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A slightly
edited version of the following article by Tim Marshall
and Huw Thomas appeared in Planning magazine on December
1, 2006 under the title "Network to take fresh
angle on key concerns"
Planners
Network UK Launch
For centuries,
planning has attracted the attention of those who want
to see a transformation of society, who wish to work
towards a society in which the nature of social and
economic life is completely different. (Some of the
early supporters of Garden Cities would certainly come
into that category). Yet working through the implications
of such a radical impulse is not easy, and is best done
through discussion and debate. Beginning to change the
world in fundamental ways, and working out how planning
may play a part in that, poses serious intellectual
challenges, not least how might we understand how the
world - and planning in it - works. It also poses practical
challenges : what is the most practical way of developing
a momentum of change in the right direction? And how
might we best respond to contemporary developments and
initiatives in planning? Needless to say, there is also
a lot to discuss in relation to what kind of transformation,
what kind of world, is desirable!
Other than
at times of huge upheaval, a concern for social transformation
will always be a minority interest which will rarely
command attention in mainstream media, be they mass
market or professional, or education. This makes it
all the more important that there are forums where the
kinds of questions referred to above can be addressed.
This is one of the things that the Planning Network
UK can offer. It offers the opportunity to discuss contemporary
planning and develop practical responses to contemporary
issues and initiatives in frameworks which do not assume
the desirability, or inevitability, of the kind of capitalism
which now dominates the world. There will not be, nor
can there be, a PNUK view of the world or of planning.
Rather, it will bring together in a constructive and
productive way people who are out of step with the mainstream
mood of the times.
Initially
then it is likely that the network will be defined as
much by worries as by any positive set of positions
and proposals. In due course we hope that people will
find out and develop shared ideas by participating and
carrying out work on topics which they find others are
also concerned about or interested in. We expect that
working groups will be formed on a range of issues.
These might be on research areas which are tending to
be neglected by more government or business driven agendas.
Or they might be in groups set up by coalface practitioners
who feel their particular problems and experiences are
not being taken on by others. Some of this activity
might be oriented to quite immediate issues - responding
to the final report of the current Barker review might
be one example. More likely, interests might be on more
long term underlying issues, which because of the political
demands of the day are not being tackled. Examples might
include a range of social issues which seem to get systematically
downgraded in planning, alongside the relentness push
on economic and in certain respects environmental agendas.
We do not
see ourselves as going out to preach a vision of change.
If there are planners who like us are worried about
some or many developments in current British planning,
then this resonance will encourage people to use the
resources of the network. So far these resources are
limited to (1) an email list: anyone can join this by
writing to pnuk@sheffield.ac.uk. (2) a website whose
address is www.pnuk.org.uk. These are there to be used.
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