Redefining Urban Planning

The young discipline of urban planning is often presented to students and external researchers as having a single storyline. Learning about the history of one’s discipline is important to understand its impacts but remains, without doubt, biased. Focusing on the built successes of past urban planners, planning history reinforces the voice of white cisgender male figures. The paternalistic nature of such discourse encourages the perception that we, planners, have the answers to urban issues and that the continuity of said issues is caused by other levels of authority choosing to ignore our wisdom. However, urban planning is much more complex than this. The discipline itself is dated to be no more than a decade. Before the recognition of the profession, cities were still planned, in other ways. Sandercock speaks of the multiple histories that are at the base of urban planning, by including insurgent planning in the historiography (1998). A striking example included in her work is the Blues epistemology, which includes music as an alternative form of change (1998). If protest through music is considered as a form of urban planning, can other types of activism be included in the process as well? In an era of performance activism, this idea may find several opponents. The truth remains that grassroots movements have increasingly taken their seat at the table, widening the horizons of what is considered urban planning. Modern practice now considers the efforts of many involved parties, which includes all governing levels. Future classes on planning history will surely present a much different vision of what is and is not planning.

References

Sandercock, L. (1998). Towards Cosmopolis. Chichester: Wiley.

Reckoning with Our Past for A Better Future: The Seventh Generation Principle

After spending upwards of the last 16 months dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, planners find themselves at a crossroads where we are tasked with making decisions to mitigate the effects of future pandemics. This is the time to really look at alternative frameworks that challenge the status quo of dealing with problems only once they arise.

One alternative framework with promise is the seventh generation principle. Originating from The Great Law of Haudenosaunee Confederacy, the seventh generation principle refers to the practice of considering the ramifications of all major public decisions, with the specific goal of maintaining a sustainable future for at least seven generations down the line (Joseph 2020). While in its original context, this principle was heavily tied to environmental maintenance, I posit there are other areas where this type of thinking could be useful. We, as contemporary planners, often spend too much time dealing with present issues, while, in turn, neglecting more persistent, long-term issues as they seem out of our range. Perhaps, these issues like climate, public health, infrastructure revival, etc… require our consistent attention in order to be maintained for the long-term future.

References

Joseph, B. (2020). What is the seventh Generation Principle? Indigenous Corporate Training Inc. https://www.ictinc.ca/blog/seventh-generation-principle

SPOTLIGHT: How Dakar is working to alleviate its rampant traffic congestion

Traffic deadlocks, jams, and bottlenecks are an all-too-common occurrence in Senegal’s capital, Dakar. As Dakar becomes an emerging city, the population and government have taken on several efforts to lessen congestion. As context, Dakar is situated on a peninsula, and divided into three districts – Dakar City, Pikine-Guediawaye, and Rufisque – all poorly connected through the historic road network. Furthermore for 44% of poor Dakarois, walking is their main means of transportation, limiting their access to essential services (Dramani 2011). Before the government decided to step in, communal transportation in Dakar was handled by Senegalese car rapides and Ndiaga ndiayes – both informally-run colorful minibuses that have been around for the past 40 years, but have started to be phased out.

With about 2500-3000 vehicles, 80% of public transportation demand has been historically met by these informal channels (Kumar and Diou 2010,14). The government, on the other hand, runs the Dakar Dem Dikk bus system, which is historically unreliable and underfunded. Dakar’s most recent intervention to alleviate congestion has been a toll highway from Dakar to, nearby city, Diamniadio, which has attracted international attention and is poised to be a legacy builder for current President Abdoulaye Wade. Opened in 2018, it is still too early to see the long-term effects of the project, but Dakar seems poised to continuously tackle these congestion concerns as it pushes itself onto the world stage.

References

Dramani, Latif. (2011). Poverty spatial polarization in Senegal. Journal of Geography and Regional Planning. 4. 664-671.

Kumar, Ajay, and Christian Diou. “Bus Renewal Scheme in Dakar Before and After.” SSATP Discussion Paper No. 11, May 2010. https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/bitstream/handle/10986/17806/669390NWP0Box30heme0Daka0with0cover.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y.

Public spaces and cities: open access publications that you shouldn't miss!

Public spaces are inherently designed to be free spaces, open to everyone, regardless of the social class, age, gender, or race. They are tied to Henri Lefebvre’s concept of The Right to the City, which states that individuals should have equal opportunities to benefit from the various aspects of urban life. Despite their significance in transforming urban life and city functioning, they are often being overlooked for many reasons, such as poor urban planning or financial constraints. However, cities that focus on environmentally sustainable, economically vibrant, and socially inclusive public spaces perform better.

Interested in learning more about how public spaces can boost livability in cities? I have gathered in this post some inspiring open-access publications that highlight how city leaders, policymakers, and urban practitioners can better plan, finance, and manage public spaces to achieve livable cities for all. Check them out:

1.     The Journal of Public Space – City Space Architecture

The Journal of Public Space is a research project developed by City Space Architecture, a non-profit organization based in Italy, in partnership with the UN-Habitat. It is an international and interdisciplinary open-access journal entirely dedicated to the study of public spaces.

2.     Land Lines Magazine – Lincoln Institute of Land Policy

Land Lines is a quarterly magazine of the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy that aims to explore not only public spaces issues but also a broader range of correlated matters such as climate change, housing, and land policies.

3. The Hidden Wealth of Cities: Creating, Financing, and Managing Public Spaces – World Bank Group

Launched in 2020, this World Bank’s publication discusses the complexities that surround the creation and management of successful public spaces and draws on the analyses and experiences of case studies around the globe.

Enjoy your reading!

Urban Planning as a Catalyst Tool: The Case of Israel and Palestine

Urban planning can improve cities just like it can worsen them. Israel and Palestine have an ongoing conflict that has much to do with power and land occupancy. Urban planning as a weapon can be identified within this dispute. But, first, it is important to understand Israel and Palestine's historical narratives.

In the late 19th century nationalistic Europe, the idea for Jews to leave the continent and gather in their own space gained popularity. As a result, the Zionism movement led many Jews to Israel since it is known as the Holy Land and homeland in Judaism (Jubaer, Abdullah, & Rahman, 2021).

Mounting Jewish Palestinians focused on gaining occupancy and controlling land use to secure their community. Consequently, throughout the early 1900s, frictions between Jews and Arab Palestinians grew as the former were being suppressed (Jubaer, Abdullah, & Rahman, 2021).

In 1947, the United Nations Partition Plan intended to divide Palestine into two independent states – Palestinian and Jewish – equal in size but broken into abstract places (Jubaer, Abdullah, & Rahman, 2021). Being uncontented, the Arab–Israeli War erupted in 1948. Israelis won in 1949, gaining more land and debuting their nation. Palestinians' defeat would be referred to as Nakba (النكبة‎) – meaning catastrophe – where most of their community was displaced, and their homeland was demolished, including many deaths (Jubaer, Abdullah, & Rahman, 2021).

Since then, the Arab–Israeli War has been refined to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Unfortunately, this dispute continues today, counting numerous casualties through violent protests, riots, invasions, wars, and more.

Israeli Jews and Palestinian Arabs are mixed and conglomerated. While Palestinian entities and amenities are being terminated, the Jewish are being developed, unified, and financed by the state (Katz & Haim, 2021). Hence, they share a space but are still spatially and socially separated.

In the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the state uses urban planning to guide density, vulnerability, division, and dislocation (Katz & Haim, 2021). Unfortunately, the tool has been weaponized for the uprise of one community and the downfall of another. This example recognizes the power of urban planning and how it can affect communities for better or worse.

References

Haim, Y. & Katz, I. (2021) How Urban Planning Plays a Role in Israel-Palestine. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/how-urban-planning-plays-a-role-in-israel-palestine-161035

Kingsley, P. & Kershner, I. (2021) After Raid on Aqsa Mosque, Rockets from Gaza and Israeli Airstrikes. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/10/world/middleeast/jerusalem-protests-aqsa-palestinians.html

Jubaer, S. M. O. F., Abdullah, S. M. J. S., & Rahman, S. M. A. (2021). The Conflicts Between Israel and Palestine: A History Changed by The Historians. Emergent: Journal of Educational Discoveries and Lifelong Learning (EJEDL), 2(05), 143-173. https://ejedl.academiascience.org/index.php/ejedl/article/view/68