American Institute of Planners;.XXVI (Nov.,
(1960): p. 2hl.

18Ronald McKean, "Costs and Benefits from Different Viewpoints",
in Public Expenditure Decisions in the Urban Community by
Howard Schaller (ed); Resources for the Future, Inc.
(1962): pp. 187-190.

~160-

quently cited of all areguments against cost-
benefit analysis)?

d. It is difficult to blend long-range and short-
range costs and benefits together, due to diff-
erent time scales for various parts of the plan.

e. There is also question as to how far indirect
costs and benefits should be traced, and as
to how specific benefits should be attributed
to specific costs.

Although the barriers are significant, they are not im-
movable as has been indicated in recent efforts to better
identify.alternative plan costs. Wheaton has suggested that
we can obtain data for at least one-third of the total pro-
ducer and consumer expenditures necessary to effectuate a
particular plan or policy. This could be accomplished by
predicting the cost of governmental services plus the public
and private expenditures involved in following the transpor-
tation system recommended by the plan.19

Ackoff has gone one step beyond this to include other
types of plan effectuation sacrifices. He lists the following
costs in a transportation system:

1. Monetary costs (consumer and producer);

2. Lost time;

3. Harm (bodily and property);

 

19Wheaton, op. cit., p. 258.

~161-

4. Lost energy; and

5. Loss of enjoyment.
He suggests using money as a common denominator for measuring
these sacrifices (i.e. the cost of time, the price of a
human life, the monetary value of expended energy, and the
amount one is willing to pay for physical comfort). Conver-
sely, the benefits can be measured by identifying the margin-
al value increases of an alternative over the existing situa-
tion, or over another alternative.20

Two questions immediately become obvious. First, how
do you obtain the data needed to fill in the blanks, and
second, what about the more intangible objectives? In answer
to the first question Ackoff recommends an experimental ap-
proach. For instance, he suggests that for two means of
transport, both alike in all respects except travel time, we
should increase the charge for the faster of the two by one
increment at a time. By noting the percentage of passenger
volume decrease, an estimate of the average dollar value for
time can be obtained. Energy and physical comfort measure-
ments could also be made in a similar manner. Such an ap-
proach would probably become vastly more complex when applied
to other components of planning policy (i.e., rate of growth,

density, housing standards, urban form, etcetera) but it does

 

2
0Russell Ackoff, "Toward Quantitative Evaluation of Urban
Services", in Public Expenditures in the Urban Community;
Op. Cit., pp. 102-107.

—162-

represent a beginning foothold towards better cost-benefit
analysis of planning policy alternatives.

The second question is not so easily answered. Ackoff
has considered "enjoyment" as consisting of physical comfort.
Mental comfort and, indeed, all objectives dealing with
social values, have not been realistically treated. ‘And, in
fact, it may be misleading to evaluate physical comfort as
something separate from mental comfort. The goals of social
identification, community pride, socio-economic stability,
and cultural betterment are still too intangible for quantifi-
cation.

A major part of this problem is the fact that most poli-
cy decisions are made under varying degrees of uncertainty.
Even if we can simulate the broad outcomes of alternatives,
there still remain the judgmental decisions concerning the
social worth of those outcomes. For instance, we may know
that a certain renewal policy will produce more logical,
healthful, and visually appealing living environments, but
we still have to guess when it comes to estimating the future
attainment of social benefits. Furthermore, the policy may
produce short-term social losses (the effect of relocation
on the social patterns of slum inhabitants) but long-term
social benefits (after the period of readjustment). The
former we can learn from experience, but the latter will not
be known for some time, perhaps not even in our generation.

However, it would be unwise to discredit cost-benefit

-l63 -

analysis purely on the baSis of its inadequacies in dealing
with social goals. It still provides a valuable technique
for comparing the more concrete characteristics of outcomes,
as suggested by Ackoff.
A Payoff Matrix Approach
Recently operations researchers have been giving some
consideration to the use of the payoff matrix in assigning
payoff values to the outcomes of policy alternatives. This
technique appears to be quite useful to planning policy form-
ulation. Certainly it does not produce magic answers, but it
does place value judgments in their proper perspective and
it represents quite clearly the relationship of policy to
goals and the future nature of the system.
The technique involves three basic components:
1. The pglicy alternatives (P) or the controlled
variables.
2. The outcomes (0) or consequences of those policy
alternatives; and
3. The states of nature (N) or the uncontrolled
variables.
Following is an example of how this approach could be
used to evaluate a set of hypothetical planning policies.

The components can be set up in a matrix such as below:

-16}-

N1 N2
P1 011 012
P2 021 022
P3 031 032
Probabilities .8 .15
Where:

P1 - "Planned Sprawl"

Pb =

“

P3

"New Independent Cities"

"The Radial Corridor Plan"

(For simplicity, only three of the
Plan's Alternatives will be con-
sidered here.)

Growth rate will be Al

Maximum population will be Bl

Techndlogical advancement will

be C

1
Growth rate will be A2

Maximum population will be B2
Technological advancement will
be 02

Growth rate will be A3
Maximum population will be B3
Technological advancement will

be C3

-165r

011....033:: Descriptions of the results of policy
alternatives under alternative states
of nature. These would be the infor-
mation outputs of the simulation model.
The lower line of the matrix lists the probabilities for each
of the alternative states of nature occurring. Thus the pro-
babilities of the outcomes are also estimated. This offers
a chance to make use of the "optomistic", "likely", and "pess-
imistic" projections which are so frequently seen in pOpula-
tion studies. However, it forces us to make more specific
judgments as to their probabilities, not only concerning pop-
ulation but also in respect to technology, investment rate,
employment, and so forth.

The next step in the process is the actual assignment of
payoff values to the outcomes. To accomplish this the out-
comes must be evaluated in terms of their goal attainment po-
tentials. Goals will serve as measurement criteria. The
goals (G) formulated in the Year 2000 Plan serve as good ex-
amples:

l. A broad range of choice among satisfying

living environments.
2. A broad range of employment opportunities.
3. An ample range of opportunities for parti-
cipation in the decisions that shape the
development of the region.
. Efficiency in the use of land.
. Efficiency in the transportation of people
and goods within the metropolitan area.
A healthful environment.

An environment which is visually satisfying,
and which combines harmoniously the best

-185-

contemporary expressions with those of a
rich and valuable heritage.
8. A living environment which affords a clear
sense of place in all sections of the metro-
polis.21
For purposes of a more comprehensive comparison, it is sug-
gested that another goal be added in this discussion:

9. Economy in the means of environmental improve-
ment.

Out of this goal set there appear to be a few goals (i.e.,
Ga, G5, G6, and G9) for which cost-benefit factors can be fig-
ured and compared on a dollar measurement scale. This would
include such computations as the cost of open space preserva-
tion, time and energy costs. These quantifications should be
included in the various outcome descriptions. The other less
concrete goals will have to be described in more qualitative
terms, but with the greatest possible objectivity.

The next step is goal-outcome evaluation or payoff assign-
ment. Each outcome is analyzed for its potential contribution
toward the nine goals, and scored from one to ten. (See figure
20.)

Assuming for the moment that there is a .8 probability
of growth occuring at an average rate, a .15 probability of
a slow growth rate, and a .05 probability of a wildcat growth;
this would indicate that the "radial corridor plan" (O31,

032 and 033 would be optimum in both the average growth

 

21National Capital Planning Commission, op. cit., pp. 28-30.

AN EXAMPLE OF

PAYOFF MATRIX EVALUATION

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Figure 20
Alternative States NO N2 N3

Of Nature probagility probigility probggility
Outcomes 011 021 031 012 022 032 013 023' 033

G Cl 5 6 8 8 6 5 5 4 9

62 6 6 7 7 6 A 5 6 8

0 G3 5 5 8 8 7 5 4 6 8

.64 4 4 8 8 7 6 4 5 7

A G5 4 '6 8 6 6 6 5 6 7

G6 7 5 8 8 7 6 6 4 8

L G7 8 8 9 8 8 6 7 7 8
G8 2 8 9 6 9 5 4 7 9 .

S Gq 7 6 4 8 7 2 6 5 6

Total Scores J48 54 7o “67 63 45 46 5o 69

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

-l67-

 

-l€8-

prediction and the wildcat prediction, but that if below norm-
al growth occured both the "planned sprawl" and the "new in-
dependent cities" policies would be better. In other words,
there is a .95 probability (the total of the two states of
nature in which it is optimum) of the "radial corridor plan"
being Optimum.

The decision-makers may not want to consider aggregate
scores as the only indication Of optimality. For instance,
031 has high scores all the way down the line until we reach
the score for cost of implementation (G9). Thus, we know that
it has many advantages but also that it will cost considerably
more than the other alternatives to accomplish. At this point
it may be necessary to establish some system of goal priori-
ties. However, it should be remembered that these goal prior-
ities will undergo review and rearrangement over time, due to
changing needs, changing citizen or political values, and diff-
erent decision-makers. If too much value is placed on the
existing priorities, the policy selected is likely to be Opti-
mum only for the immediate future.

Criteria for Selection. It might be surmised that the
selection decision has already been dictated by the alterna-
tive with the highest scOre and the highest probability rate.
However, there are actually a number Of different criteria
which have been proposed, throughout histOry, to facilitate

decision-making under conditions Of uncertainty (uncertainty

about the future

1.

3.

-169-
):22

Pessimistic Criterion. According to this criterion,
the decision-maker Should act as if Nature were al-
ways against him, and the only way he can counter

this tendency is to minimize his losses. In other
words, he would select the alternative which would
give him the largest minimum payoff. Thus even

though the "radial corridor plan" Offers the best
total score and has the highest probability rate, he
must choose the "new independent cities" alternative
because it involves a lower potential payoff loss.
Optimistic Criterion. This criterion is just the
opposite of the pessimistic. The optimistic decision-
maker automatically chooses the policy which has the
greatest potential gain. He maximizes his maximum
payoff. Such a man would choose the "radial corridor
plan" with its high score of 70.

Calculating Criterion. This criterion is based upon

a total consideration of all the payoffs and probabil-
ities for each alternative, and it would be figured as

follows:

Pl (.8) (48%? (.15) (67) + (.05) (46) 50.75
P2 (.8) (54)‘t (.15) (63) f (.05) (50) 55.15
P3 (.8) (7o)+ (.15) (45)+- (.05) (69) 66.20
Thus P3 ("Radial corridor plan") would be selected.

 

22
Miller and Starr, op. cit., p. 289.

-170-

In reality, decision-makers should use a little bit from
each of these criteria; We cannot be pure pessimists, but we
should consider the ramifications of a prediction going astray.
We can always change a policy if we find out that policy was
based on an invalid prediction, but we cannot reverse the
development which that policy has already stimulated.l Similar-
ly, we cannot be pure optimists, but someone must try to fore-
see a brighter future. We must be something more than "satis-
ficers" for it is inherent in the planner’s responsibility to

the community that he maximize welfare.

CHAPTER VI
POSTSCRIPT ON THEMES FOR PLANNING

In reading back through the pages Of this thesis, the
author finds that several themes keep popping to the surface.
They all appear to be critically important to the use of
policies in the planning process. In fact, the future effec-
tiveness Of all planning may hinge upon the manner in which
these themes are handled. The increasing use of the policy
planning approach is, more and more, bringing them into clear
focus.

Planners as Designers or Managers?

 

Planning can be described as the design Of outcomes and
the management of actions which will lead to effectuation.
Early planning, especially in the "City Beautiful" era, placed
emphasis upon design. This tradition has carried through quite
strongly into contemporary efforts. We are still more concern-
ed with designing outcomes than with the management of imple-
mentation actions. Even though most planning agencies spend
vast amounts Of time on the administration of zoning ordinances,
subdivision regulations and other day-to-day problems, there-
lationship between these actions and the long range plan has
been very weak.

We need much more planning for action. We need to develop
more concise and useable tactics for achieving outcome designs,
and these tactics should be developed right at the same time

the long range plan is formulated. As pointed out earlier,

=l7l-

-172-

ends should be as much adjusted to the means as means are to
the ends.

Too often long range plans have completed the decision-
making process rather than beginning it. Decision-making is
a continuous process beginning with the outcome plan and
carrying through the never-ending planning function.

It is likely that the future will see the planner be-
coming more of an action manager in two respects. First he
will become more adept at programming activities which con-
tribute to the long range plan. The relatively new arrival
of the community renewal program seems to be a partial re-
sponse to this need for short range programming. Second, the
planner will move more and more into the policy area. He will
have to begin formulating guides for the day-to-day decisions
which presently consume the majority Of his time. This will
make his operation both more efficient and more consistent
with the aims of the long range plan. For instance, if he is
going to give greater emphasis to programming he will in turn
have to establish criteria and procedures for doing so. This
involves the formulation of tactical policies.

The planner, of course, will never lose his role as a
designer of outcomes, because without targets he would not
know where to direct his actions. But he will have to estab-
lish a greater balance between design and action. Planning is

not only aimed at an improved future state, but it is also

-173-

aimed at making better present decisions possible.
Institution Versus the Scientific Method

Because planning has been so design-oriented, intuitive
processes have often been applied to the development of plans.
However, planning is now becoming less Of a design profession
and more of a social science. And with this shift in the
approach to planning is coming a greater emphasis upon the
scientific method.

More and more planning is being asked to justify its
proposals upon grounds other than an intuitive feel of the
situation. And correspondingly, planners themselves are get-
ting frustrated with the flaws in so-called traditional plan-
ning techniques and with the gaps in knowledge about how the
city and region really work.

Planning should become a muchomoretinnOVAtiveeprotession -
one which is constantly seeking new ways of doing things.
Some of the areas in which planning will have to become more
rational and scientific are:

1. Projection techniques;

2. The steps of the planning process;

3. Methods of understanding how a city or region

functions;

4. Ways of identifying human goals;

5. Policy formulation;

6. Programming techniques;

-174-

7. Plan testing; and

8. Influencing privately controlled variables.

In the next few years planning will probably undergo a re-
volution similar to business' rapid changeover to scientific
management.

Inevitability Versus Controlled Destiny

With this increasing emphasis upon scientific investiga-
tion we are finding that growth dimensions and directions are
not so inevitable as we once thought. The "best plan" is be-
coming less unrealistic all the time.

HOwever, in spite of advances in the knowledge of environ-
mental control and influence, there still remains a significant
barrier to the application Of this knowledge. Our society has
traditionally placed a high value upon the role of the indivi-
dual in the development Of his land. In many ways we still
have a great deal of the laissez-faire philosophy from the early
nineteen-hundreds. Consequently, there are strong feelings that
the size and quality of the physical environment can and should
only be the product of inevitable natural forces ("natural"
meaning the vector resultant of pluralistic human development
actions).

The discussion, in Chapter II, of the differences be-
tween the Year 2000 Plan and the Denver Metro-Growth Plan aptly

 

points out the conflict in values on this subject. The former
implies that the form of the region is controlled destiny while

-175-

the latter implies a great deal of inevitability to the
future.
There may perhaps be a slight shift in the future towards
the controlled destiny approach, but it is highly unlikely
that the semi-laissez-faire philosophy will ever give way com-
pletely.(unless change becomes such a dire necessity that lit-
tle choice exists).
Professional Dictate~Versus Public Choice
One of the strongest contemporary movements in the field
of planning is toward greater citizen involvement. Although
an ulterior motive of greater eventual public support of plans
is being sought through this movement, it cannot be denied
that citizen involvement is also making the planning process
far more democratic than in the past. Choices are being opened
to the public in a manner quite new to the planning profession.
In effect, we are recycling back to grass-roots planning.
Earlier plans were the result almost entirely of the pro-
fessional planner's knowledge and ideas. Public choice was
only exercised on a "take it or leave it” basis, and even the
planning commission participated very little in the actual plan
formulation. The plans produced in this manner were based upon
professional dictates concerning public needs and solutions.
There are some who argue that the planner still has a
responsibility to tell the public what it needs. Certainly the
planner should make recommendations but it appears that the lay

public will be making many more Of the major decisions concerning

-175-

improvement of the physical environment.

In addition, with the points of choice being exposed the
planner is put in the position of supplying alternative solu-
tions. He is thus forced to objectify his proposals and ex-
amine his biases. He is also forced to explicate more clearly
the purposes and processes of planning. Planning, it appears,
will be much less contingent upon the planner's dictates than
upon actual public choice, although both play an important role.
Artifactual Planning5Versus Holistic Planning

The last theme which reared its ugly head in the process
Of writing this thesis was the question of what the SOOpe of
planning should be. How should physical planning be related
to planning for the rest of a community or region? If the
physical city is only the material expression of cultural
meanings and values, how can we plan one without planning the
other? How can we eliminate physical blight without first elim-
inating social blight?

One reaction to this problem has taken the form of
integrating physical planning with social and economic plan-
ning (See the recent work of the Southwestern Pennsylvania
Regional Planning Commission). Another approach, which has
been suggested in this thesis, is that, in the absence of
existing social and economic planning agencies, the physical
planning agency should begin its task by developing an under-

standing of how the normative and functional aspects of a

-177-

community or region relate to the spatial aspects. Goals
would correspondingly be developed for the total system so
that policies can be evaluated in terms of their effects upon
all aspects, not just the spatial. This involves a rejection
of the traditional mapped-planning philosophy which has so
much permeated the work in planning.

Conclusion

 

All five of these points contribute Significantly to the
future effectiveness of the policy planning approach, and,
conversely, policy planning contributes to the realization Of
these themes. Policy makes it possible for planners to become
more effective action managers. The scientific method is
greatly needed if we are to formulate goals and policies which
can be simulated without suffering losses through trial and
error. Policy makes it possible to analyze the basics of
how our destiny can be controlled. Policy planning, by begin-
ning with the more general and abstract decisions, clears the
way for greater public choice. And finally, holistic planning
creates a more conducive framework for the analysis and design
of policies which will be most effective in dealing with our

artifactual environment.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Books and Articles

<1.

10.

ll.

Allaire, Jerrold R., Policy Statements: Guides to Decision-
Making, Information Re rt‘#’152;ASPO Planning Advisory
Service; Chicago (1961))0

Aschman“ Frederick T., "The' Policy Plan' in the Planning
Program , Planning‘l963; American Society of Planning
Officials, Chicago (1963): pp. 105-111.

 

Banfield, Edward C., "Ends and Means in Planning" , in
”The Study and Practice of Plannin ”, UNESCO International
Social Science Journal, XI, No. 3 1959): pp. 361-368.

 

Bertalanffy, Ludwig Von, "An Outline of General System
Theory” 1( British Journal for the Philosophy of Science;

V010 1950): pp. 25'330

Boyce, Ronald R., Long, Norton B., Shore, William B., and
Vorhees, Alan M.,' 'Symposium on: Public Opinion and Goals
for Planning", Proceedings of the 19§3_Annual Conference of
the American Institute of Planners; Milwaikee 1196A):

pp. 1711-206.

Braybrooke, David and Lindblom, Charles E., A Strategy:of
Decision; Free Press of Glencoe, N.Y. (1963).

 

Carpenter, Robert B., "Dilemmas of Conflicting Objectives:
For Whom DO We Plan?', Proceedings of the 1960 Annual Con-
ference of the American Institute of Planners; Philadelphia

Chapin, Stuart F., Jr. and Weiss, Shirley F., Land Develop-
ment Patterns and Growth Alternatives" in Urban Growth
namics, by Chapin and Weiss (ed.); Wiley, N.Y.(L962):

pp. 5- 58.

Chapin, Stuart F., Jr., Urban Land Use Planning, Harper:
N Y- (1957).

Dahl, Robert A., "The Analysis of Influence in Local Comm-
unities" , in Social Science and Community Action by Charles
Adrian (ed); Institute for Community Development, East
Lansing, Mich. (1960): pp. 25-42.

 

Davidoff, Paul and Reiner, Thomas A., "A Choice Theory of
Plannin , Journal of the American Institute of Planners;
XXVIII May, 1962): pp. 103-115.

-178-

BIBLIOGRAPHY (continued)

Books and Articles (cont.)

12.

13.

14.

15.

16.

l7.

18.

19.

20.

21.

22.

23.

Dyckman, John W., "Planning and Decision Theory", Journal
Of the American Institute Of Planners, XXVII (November,

1961): Pp. 335-345-

Eckman, Donald P., Systems: Research and Design; Wiley &
Sons, N.Y. (1961).

Edwards, Robert, The Form and Shape of Cities; Unpublished
paper.

Fagin, Henry, "Organizing and Carrying Out Planning
Activities Within Urban Government', Journal of the
American Institute of Planners; XXV'(August, 1959):
pp. 109-114.

Friedmann, John, "Introduction", to "The Study and
Practice of Plannin ", Unesco International Social Science
Journal, XI, No. 3 1959): pp. 327-334.

Honey, Keith, M., Comprehensive Policy Plans for the
Lansing Tri-County Region: A New Dimension in the
Planninngroces , Ufipublished MaSters Thesis, Department
Of Urban Planning and Landscape Architecture, Michigan
State University (1964).

Hoover, Robert C., "On Master Plans and Constitutions",
Journal of the American Institute of Planners, (February,
1960): pp. 96-10A.

Isard, Walter, and Reiner, Thomas A., "Use Of Statistical
Decision Theory in Regional Planning , Regional Science
Association Papers; Volume X (1963): pp. lé7.

Issacs, Herbert R., S stem Considerations in Building a
Metropolitan Data BanE Por Urban Research; System Develop-
ment Cor oration, SP-862, Santa Monica, California (June
29, 1962).

Jacobs, Jane, The Death and Life of Great American Cities;
Random House, N.Y. (1961): pp. H2844A8.

Johnson, R. A., Kart, F. E., and Rosenzweig, J. B., The
Theory and Management of Systems; McGraw-Hill, (1963).

Kennedy, John F., Special Message to Congress on Housing
and Community DeveIOpment—(March 9, 1961).

-179...

BIBLIOGRAPHY (continued)

Books and Apticlgs (cont.)

24.

25.

26.

27.

28.

29.

30.

31.

32.

33.

34.

KOontz, Harold, and O'Donnell, Cyril, Princi les of
Management: An Analysis of Managerial FunctIons; McGraw-

Hill, 1955).

LeBreton, P.P., and Henning, D.A., P1annipg_Theo ,
Prentice-Hall; Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey (1 l .

Lessinger, Jack, "A Case for Scatteration", Journal of
the American Institute of Planners; XXVIII (August,
1962): pp. 102-111.

Lichfield, Nathaniel, "Cost-Benefit Analysis in City
Planning", Journal of the American Institute of Planners,
XXVI, (November, 1960): pp. 238-243.

Lynch, Kevin, "Environmental Adaptability", Journal of
the American Institute of Planners, XXIV (1958): pp. 16-

Lynch, Kevin, and Rodwin, Lloyd, "A Theory of Urban
Form", Journal of the American Institute of Planners,

XXIV (1958)“; p . 201-2111.
Lynd, Robert 8., "Persistent Cravings of the Human Per-

sonality", in Knowled e for What? by Lynd; Princeton
University Press (1940): pp. 189-201. ,

Manheim, Marvin L., Model Building and Decision-Maki
Research report # R62-10, fiepartment o? CIvil EngIneering,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1962).

 

Marquis, S. D., Notes on the Image-Flan-Action-Evaluation
Model in Community Development; Institute for COmmunity
Development and ervices,IMichigan State University, East
Lansing, Michigan (Mimeographed: March 22, 1963).

Marquis, S.D., Plans and the Planning Process, School of
Urban Planning and Landscape—Arfihitecture, Michigan State
University; East Lansing, Michigan (Mimeographed:
February 28, 1963).

Marquis, Stewart, Development of Community Centers; 1830-
1960: An Analysis of tgijvolution of Human Community
Systems in the LansinggTri-County Region, PaperWfi7 Of a
series on Spatialfgfitterns of Development in the Lansing
Re ion; Institute for Community Development, East Lansing,
MichIgan (May, 1963).

 

-179-

BIBLIOGRAPHY-(continued)

Books and Articles (cont.)

35.

360

37.

38.

39.

40.

41.

42.

43.

44.

45.

Marquis, Stewart, Communities and Planning Areas: A
Systems Approach to Spatial Community, Paper #10 of a
Series on Spatial Patterns of Development in the Lansing
Re ion; Insititute for Community Development, East
LEnSIng, Michigan (Febrhary, 1963).

Memmott, Frederick W., III, The Substitutability of
of Communications for Transportation, Niagara Frontier
Transportation Study,IMimeographed Paper: no date).

Miller, D.W., and Starr, Martin K., Executive Decisions
and Operations Research; Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs,
N:J., (1960).

Millett, John D., The Process and Organization of
Government Planning; Columbia University Press, N.Y.

(l947).

Mitchella Robert B., "The New Frontier in Metropolitan
Planning , Journal of the American Institute of Planners,

XXVII (August, 1961): pp. 169-175.

 

 

Nelson, Stephen 0., Observations on the Systems Approach
to Urban Transportation Planning; Unpublished Paper Sub-
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Architecture, Michigan State University, East Lansing,
Michigan, (1963).

Newman, William H., and Summer, Charles E., Jr., The
Process of Management: Concepts, Behavior and Practice;
PrenticeeHall, Englewood Cliffs, N.J. (1961).

 

Perloff, Harvey, ”Social Planning in the Metropolis",
in The Urban Condition, by L.J. Duhl (ed); pp. 331-347.

Schaller, Howard G. (ed), Public Expenditure Decisions
in the Urban Community, Conference Of the Committée on
Urban Economics, Resources for the Future, Inc. (1962).

 

 

Shuchman, Abe, Scientific Decision Making in Business;
Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Ihc., NZY. (1963).

 

Simon, Herbert A., Administrative Behavior; Macmillan
CO., N.Y. (1958)-

 

-180-

BIBLIOGRAPHY (continued)

Books and Articles (cont.)

46.

47.
48.

49.

50.

51-

520

53.

54.

55.

56.

Simon, Herbert A., (With Comments by Glenn W. Ferguson),
”Decision Making and Planning”, from Planning and the
Urban Community by Harvey S. Perloff; CarnegieIInStitute
of Technology and the University of Pittsburgh Press,
(1961): pp. 188-197.

 

Simon, Herbert A., Models Of Man; Macmillan, N.Y. (1960).

Simon, Herbert A., The New Science of Management Decision;
Macmillan, N.Y. (1960).

Sorokin, Pitirim, Society,ACulture and Personality; Mac-
millan, N.Y. (1947).

 

Stage Planning Act of California, Article 7, Section
654 2.

Weaver, Warren, Annual Report of the Rockefeller
Foundation - 195 .

Webber, Melvin, "The Prospects for Policies Planning",
in The Urban Condition, by L.J. Duhl (ed); pp. 319-330.

 

Webber, Melvin M., et.al., Explorations into Urban
Structure; University of Pennsylvania Press,‘Philade1phia,

 

Wheaton, William L.C., "Operations Research for Metro-
politan Plannin ", Jour al of the American Institute of
Planners; XXIX 1963): pp. 250-259.

Wilson, Robert L., "Livability of the City: Attitudes
and Urban DeveIOpment”, in Urban Growth Dynamics, by
Stuart F. Chapin, Jr. and Shirley F. Weiss (ed); Wiley,
N.Y.. (1962): pp. 359-399.

Wingo, Lowdon, Jr., (ed), Cities and Space: The Future
Use of Urban Land; Johns Hopkins Press, Baltimore (1968).

Reviewed Policy Reports

1.

Baltimore Regional Planning Council and National Capital
Regional Planning Council, Baltimore-Washingtdn Inter-
regional Study: land Use and TranspOPtation,TeEhnical

Report #7 (1960).

-181-

BIBLIOGRAPHY (Continued)

Reviewed Po1icy Reports (cont.)

2.

9.

10.

2.11.

l2.

13.

14.

15.

Beloit City Planning Commission, Planning Goals and Prin-
ciples and Projections, Memorandum Report #4, Beloit,
Wisconsin, (1962).

Capitol Region Planning Agency, Regional Plan Alternatives,
East Hartford, Connecticut (1961):

Hawaii State Planning Office, The General_Plan of the
State of Hawaii; Honolulu, Hawaii (1961).

Inter-County Regional Planning Commission, Metro-Growth
Plan, Master Plan Report-#16; Denver, Colorado (1961).

M.E.H.Rotival and Associates, Erie County1,CityL_CBD:
Planning,Concept Report, Erie, Pennsylvania (1960).

Metropolitan Dade County Planning Department, Pro osed
P1anning_0bjectives for the Development of Dade County,
Florida and Urban Growth In Dade;_CountyL Florida, Miami,
Wor a (l960).

National Capital Planning Commission and National Capital
Regional Planning Council, A Policies Plan for the Year
2000: The Nation's Capital; Washington, ILCZOII961).

National Capital Planning Commission and National Capital
Regional Planning Council, Staff Memoranda Used in the
Preparation Of A Po1icies Plan for the Year 2000: The
Nation's Capital; WaSKIngton, 5.C. (I5723759 to 272761).

New York Regional Plan Association, Goals for the Region
Project, Materials used in the survey (1962).

Norman Planning Commission, Norman Urban Area General
Plan Policies, Norman, Oklahoma (no date).

Penn-Jersey Transportation Study, Penn-Jersey_Pepers'#l
through #18 (1962-1963) .

Sane Diego County Planning Department, Prelimina State-
ments of AlternatQS'#l-7, San Diego, California 1960-
1963).

San Mateo County Planning Commission, Master Plan, San
Mateo County, California (1961).

San Pablo City Planning Commission, Objectivesi Principles,
and Standards, San Pablo, California (1959).

-l82-

BIBLIOGRAPHY (Continued)

Reviewed Poliey Reports (cont.)

l6.

l7.

18.

19.

20.

21.

22.

Tri-County Regional Planning Commission, The Regional
Advisory Council: Its Purpose and Function, Lansing,
Michigan (1963).

Tri-County Regional Planning Commission, Regional Develop-
ment Objectives, Staff Report #1 of the Regional Po11cy
Plan; Lansing, Michigan (1963).

Tri-County Regional Planning Commission, Regional Develo -
ment Goals and Poliey Statements, Staff Report7#2 of the
Regional Policy Plan; Lansing, Michigan (1963).

Tri-County Regional Plannin Commission, The Development
of the Region; Akron, Ohio %l962).

Twin-Cities Metropolitan Planning Commission, The Ten
Elements of the Joint Program Plan: An Initial Investi-

ation, Design—Paperh#63 St. Paul, Minnesota. (June,
I953).

Twin-Cities Metropolitan Planning Commission, Values
and the Planning Process, Design Paper*#3 (1963.

Twin-Cities Metropolitan Planning Commission, Policies
Work Paper, Paper«#12A (January, 1964). ""”"

Other Reports

1.
.2.
3.

4.

5.

Austin City Plannin Commission, The Austin Plan;
Austin, Texas (I958 .

Cincinnati City Planning Commission, Cincinnati Metro-
politan Master Plan, (1948). Cincinnati, Ohio.

City of Abilene, The Abilene General Plan; Abilene,
Texas (1959).

Department of City Planning, Data Processin and Sim-
ulation Techniques, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (1962).

Detroit City Plan Commission, petroit Master Plan,
Detroit, Michigan (1951).

 

Harland Bartholomew & Associates, Lansing City Plan,
Lansing, Michigan (1938).

-183-

 

BIBLIOGRAPHY (Continued)

Other Reports (cont.)

7. Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission,
On Wedges and Corridors: A General Plan for the Maryland-
Washington Regional District; Silver Springs, Maryland
@962) .

8. New York Regional Plan Association, Regional Plan of
New York and Its Environs (1929), New York,INew YOrk.

9. Philadelphia City Planning Commission, Comprehensive Plan
for the City_of Philadelphia (1960), Philadelphia, Penn-
sylvania.

10. Row, Arthur T., General Opjectives Of the Philadelphia
Comprehensive Plan, Staff Memorandum to Members of the
Philadelphia Pianning Commission, Philadelphia, Penn-
sylvania (February 2, 1959).

 

ll. Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission,
Regional Planning Systems Study, Planning Report-#1 (1962).

Interviews

1. Interview with Larry Hodges, staff member of the National
Capital Planning Commission, on February 18, 1964.

~184-

 

 

 

 

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