The Knife's Edge

Planning as a profession is widely considered to be a recent phenomenon, at least in a professional sense. Something created in the nineteenth century in order to meet a growing dissatisfaction with urban development. In reality planning has existed ever since mankind gave up the nomadic lifestyle; and it could easily be argued that it is older still. Since the only alternative to planning is true anarchy, something championed by a very small minority, planning has become a de-facto, if unrecognised aspect of human development.

Klosterman speaks about the debate "For and Against Planning" in his article in the Town Planning Review from 1985. In reality rather than being a series of arguments about the necessity of planning it is rather a debate on the degree of official planning that should be incorporated into the nation-state, both publicly and privately. Planning has become the all-encompassing purview, dedicated to the lofty ideals of shaping the world around us as we see fit. Debates abound about the purpose of planning; is it to be dedicated to the environment, to industry or to the people, but in reality all planning takes this into account and more. No sphere of activity, no change in technology or demographics can be considered insignificant to the planner.

This is the greatest challenge to the modern planner, for the first time in history information from every field is available readily, and it is all relevant. But this deluge of data can rapidly overwhelm any attempt to act or prioritise. The planner becomes paralysed for fear of changing anything in way that may have negative repercussions; and you can never make everyone happy. Many people praise Haussmann's redevelopment of Paris, but his contemporaries hated it. It has taken almost 150 years to vindicate his designs, a time frame most planners aren't even considering.

The debate about the degree of planning desired in our everyday lives is likely to continue unabated for as long as there are people around to have it. Circumstances will vary, fashions in planning will come and go, and the populace will not doubt continue to have a love hate relationship with the field. In the end, however, planning must forever balance itself upon the knife's edge. With a stifled, sterile world in which all initiative is subject to regulation and over-sight upon the one side, and a chaotic mass of human detritus preventing any direction or control over the future upon the other.