1. Planning Theory
Theory is a way of understanding the world, a framework for our interpretation of facts and experience.
Theory has to be applied
Praxis: it distinguishes itself from practice as a self-critical activity that recognizes that external world, including the practitioner, is the product of previous human interactions
CP 101 Introduction to City Planning – Prof. H. Alshuwaikhat

2. Planning, unlike the sciences, is ultimately a prescriptive, not a descriptive activity. The planner’s aim is not to describe the world as it is, but rather to propose ways in which things can be changed.
Their evaluations require a standard of reference, an explanation or model of the planning process, in short, a theory.
CP 101 Introduction to City Planning – Prof. H. Alshuwaikhat

3. The Scope of Planning Theory
No consensus on a definition of planning theory
Design profession: the concepts of utopianism and comprehensiveness; the rational for making better environment and tools for building it.
Economists: equity and the public interests, decision analysis and public aggregation of values
Psychologists, sociologists and political scientists: ways choices are made and implemented by individuals, groups and organizations and societies
CP 101 Introduction to City Planning – Prof. H. Alshuwaikhat

4. Planning theory is capable of addressing a whole range of issues
Definition: what is planning?
Substantive: what do we know about what we are planning, and whom we are planning for?
Normative: how to plan, and what is the rational for planning?
CP 101 Introduction to City Planning – Prof. H. Alshuwaikhat

5. The core of planning theory is the planning process. How do people plan?
Planning theory examines the components of he planning process: their nature, sequence, and the relationship to the context of the process and its output
Planning theory involves the rationale for planning, which in turn raises some questions about planner’s ethics and values
Planning theory and the question of legitimacy, what entitles the planner to plan for others and, by implication, to make decisions and choices of others?
CP 101 Introduction to City Planning – Prof. H. Alshuwaikhat