THE VALUE AND ROLE OF DESIGN IN PLANNING EDUCATION – (Hosted within track 8: Education and Skill)

Organizers

Manuela Madeddu, University of Liverpool
Juliana Martins, University College London
Piotr Kryczka, University of Wroclaw

Presenters

Alison McCandlish, University of Glasgow
Andreas Schulze Baing, The University of Manchester
Anja Standal, Norwegian University of Life Sciences
Vicente del Rio, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo
Christine Mady, Aalto University School of Arts
Kark Friedhelm Fischer, University of New South Wales
Anna Kaczorowska, Norwegian University of Science and Technology
Karla Barrantes Chaves, University of Costa Rica
Juliana Martins, University College London
Magdalena Belof, Wrocław University of Science and Technology

Planning education worldwide shares a common origin within the disciplines of architecture and civil engineering, but has evolved in different ways in different countries, resulting in a variety of approaches to the education of future planners (Frank, 2006). These approaches reflect significant variation in the relationship with the ‘mother disciplines’ and in the importance attached to design. Previous research has revealed that this variation can be observed not only between but also within countries (Madeddu and Martins, forthcoming) and has drawn attention to the challenges around design teaching in planning schools (Arefi and Triantafillou, 2005). It has also highlighted the importance for future planners of developing key design skills (Biddulph, 1993; Kempenaaret al., 2016). Design has an integral role to play in planning programmes. Planning is concerned with – and seeks to shape - space and place. It is therefore vital that planning students acquire spatial literacy and develop an appreciation of the spatial and place-based implications of policies and projects. Effective design teaching can equip them with these skills and better prepare them to address increasingly complex spatial challenges.

Almost 60 years after the first Urban Design Conference at Harvard, and within an entirely transformed technological context, it is appropriate to revisit the ‘value and role of design in planning education’. This is the purpose of this proposed Special Session.

Drawing on contributions from researchers and educators based in Europe, the US, Australia and Central America, this Special Session will provide a space for debating:

• The definition or conceptualization of design in planning education, through reflections on how different cultures of planning shape the way design is understood;
• The value of design: why design is important in the education of planners and how it can help to address current urban challenges;
• The role of design: how design is integrated into planning education; how it provides an integrative focus in that education; how it is taught to planners; what challenges must be overcome; and what innovative pedagogies are being developed.

Linking to the Special Session, we are also proposing a Special Issue on this topic for ‘Urban Design International’. It is anticipated that selected papers from the AESOP session will be included in the Special Issue.

References

Arefi, M. and Triantafillou, M. (2005) ‘Reflections on the Pedagogy of Place in Planning and Urban Design’, Journal of Planning Education and Research, 25, pp. 75-88.

Biddulph, M. (1993) ‘Design in Planning courses’, Urban Design Quarterly, 47, pp.22-23.

Frank, A. I. (2006) ‘Three Decades of Thought on Planning Education’, Journal of Planning Literature, 21(1), pp.15-67.

Kempenaar, A., Westerink, J., van Lierop, M., Brinkhuijsen, M., and van den Brink, A. (2016) ‘"Design makes you understand" - Mapping the contributions of designing to regional planning and development’, Landscape and Urban Planning, 149, pp.20-30.

Madeddu, M. and Martins, J. (forthcoming) ‘Where is design in planning education? An international comparison of planning programmes in England, Italy and Portugal’, in Frank, A. Sykes, O. and Babalik-Sutcliffe, E. (Eds) Routledge Companion on Comparative International Planning

Key words: Planning education; urban design; pedagogies of design; Europe; US; Australia; Central America