AVS. Arkitektúr verktækni skipulag - 01.09.2003, Page 57

Planning and the Role of Consultants
is often necessary to use more
methods than urban design.
To better understand the content
of planning, one should go out-
side and „read the landscape.11
This means to go and look, read
and iisten and try to understand
why the urban landscape or any
other landscape looks the way it
does. This reading has unavoid-
ably to do with geology, geogra-
phy, climatology, history, eco-
nomics, law, technical and con-
struction knowledge, sociology,
design tradition and the prevailing
fashion and policies. This reading
can indicate what aspects have
to be taken into account during
the planning process.
It is obvious that it is necessary to
take into account natural condi-
tions, such as climate, soil, the
prevailing taste for the look of
buildings, and the atmosphere of
any neighbourhood. Less empha-
sis has however been put on
the social and economic aspects
of planning, or what could be
called the political side of plan-
ning. Decisions by elected coun-
cillors about the use of land and
densities are unavoidably political.
This simple fact is true because
as being put forward by Frank
Popper: Land is the most primi-
tive source of power, and how
this power is distributed (i.e., with
planning decisions) influences the
making of society. This may not
be obvious to planning consult-
ants in their daily work but it is
necessary that they realise this
and act accordingly. To be suc-
cessful, planning consultants
have to work with elected coun-
cillors, the public and all interest-
ed parties. In this cooperation,
planning consultants play the role
of guide. They are professional
advisors who have to know the
needs of the society and in addi-
tion have technical knowledge of
the aspects of planning, such as
landscape, traffic, the urban fab-
ric, and economic, social and
now increasingly environmental
factors. In addition, planning con-
sultants have to know and use
the methods of mediators
because unavoidably they often
have to settle different points of
view. These increased demands
on planning means that plans can
hardly be prepared without the
multi-disciplinary cooperation of
specialists.
This increased discussion about
planning has encouraged both
laymen and learned people alike
to get involved in the planning
process. That fact alone makes
increasing demands on planning
consultants. This is a positive
trend, which encourages profes-
sional workmanship and more
critical thinking within the disci-
pline of planning that as any other
fields of learning - and plans -
are subject to constant review
and redevelopment. ■
(Part of this article was pubiished in
Arkitíðindi in 2002.)
Tillaga að þéttin
Prorosed Increased Density Zones, Reykjavík Development Plan, 2000.
55