The Role of the 21st Century Planner

May 8, 2017 | 10:30 a.m. An FAICP Session Sponsored by the Michigan Chapter, American Planning Association Andrea Brown, AICP, Moderator

Panelists

Bruce Race, FAICP, FAIA, PhD Director, Center for Sustainability and Resilience, University of Houston Principal and founder of RACESTUDIO

Janet Ruggiero, FAICP De La Salle Institute

Mitchell Silver, FAICP Commissioner of the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation

Norm Tyler, FAICP Professor Emeritus, Eastern Michigan University Urban and Regional Planning

Purpose of this Session

• Explore the evolution of our profession • Discuss the role of present-day

planners • Identify ways to increase

understanding of what we do, and how to elevate our voice and skills for bigger impact

• Highlight contemporary issues that could not have been anticipated when our industry was in its infancy and to position planners as problem solvers and leaders

• Climate change • Globalism • Sustainability • New technologies • New approaches,

applications and techniques

• Infrastructure • Public transit and

accessibility • Housing for all • Jobs and Education

A Brief History of City Planning

(We have to know where we’ve been to understand where we are going…)

Origins of Planning Profession

Public Health

(Infrastructure)

Social Work

(Improving the lives of

residents)

Architecture (built Environment)

City Planners

1890 to1915 City Beautiful Movement – Progressive Era 1850 through 1900 - Industrial Revolution 1893 Chicago Exposition 1907 first City Planning Commission - BIRTH OF PLANNING 1909 Harvard offers first course in city planning 1914 to 1917 - World War I

1916 to 1928 Institutionalization of Planning 1916 NYC - First Comprehensive Zoning 1917 - American City Planning Institute Established 1923 - Regional Planning Association of American established

1933 to 1938 New Deal 1933 Federal Emergency Relief Administration 1933 Public Works Administration 1933 Civil Works Administration 1934 Housing Act 1934 American Society of Planning Officials 1935 Works Progress Administration (WPA) and Social Security

1939 to 1945 World War II 1935 Cornell and MIT offer planning programs 1937 US Housing Act (Wagner-Steagall millions for low cost housing) 1937 Farm Security Administration established to alleviate the condition of the

rural poor 1940’s Urban and regional planning programs started at University of MI,

University of IL, University of NC, University of Chicago, UC Berkley

1946 to early 1960’s Post War Consumer Period 1949 Housing Act, first housing legislation 1954 Housing Act created the Urban Planning Assistance Program to aid states and localities and provided early federal support for regional planning. 1956 U.S. Federal-Aid Highway Act 1961 Jane Jacobs, The Death and Life of Great American Cities

1963 to 1980 Urban Crisis 1964 Economic Opportunity Act and Urban Mass Transportation Act 1965 Public Works and Economic Development Act of 1965 creates the (EDA) and Department of Housing and Urban Development Act (HUD) replaces Housing and Home Finance Agency 1966 Demonstration Cities and Metropolitan Development Act (including the Model Cities program) 1967 Urban Riots/Rebellions in Detroit, Newark and other cities 1968 Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Act 1968 Fair Housing Act (Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act) prohibited discrimination in housing based on race, color, sex, national origin, or religion

1963 to 1980 Urban Crisis 1969 NEPA: The National Environmental Policy Act (requires EIS for every federal or federally-aided state or local major action that would affect the environment) 1970 National Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) established. Administers the main provisions of the Clean Air Act 1973 Oregon Statewide Land Use Law (leading to urban growth boundaries) 1974 Housing and Community Development Act establishes the block grant (CDBG), as opposed to the categorical grant, as the main form of federal aid for local development. 1975 The New Jersey Supreme Court ruled, in Southern Burlington County N.A.A.C.P. v. Mount Laurel Township, that the township's zoning excluded low- and moderate-income persons. led to the principle that localities had an obligation to provide affordable housing) 1978 Hawaii becomes the first state to institute statewide zoning. 1978 ASPO and AIP combined into the American Planning Association (APA)

1989 to Present Globalization and Climate Change

1991 Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA), Federal law encouraging intermodal transportation policies, and granting new powers to MPOs.

1992 US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) begins the HOPE VI program (to provide low-rise, urban, walkable housing -- as an alternative to the old model of high-rise public housing and the concentration of poverty)

1997 State of Maryland enacts "Smart Growth and Neighborhood Conservation" legislation. 1998 United States Green Building Council introduces

the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification system. 2005 The US Supreme Court rules in favor of eminent domain authority in the case Kelo v. City of New London

Contemporary Planning Issues Transportation - Multi-modal, Complete Streets, bike share, driverless vehicles

Demographics - Aging and browning of America, immigration

Ideological differences – urban versus rural, anti- versus pro-government, individual rights versus a shared public interest, social service safety nets versus bootstraps philosophies

Affordable Housing Crisis

Crumbling Roads and Bridges

Sustainability and resilience, clean air and water

Green and blue infrastructure to mitigate effects of climate change

Health - Food access, mobility, obesity, diabetes and heart disease

Federal Policy – What will happen with HUD, EPA, DOT?

Thomas Campanella, Cornell University Jane Jacobs and the Death and Life of American Planning

Suggests “that planning is a diffuse and ineffective field that . . . has been largely unsuccessful over the last half century at its own game: bringing about more just, sustainable, healthful, efficient and beautiful cities and regions. …a looming sense that planners in America lack the agency or authority to turn idealism into reality, (and) that planning has neither the prestige nor the street cred to effect real change.”

Dr. Campanella Posits…

The disciplinary identity of planning was diminished

• Planners have been blamed for the excesses of

urban renewal and other problems facing our cities

• Planning developed an “Identify crisis” and uncertainty about our purpose and relevance

Have Planners Become Bureaucrats? Functionaries? Technocrats?

Are we reduced to “slogging through the bureaucratic maze, issuing permits and enforcing zoning codes, hosting community get-togethers, making sure developers get their submittals in on time and pay their fees?”

Have we become a caretaker profession, reactive rather

than proactive, corrective instead of preemptive, rule bound and hamstrung and anything but visionary?

What is the Role of Today’s – and the 21st Century’s – Planner?

Bureaucrat?

Visionary?

Facilitator?

Leader?

A Planner’s Identity Crisis?

Designated Survivor – Hit Show

Which. Is. It?

Anyone know who this guy is?

Mark Brendanawicz, City Planner Pawnee IL One Season on hit show Parks and Rec They literally did not know what to do with him!

So let’s get started…

A Conversation With Some of the Best Minds in the Industry

Some Themes

• Observations about the evolution of the profession and the role of the present day planner

• Technology • Planning Equity and Fairness • Climate change and resiliency • Politics • Other – YOUR ideas! • Q and A – use the microphone

The BIG Questions

What is the larger purpose of the planning profession?

What needs to change to help us become

better planners – visionaries! – for our communities?

What DOES it mean to be a planner today?

Evolution of the Profession

How do you see the future of our profession evolving in the 21st century?

Visionary VS Functionary or Technocrat?

What are the most pressing issues facing our industry today?

And are planners prepared to lead on critical issues?

Technology

Technological advances in recent decades, from GIS, CAD, and sketchup, to social media like Facebook, snap chat, Pinterest, twitter, Instagram and others have changed how we plan and engage.

How will technology change the way we plan in the 21st century? How will technology change the way we interact with

our communities?

Smart cars, driverless vehicles, flying cars, GPS, teleporting . . .

Planning Equity and Fairness

• Affordable Housing • Transit and Accessibility • Quality Jobs and Education • Health • Environmental Impacts • Immigration • Increasing poverty levels • Fewer social safety nets

• How can planners better lead the way in dealing with equity issues?

• How can planners better communicate with residents and local leaders about largely misunderstood issues such as affordable housing and transit?

Climate Change Climate change intersects with everything

we do as planners. We are ethically obligated to introduce the facts and science

of climate change, and the likely consequences of doing little or nothing, and

the imperative to act now.

Politics How can planners become more influential in local government?

Planners work in a political world. We have a unique role to play in informing,

educating and guiding elected and appointed leaders

as well as the community at large.

The BIG Questions

What is the larger purpose of the planning profession?

What needs to change to help us become

better planners – visionaries! – for our communities?

What DOES it mean to be a planner today?