So I'm not really sure how to go about these blogs but here is my first attempt.
So this past week we had a reading discussing fifty theses on urban planning ("Fifty Theses on Urban Planning and Urban Planners" Raphael Fischler). The essay outlined the how complicated it is to define the process of urban planning and even pin-point an inception period for when urban planning become an independent discipline. The various theses ranged from basic descriptions about the industry to paradoxes that occur when trying to define what urban planning is. The reading even contained theses on the type of people urban planners are and what are their roles.
I found the paradoxical arguments the most interesting, as they outline the struggles that urban planning faces between the conceptual ideas and the real world application of those ideas. Especially true for me where the problems of the reign of freedom urban planners can have compared with the constraint of past plans put in place for a city. This is certainly an aspect of the Walter Burley Griffin Plan which Canberrans struggle with. How much of Griffin's ideals can be abandoned and disregarded as too old fashioned and restrictive. Obviously Canberra hopes to maintain its heritage, especially coming up to the Centenary in 2013, but Canberra must also move forward. As the capital city it needs to create a modern and metropolitan identity, one that can be an example to the rest of Australia, if not the world. This requires prudent and systematic planning which must incorporate community feedback and interaction.
Urban planning must be "marriage between science and utopia". A plan must compromise between the vision of the planners and the needs of the community. This will always be a struggle but it is worthwhile in order to achieve a city structure that reflects careful consideration and effort as well as providing a positive sense of space that is liveable and connected.
So this past week we had a reading discussing fifty theses on urban planning ("Fifty Theses on Urban Planning and Urban Planners" Raphael Fischler). The essay outlined the how complicated it is to define the process of urban planning and even pin-point an inception period for when urban planning become an independent discipline. The various theses ranged from basic descriptions about the industry to paradoxes that occur when trying to define what urban planning is. The reading even contained theses on the type of people urban planners are and what are their roles.
I found the paradoxical arguments the most interesting, as they outline the struggles that urban planning faces between the conceptual ideas and the real world application of those ideas. Especially true for me where the problems of the reign of freedom urban planners can have compared with the constraint of past plans put in place for a city. This is certainly an aspect of the Walter Burley Griffin Plan which Canberrans struggle with. How much of Griffin's ideals can be abandoned and disregarded as too old fashioned and restrictive. Obviously Canberra hopes to maintain its heritage, especially coming up to the Centenary in 2013, but Canberra must also move forward. As the capital city it needs to create a modern and metropolitan identity, one that can be an example to the rest of Australia, if not the world. This requires prudent and systematic planning which must incorporate community feedback and interaction.
Urban planning must be "marriage between science and utopia". A plan must compromise between the vision of the planners and the needs of the community. This will always be a struggle but it is worthwhile in order to achieve a city structure that reflects careful consideration and effort as well as providing a positive sense of space that is liveable and connected.
Fifty Shades of Planning... Hahahahahahaha
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