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Reality, from the Netherlands to Torquay united
(Cliff Hague (blog), 1987) Hague, Cliff
Sunday Amsterdam. I came here last Thursday for the inaugural congress of the Association of European Schools of Planning. It has rained non-stop. Having been born and bred in Manchester, swaddled in a sou'wester and plastic mac, I have a particular aversion to foreign rain. Not out of chauvinism; Amsterdam's rain matches Salford's best concoctions in intensity, variety and wetness. Quite simply, when I go abroad, I expect the sun to shine, even at this time of year. When it doesn’t, I feel cheated, not elated, by the realisation that others don't actually enjoy benefits denied to me. Still, even in the rain, Amsterdam, this year's European City of Culture, does have a certain something that cannot be found in Salford, and which will still be elusive in Glasgow when that city wears the European cultural crown for 1990. I have the morning free, so I head for Bijlmermeer. This public housing estate on the south-eastern edge of Amsterdam was built in the 1960s and early 1970s, housing about 25,000 people. The massive zig-zag of ten-storey slab blocks probably looked exciting on the drawing board, but Bijlmermeer quickly became a by-word for the problems of the outer estates in the Netherlands. I haven't seen it since 1973, but Amsterdam now has 60,000 unemployed, and I've seen plenty of depressed housing estates on the edge of British cities. The visual clues suggest that Bijlmermeer shares some of the characteristics of Britain's outer estates. Car ownership is low, in-comes are below average, people queue to use the public phones, there are signs of a high child population and there's graffiti, the residents are disproportionately black. But there isn't the sense of despair and isolation that you get in Britain. The public phones actually work. There is a substantial pedestrianised shopping centre with a wide range of big-name retailers. I can't see any boarded-up or burnt-out flats. Industrial units are still occupied. It takes me ten minutes to get back into town on the metro. I get off at Nieuwmarkt, where redevelopment for the metro was bitterly resisted by action groups in the 1970s. Their confrontations with the riot police are commemorated in a fragmented mural on the metro wall. Scenes from the struggle are depicted between tumbling bricks as the huge iron ball of the demolition men hits the wall. Is this Dutch tolerance, or a memento to heroic resistance, or a way of neutralising and incorporating urban protest, or all three? Completing the nostalgia I visit the Jordaan, on the tringe of the city centre. In the 1970s I had friends in action groups here. They were opposing redevelopment of this historic working-class district of tall canal houses with precipitous staircases. They won. There has been some infill, but the street markets are still there amid the fascinating lattice of tiny streets. Today the threat to community is less from planning than from market forces. On a brief visit in the rain the Jordaan does not look as gentrified as I'd feared it might have been. So, I head for Schipol and home, heady with the rediscovery of paths I had trodden so long ago. The broad-based community action in defence of place and class which Action Group Jordaan practised in the early 1970s still seems an exemplar for a planning practice that is participatory and redistributive. Planning should be about co-operative working to make places better for those who live there. Such planning should be educative to all those involved, and it should be fun. In the end the victories of Amsterdam's action groups were only partial, but victories are scarce and should be celebrated. I buy a bottle of jenever at the duty-free to prolong the reverie through the long winter nights.
Open Access
Dutch planning education in its international context
(Springer, 1987) Faludi, Andreas
Dutch planning education is unique. But in explaining what's unique about it we must resort to shared experiences. Inevitably, some of the richness of detail and the intimate familiarity with what we are concerned with gets lost in the process. It is part of the human condition that this should happen. On the credit side of the balance sheet, we find that, by abstracting from unique experiences, we increase the range of options from which we can draw. This paper starts with two propositions, therefore. They form the essential background to the argument. One is that one cannot understand planning and planning education other than against the backcloth of shared experiences forming its international context. The other proposition, on the face of it contradictory, is that one cannot understand them other than by seeing them as responses to unique situations. Between them these propositions encapsulate the problem of the social sciences. On the one hand we want to do full justice to situations as experienced by those concerned, and on the other we cannot do this but by comparing them with like situations thereby abstracting from the particulars.
Open Access
Introduction - founding conference of AESOP in Amsterdam
(Springer, 1987) Faludi, Andreas
As part of its 25th anniversary-celebrations, the Institute for Planning and Demography of the University of Amsterdam hosted the Founding Conference of the Association of European Schools of Planning (AESOP) on 19th to 21st November, 1987. The holding of this conference is a sure sign that European planning education has come of age. In the recent past we have witnessed a trend towards independent programmes. But many differences remain, and institutional, cultural and linguistic boundaries hamper a continuous flow of exchange between those with a professional concern for planning education. The Association of European Schools of Planning (AESOP) aims to im- prove this situation. In taking the initiative, the founding committee has drawn inspiration from the example set by the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning (ACSP) in North America. Thus, AESOP will be a plat- form for exchanges and a focus for joint action in the field of European planning education. Also, it will provide mutual support to its members. The conference discussed how to achieve these aims. Also, an immediate start was made with productive exchanges. To introduce the almost one hundred planning educators to the local situation, planning problems of Amsterdam were discussed. The main educational papers were: "The Evolution of Planning Education in Europe" (A. Rodriguez-Bachiller, Senior Lecturer, Oxford); "The Changing Context of Planning Education and Research: An American Perspective" (Professor E.R. Alexander, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee); "Dutch Planning Education: where it is now and how it got there" (Dr. Barrie Needham, Senior Lecturer, Catholic University of Nijmegen); and "Dutch planning education in its international context (Professor A. Faludi, University of Amsterdam). Workshops concerned topics like: "New jobs for planners? The job market" (Convenor Professor L. Albrechts, University of Louvain, Louvain); "Planning fashions. How to respond in planning education and research" (Convenor Professor B. Marchand, University of Paris VIII); "Are we fair to overseas students?" (Convenor Professor Klaus R. Kunzmann, University of Dortmund); "Research education and training: The lonely PhD student?" (Convenor Professor P. Healey, University of Newcastle); "Post-modern planning: Retreat to urban design?" (Convenor: Professor D. Frick, Berlin University of Technology); "For which future do we educate planners?" (Convenor Professor W. Schmid, Zurich University of Technology). Practical issues like the ERASMUS arrangements, a newsletter, the 1988 conference (due to be held at the University of Dortmund), a directory of planning schools and research were also discussed. The papers below are the two Dutch presentations. Both authors have been involved in planning education abroad. Barrie Needham has lectured at various English planning schools, in particular at the University of Aston at Birmingham. He is a one-time president of the Education for Planning Association. Andreas Faludi, too, has lectured in England, at the Oxford Polytechnic, before coming to the Netherlands where he has devoted his Delft inaugural lecture to the topic of "Planning theory and the education of planners".
Open Access
Leaflet of the 2nd Annual AESOP Congress The Environment in Planning Education, 1988
(AESOP, 1988)
Association of European Schools Of Planning Universität Dortmund About AESOP The reasons for establishing AESOP are among others: 1. There is little comparative information about planning schools in Europe. As a rule one knows very little about curricula, aims, research, degrees, professional career prospects and the relation between educational provision and the structure of planning in each country 2. Given the small number of planning schools in most European countries (Britain is an exception), there is a need for a network of European allies to find international support and backing. The discipline which is still young and emerging needs the confidence which an international alliance can foster. 3. The increasing economic integration of Europe will also have an effect on the job market for planners. It will encourage planners to work outside their own country, and require a better knowledge of planning-related conditions and systems in other European countries. 4. Planning problems and environmental issues in all European countries have become much more internationalized. Euro- pean policies effect local and regional economic development and have an impact on the environment. Consequently planning schools have to introduce a more intemnational dimension into planning curricula. The AESOP network is one means to communicate ideas and approaches about how this may be done. 5. By creating a European network of those involved in planning education, opportunities are created which may lead to new comparative research within Europe, lead to the exchange of staff and students and to mutual visits of student groups 6. The policy of the European Commission of intensifying the exchange of students within its members countries will require mutual recognition of credits, of academic degrees and diplomas. AESOP could contribute to facilities such mutual re- cognition by better and comparative information. 7. In Europe, the development of planning knowledge, theory and method is hampered by language constraints. The AESOP network and its activities should encourage communication in other than our respective mother tongues, thus contributing to more cross-national communication and the consolidation of planning as a discipline.
Open Access
Editorials
(Taylor and Francis, 1988) Griffiths, Ron; Morphet, Janice; Thornley, Andy
Reflections on Europe: the 1988 AESOP: Congress Everyone is talking about 1992. However most of the discussion is highly speculative—it would be valuable to know more about the actual thinking in Brussels at the moment. How is planning viewed at the European scale? The Association of European Schools of Planning at its 2nd Annual Congress in Dortmund in November was fortunate in having a speaker from the European Commission in the form of Gunter Schneider, Director of the Directorate for Environment. It was clear from his presentation that 'green' issues are a significant part of the Commission's activity. This has been the case for some time, spurred on by controversies and national policies that detrimentally effect neighbouring countries, including problems of nuclear waste, toxic dumping, agricultural practices, and pollution of the sea. Gunter Schneider explained how the longstanding concern of the Commission was now entering a new phase with an emphasis on the integration of environmental programmes into other programmes such as the economic and social ones. However, whereas the environmental programme has been at the forefront of the Commission's work for some time, its interest in spatial planning as such was just beginning. Up to now, spatial planning has been considered a matter of local concern and therefore not within the remit of the EEC. This attitude is changing. The impact of major projects like the Channel Tunnel and high-speed trains, and shifts such as an ageing northern population, demands for leisure and tourism or the importance of pleasant living conditions in deciding on economic location — all these have spatial implications of European significance. Taken together with the concern for increased integration of policies we can expect spatial planning to be firmly on the Commission agenda in the coming years. There will be a strong message coming across that such planning is essential for the future quality of life and also for the longer term sustainability of economic development. Mrs Thatcher seems to have turned green recently, she will now actually have to implement some of the rhetoric. Planning education and research will also have to respond and place greater importance on environmental aspects. Maybe we have the basis here for a resurrection of the planning system. Is this why the Prime Minister seems so scared of moves towards greater integration of European social policies?
Open Access
Dutch planning education: where it is now, how it got there, where it must go next
(Springer, 1988) Needham, Barrie
This paper was prepared for the founding conference of the Association of European Schools of Planning, held in Amsterdam, November 1987. It was to treat 'Dutch planning education: where it is now and how it got there'. Con- sidering the current precarious state of Dutch planning education and the na- tional review of it which is being made, a section was added 'Where it must go next'. Although that section is aimed at a Dutch audience it will also be interesting to others, as it poses questions relevant to planning education everywhere. The link between the first two sections and the last is provided by the secticn 'The vulnerability of Dutch planning education'.
Open Access
ACSP/AESOP Joint Congress, Oxford, July 8-12 1991
(Planning History Group, 1991) Ward, Stephen
By any standards the first Joint International Congress of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning (of North America) and the Association of European Planning Schools was a unique and extraordinary event. This claim might be regarded as a typical piece of promotional hyperbole, coming as it does from a member of the host institution's organising committee. But the facts speak for themselves: 700 delegates, half of them from North America with the remainder split more or less equally between Britain and the rest of Europe, converged on Oxford making it the largest ever gathering of planning educators anywhere. Just under 400 papers were presented, mainly in 16 parallel 'tracks', each with American and European co-chairs. Conference sessions were balanced by a full complementary programme of study visits, social events, receptions etc.
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‘Planning transatlantic: global change and local problems’, Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning (ACSP) and Association of European Schools of Planning (AESOP) joint international congress: Oxford, UK, 8–12 July 1991
(Elsevier, 1991) Caves, Roger W.
The Joint International Congress rep- resents the first cooperative venture between the North American ACSP and the European AESOP. As of 1990, 117 undergraduate and graduate programmes in urban planning and urban affairs were members of ACSP while there were over 70 full mem- bers. Recognizing that unprecedented changes have taken place over the past few years, the Congress enabled parti- cipants from both sides of the Atlantic Ocean to share ideas and information on a vast array of topics. More than 600 individuals from 23 countries in- cluding the USA, UK, Italy, the Netherlands, Germany, Sweden. Au- stralia. France, Czechoslovakia and Israel attended the Congress. Individuals attending the Congress were afforded the opportunity to hear three interesting plenary sessions. Peter Hall, University of California, Berkeley (USA) spoke of an interna- tional agenda for planning in 'Plan- ning transatlantic: the agenda for the 1990s'. Within his talk, Professor Hall commented on the restructuring of London, the impacts of growth, the regeneration of great provincial cities, transatlantic contrasts, the role of the state, and the role of planning educa- tion. Professor David Hall, Oxford University (UK) gave a very informa- tive talk on 'social justice, post- modernism and the city'. Marios Camhis, EC Regional Policy Directo- rate, concluded the Congress with a discussion of 'Europe 2000'.
Open Access
List of participants : VII AESOP Congress Łódź, Poland 14-17 July 1993
(AESOP, 1993)
This is the list of participants in the 7th AESOP Congress. All persons who have registrated for the congress by July 5, 1993 have been included. The participants have been placed in alphabetical order according to their family names, addresses, telephone and fax numbers (where available).
Open Access
Book of Abstracts : Planning and Environment in Transforming Europe 7th AESOP congress Lodz, Poland 14-17 July 1993
(AESOP, 1993) Marszał, Tadeusz
We have much pleasure in providing the AESOP Congress participants with this book containing abstracts delivered for presentation during the Congress. These are all abstracts submitted before the end of May, also by the persons who expressed interest in participating without final registration. Since many abstracts were prepared much in advance, it may occur that some of them may not correspond strictly to normal Congress presentation form. This publication appears to offer quite a comprehensive overview of recent research pursuits in the field of planning. The abstracts have been placed in alphabetical order according to the family name of the first author. The preparation of this booklet was possible, thanks to the efforts of a number of persons but special appreciation should go to Marika Pirveli. Tadeusz MARSZAŁ Congress Chair
Open Access
Program 7th AESOP congress "Planning and Environment in Transforming Europe" Łódź, Poland 14-17 July
(AESOP, 1993)
WELCOME It is a great pleasure to welcome you to Łódź and the VII AESOP Congress, which is taking place for the first time in Central and Eastern Europe. As we move through the last decade of the 20th century, major changes in the European Community and the liberalisation of the central and eastern part of the continent lead us to a new range of social and economic problems. The organisation of the AESOP Congress in Poland should be considered as a contribution to the deeper understanding of these processes. "Planning and Environment in Transforming Europe" is the designated theme for the VII Congress. We hope that this international meeting will help to reflect on environmental challenges facing our continent as well as on spatial organisation of human activity, past and present, and to evaluate the choices for our future. The Congress is also expected to promote international research and educational activities by creating new possibilities of developing cooperation between academics from all parts of Europe, outline new orientations for research, and enhance the understanding of the role of planning in market economy of transforming Europe. Apart from scientific programme, throughout the three successive days of the Congress there will be interesting social events for participants and accompanying persons. Scientific field trips will provide an opportunity for not only confrontation of theoretical and empirical facets of our planning knowledge, but also of discovering the central region of Poland. On behalf of the Łódź University and the Organising Committee I take pleasure in inviting you to participate in the scientific and social programme of the Congress. We believe that with the contribution of all members the AESOP Congress in Łódź will prove successful. Tadeusz MARSZAŁ Congress Chair
Open Access
Announcement of 8th Congress 24-27 August 1994 The Marmara Hotel, Istanbul, Turkey Yildiz Technical University
(International Planning History Society, 1993)
The scientific programme of the congress is planned to consist of two plenary sessions, parallel sessions, poster sessions, a roundtable and workshops. The following topics are being indicated here to serve as guidelines for those who wish to participate and/ or submit abstracts. The tracks will be determined and announced in a second notice, in the letter of acceptance.
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List of participants : VIII AESOP Congress Istanbul Turkey, 1994
(AESOP, 1994)
Open Access
Book of abstracts : 8th annual congress of AESOP, Istanbul, Aug. 1994.
(AESOP, 1994)
Noman Ahmed Oya Akın Figen Akpınar Louis Albrechts J. D. Alden Ernest R. Alexander Alexander Alexandrov S. Alexandrova O. A. Aliev Zeynep Altan Rachelle Alterman David P Amborski Jorgen Amdam A. Amir Iris Aravot Franco Archibugi F. Arsac Jos Arts Gül Asatekin Sigmund Asmervik Semra Atabay Olcay Aykut Angela Badami Alessandro Balducci Beata Banachowicz Angela Barbanente A. Barbaros Rosaria Battarra Marcel Bazin Corrado Beguinot Feyzan Beler Michael Benfield Hülya Berkmen Yakar Lale Berköz Akkal Sandra Bonfiglioli Christine J. Booth Peter Booth D. Borri Robin Boyle Mike Breakell Elise Bright Susan Brockett Alberto Pizzati Caiani Terosa Cannarozzo Urbano Cardarelli Clara Cardia Maurizio Carta A. Casolaro Hüseyin Cengiz llka Cerpes F. P. Cilento Jim Claydon M. Clemente H. Coccossis G. Concilio C. Conte Fausto Curti Ryszard Cymerman T. Çalgüner Ayten Çetiner Şeniz Çıkış Mehmet Çubuk Gerald Daly Simin Davoudi Kees De Boer Alessandra De Cugiis Gert De Roo Serap Demir Dr. Denuel Pacla Di Carlo Maria Terasa Di Marco B. Dikçınar Nazire Diker Çamlibel İclal Dinçer Elna Djemalatdinova Peter L. Doan Maciej Dobrowolski Vedia Dökmeci E. Ennen Nilgün Ergun Demet Erol Mehmet Even Andreas Faludi Carmela Fedele Giovanni Ferraro Romano Fistola Hakan Forsberg Leslie Forsyth A. Frankei John Friedmann Alex Fubini Gabriella Galgignato Carmela Gargiulo Ferhan Gezici Joige A. Giordani Tamer Gök Sedef Gönenç Nilgün Görer T. Gôrgülü Zeki Görgülü John V. Greer Nuran Zeren Gülersoy Nevin Gültekin Orcan Gündüz Özlem Güngör Slawomir Gzell Andrea Haase Salahaddin Halilov Tony Hall Richard Hammersley Thomas Harper Patsy Healey Tim Heath Anna Geppert Hebrard Arild Holt-Jensen Andrzej Hopper Rik Houthave Patrizia Ingallina Chingiz Ismailov Ertürk İşıkpınar Aydın İbrahimoğlu Şule İnankul Giacinta Jalongo Myriam Jansen-Verbeke Bob Jarvis Valentina Jideleva Arzu Kahraman Mee Kam Ng Arthur Kanonier Hülagü Kaplan Aykut Karaman Rufat M. Kasumoy Ruşen Keleş Geoffrey Keogh A. J. Khaboutdinov İsmet Kılınçarslan Katarzyna Kierczynska Paul Knox Mary-Ann Knudstrup Olesen Liisa Knuuti Arzu Kocabaş Ercan Koç Hülya Koç W.J Kombe Vlatko P. Korobar Peter K. Koschitz Ayşe Sema Kubat Can Kumbaracıbaşı Klaus R. Kunzmann R. A. La Rocca T. Laguna Christine Lambert H. Law Yone Henri Lechenault Hoe Lim Olivier Lingbeek Helena Linzer Francesco Lo Piccolo Sevgi Lökçe Ursula Lukassen Ali Madani - Pour Emre Madran Fernanda Magalhaes Tadeusz Markowski Gitte Marling Carolina Marquez Guerrero Tadeusz Marszal Carlos Manuel Martins da Costa H. Mat Kamila Matovskova Joseph Malachy Mc Eldowney Zeynep Merey Enlil Stephan Merrett Peter Meyer Wolfrirch Michalski Alain Motte J.C Moughtin Michael Murray Vincent Nadin Parviz Nazem Michael Neuman Peter M. Ngau Leo W. Nooteboom A. Notrangelo John O'Sullivan Nick Oatley Taner Oc Mehmet Ocakçı Ebru Vesile Ocalır Ayşenur Okten Şebnem Onal Gül Berna Özcan Zuhal Ozcan Nimet Ozgönül Ayşe Öztürk G.William Page Jean-Claude Paicheler Rocco Papa Apostolos Parpairis Amir Pasic Ayşe Paşalıoğlu R. Pedone Bianca Petrella Giorgio Piccinato F. Pinto Artur da Rosa Pires Laura Pogliani Dilek Postacıoğlu Michael C. Poulton George Prevelakis John V. Punter Romuaid Pustelnik Sırma Ramazanoğulları Antony Ramsay Bjomn Roe S. M Romaya Bemardo Rossi-Doria Ines Sanchez de Madariaga G. Sands Gerhard Schimak Derek Senior Francisco Serdoura Elisabetta Serra Ülker Baykan Seymen David Shaw Daniel Shefer Deborah Shmueli Maria Grazia Silverii Lindsay Smales Michael Southworth Albert Speer Stanley Stain Marialuce Stanganelli Jerzy Suchta Alicija Szajnoziska-Wysocka Betül Şengezer Nihal Şenlier Elif Tanrıyar Dikmen Taşçı İlhan Tekeli Steven Tiesdell Vesselina R. Troeva Anatoly M. Trofimov Jekabs Trusins Güzin Türel Handan Türkoğlu Zuhal Ulusoy P. Urciuoli Ozlem Unal Alper Unlü F. va der Molen Nina Vaerum Irina van Aalst Lennard van Damme Ko Verdaas Guy Vernet Elisenda Vila Martin Vinzens Pekka V. Virtannen Andreas Voigt H. Voogd Ariella Vraneski Ibrahim Wahab Hans Peter Walchhofer James P. Warfield Tim Westlake David Whitney Gwyndaf Williams Richard Wiliams Willem Wissink Beril Yalçın Fatih Bülent Yaren Ayfer Yazgan Gül Zekiye Yenen Christopher J.L Yewlett Murat Yıldız Oren Yiftachel Rykiel Zbigniew Wojcicch Zebrowski Pierre Zembri Corrado Zoppi
Open Access
ACSP I AESOP Joint International Congrcs. Toronto, Canada, 25-28 July 1996
(International Planning History Society, 1996) Ward, Stephen V.
Five years ago in 1991, the first joint conference of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning (ACSP) and the Association of European Schools of Planning (AESOP) took place at what was then Oxford Polytechnic in the historic city of Oxford in the United Kingdom. The 1996 Toronto conference was the 'return match', hosted by the Ryerson Polytechnic University and held at the Chelsea Delta Hotel, close to the metropolitan attractions of downtown Toronto. Predictably, the conference, in one of North America's most appealing cities, drew many hundreds of delegates, from both continents. There were no less than 19 subject 'tracks' running simultaneously, plus a poster 'track'. In total, something over 650 papers were programmed, together with 32 fieldtrips ('mobile workshops') and several plenary sessions. Elsewhere on the continent, so it was rumoured, the Olympic Games were taking place. Within all this activity there was a planning history track comprising almost thirty individual offerings, together with several historical papers scattered in other parts of the programme. As in all such events, it is difficult to convey a full flavour of what was on offer, but this review tries to record at least some fragments of the whole event that were particularly relevant to practitioners of planning history.
Open Access
Residential Differentation in the Transition from Socialism to the Market Economy. The Case of Tallinn, Estonia
(AESOP, 1999) Ruoppila, Sampo
In my PhD-thesis titled «Urban Transition - the Residential Differentation of Eastern European Cities in the Transition to the Market Economy» I will compare the effects of transition on residential differentation in Tallinn, Budapest, Prague and Warsaw. In the PhD workshop at Finse I would like to present a paper discussing the socialistic heritage of these four cities in general, and in particular the effects of the transition on the social structure of Tallinn, the capital of Estonia. The emphasis will be on the socioeconomic differentation, although the ethnic differentation is also discussed when relevant. The method I will use in my PhD-thesis is comparative urban research. My empirical data consists of official statistics and the real estate market reports done by the real estate firms. I also intend to conduct interviews with key groups of urban development: real estate developers, finance managers, real estate market analysts and urban planners. In my presentation at Finse I will first discuss the results of my Master's thesis (January 1999) and secondly, the new empirical material consisting of interviews with experts and newspaper articles I have collected in Tallinn. The discussion on residential differentation in socialist cities was launched by Iván Szelényi's study Urban Inequalities under State Socialism (1983). Because it was written already in the early 1970's, it no longer depicted the situation in the late 1980's.
Open Access
The Diffusion of Government Responsibilities: Movement Towards Regional and Neighborhood-Centered Policy-Making in Brazil
(AESOP, 1999) Williamson, Theresa D.
Changing economic, social, and political conditions worldwide are rapidly affecting the way governments are organized. Emphasis on efficient government is growing as democracy and market-based economics spread throughout the globe. In the past 20 years, many nations have pushed for decentralization. Central governments accumulated excessive debts, requiring that state and municipal authorities take on greater roles, while at the same time attention was focused on the effectiveness of democratic participation and localized planning at providing services. This marks the first recent shift in the distribution of responsibility within government. Today, a second shift is occurring. Municipal governments are finding ways to shift responsibility for service provision and planning away from their offices in two directions "up" to regional agencies (see Kirlin 1993) and "down" to neighborhood associations. Regional planning agencies are gaining significance as certain problems require regional cooperation (see Turok 1995, Prud'homme 1995, Popper 1992, 1993, Doherty 1992, Gilbert 1992, Gore 1984). At the same time, many municipal governments are moving certain municipal functions down to the community level, in an effort to improve efficiency (see Bens 1994) by including the community in the decision-making (see Ortiz), and even the implementation, process (for associated problems, see Fulton 1996, Beatley 1994).
Open Access
Interpretation of a Disposal for the Coordination Between the Actors of Planning: The Agreeement of Program as a "Space of Interaction
(AESOP, 1999) Tessitore, Paola
Presentation of the research: subjeet and ease-study The central subject of the research is the relations between actors in the implementation of Public Works in Italy. The Agreement of Programme is a disposal for coordination introduced by the national law 142/90 regarding the renewal of the competences of the local bodies. In the law the recourse to the Agreement of Programme is suggested for the "definition and implementation of public works, interventions and programmes of interventions that require for their complete realization an integrated action of municipalities, districts and regions, of national administrations and other public subjects, anyhow of two or more of the subjects above". The research puts forward an interpretation of this disposal for coordination by building up some hypothesis that take start from the literature on the theme and compare it with three concrete case-studies. The main references come from the reflections of the Planning theory on the ethical dimension of Planning, from the critical contributions of the Public Policy Analysis, and from some last achievements of the Sociological disciplines: actor-based approches, theory of action, principles and applications of principles in planning.
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From Theory to Methodology and Back Again: The Need for Planning Researchers to Engage with Methodological Concerns
(AESOP, 1999) Campbell, Heather
Concerns associated with the development and implementation of the methodologies which underpin empirical investigations often seem to be treated as if they are of marginal significance to the research endeavour. For example, refereed journal articles seldom discuss the detailed decisions surrounding the conduct of a piece of research. This element is omitted in favour of concentration on the theory informing the research and the implications of the findings; yet it is the methodology which provides the link between the theory and the findings and consequently is instrumental in determining the validity and reliability of the conclusions. The result of this lack of discussion and engagement with methodological concerns has been the creation of something of an academic myth that carrying out a study is a relatively straight-forward and unproblematic undertaking. Experience suggests quite the reverse and that moreover if the quality of research is to develop and progress in the planning field there is much to be gained from open and honest discussion of the theoretical and practical issues associated with the methodological aspects of research. The purpose of this paper therefore is a plea for greater engagement with methodological concerns. In the context of this discussion it is assumed that methodology includes both the techniques used in the field to collect data and also the approach adopted to analyse and interpret the resulting material. The paper is divided into two parts, the first examines existing perspectives on research methods in planning while the second focuses on the seemingly poorly developed relationship between theory and methodology.
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Book of abstracts : AESOP PhD workshop 1999, Finse, Depertment of Geography Univeristy of Bergen, Norway
(AESOP, 1999)
The AESOP PhD Workshop 1999 aims at constituting a small forum of discussion of PhDs in Planning Issues, bringing together a group of PhD students from AESOP member schools and a group of well known planning professors in an informal environment. The focus of the workshop is dedicated to the specificity of a PhD in planning. We are focusing on the role of paradigms in planning research, the role of theory and methodological approach, the relation between theory and empirical analysis in a PhD thesis. We will as well discuss the process in PhD work from idea to final thesis and whether there are identifiable trends in planning research. The workshop is structured into plenary lectures and group sessions. There will be five lectures by the invited teachers. There will be group sessions on Sunday and Monday at which the PhD students will present their papers, and group sessions on Tuesday at which there will be sought a structured discussion on the different theoretical and methodological aspects of the work with a PhD thesis. Structure of the workshop The workshop is structured in three types of sessions with specific, and different objectives: Plenary sessions of approximately 90 minutes length. There will be 5 such sessions - two on Sunday morning, two on Monday morning and one on Tuesday morning. In these sessions the invited professors and lecturers will present their lecture followed by a discussion. In these discussions all participants are urged to approach the themes of discussion in the light of their own training background, research and practice experience, as well as in the context of the planning school you come from. It is fundamental to keep track of the content of these plenary sessions in order to adress the topics in group sessions, after the PhD presentations.