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Planning cultures


Planning cultures are the differing customs and practices in the profession of urban and regional planning that exist around the world. The discourse, models, and styles of communication in planning are adapted to the various local conditions of each community such that planning approaches from one part of the world are not necessarily transferrable to other parts of the globe. Planning culture can refer to how planning professionals undertake their practice in a given location, where they are "affected by both individual and collectively shared cognitive frames" that shape their view of the world. Planners, as stated by Simone Abram, are "constantly in the process of actually producing culture". The concept of planning culture also encompasses how planning actually unfolds within a community, as shaped by its culture and influenced by its people. Differing cultural contexts produce different planning and policy responses to issues "bound to specific local (cultural) contexts". Examples of planning cultures include those specific to different countries, regions, and parts of the globe, as well as differing cultures that exist within the same location, such as indigenous planning cultures.

In general, planning cultures evolved throughout the 20th century from a state-centred attempt at city beautification toward a more collaborative process involving the public. This differs depending on local culture; however, as planning in some locations has remained a top-down process where plans are prescribed by senior government (for example, in China). Planning culture requires treatment of different local circumstances and as such, varies around the world. In Canada, planning culture has evolved from its roots influenced by town planning in Great Britain to become a values-based political process that promotes public involvement in an attempt to give agency to various groups, although social inequalities and colonial legacies are still largely present. Indigenous planning culture, which has evolved over hundreds to thousands of years, is another distinct planning culture, within which exists distinct, fluid, and evolving planning cultures that are unique to land, history, and peoples. Today, the reclamation of Indigenous planning cultures has planning in many countries exploring how non-Indigenous and Indigenous planners can work collaboratively toward a reconciliatory, culturally-responsive, and respectful process.

Planning cultures operate within the institutions of their locations. As such, planning cultures play out within the institutional spheres of society, spheres which are consistently evolving and changing in a dynamic response to cultural stimuli. Educational institutions across the world differ in their approach to planning, contributing toward the formation of distinct planning cultures and demonstrating transformations within planning cultures through changing subject matter and emphases.


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