School of Urban and Regional Planning

SCHOOL OF URBAN AND REGIONAL PLANNING

Department of Geography and Planning

Queen's University at Kingston

FALL 2015

SURP 817 An Intellectual History of Urban and Regional Planning

Monday 8:30am to 11:30am, RSH 554

Course Instructors: Dr. David GordonSue Cumming

______

COURSE DESCRIPTION

This is a course about planning ideas -- ideas that have been used to plan cities and regions. As such, it does not focus on histories of urban development or planning or, indeed, the planning profession, although aspects of these topics will enter into our discussions. Instead, the course emphasizes the origins and evolution of historical and contemporary ideas that undergird Canadian planning practice in its various forms, such as land use, housing, human services and environment.

The name of the course is a product of much discussion within the School. That we chose to call it ‘An Intellectual History ...’ is noteworthy in that it moves us away from a chronology of the development of the Canadian planning profession and places us squarely within the realm of the ideas that underlie the practice of urban and regional planning. Finally, urban and regional planning is taken to be a broad, multi-disciplinary field that includes many diverse threads of activities and beliefs but which are held together by common concepts and values.

The course structure selected to cover this material includes lectures, discussions and presentations. Class discussions will be conducted in a variety of formats, varying from week to week, and ranging from case analyses and debates to formal presentations. Specific topics and cases are assigned for each week. Please come prepared to analyse and discuss the assigned topics and readings on the week that they are being discussed.

EVALUATION

Term Paper proposal due Week 9-November 9, in class10%

Active, skilled class participation (including class presentation)20%

Final Examination – During week of December 7 to 11, 201540%

Term paper – Due Friday, December 18, 2015, noon30%

Total100%

Term Paper Proposal (due Week 9 – November 9, 2015 in class)

Prepare a short proposal (two-pages; 12 pt. font, 1” margins) for your term paper and include the following:
1. A tentative title for your proposed paper.

2. Description of the topic and the ideas behind them. If possible, include the main thesis or objective of your paper

3. Three key sources and a short annotation (3 to 5 sentences) indicating the relevance of the source for your paper. At least two of your key sources must be from peer-reviewed scholarly sources (either chapters from edited books or academic journals) not currently listed among your course readings.

4. A cover sheet is not required;however, please remember to include your name, course title, the date, and other particulars at the top of your first page. Paginate. Check for spelling and grammar before you hand in your work!

Your instructor(s) will return your proposal to you with comments, so that you may proceed with your research.

Term Paper (due Friday, December 18, 2015 at noon)

Your term paper shoulddescribe, elaborate, and critique a planning concept/idea and show its relevance and limitations in practice, preferably by citing an example (or more). The paper should be 4000-5000 words, double-spaced, 12pt. font. Papers must be submitted by 12:00 noon on Friday, December 18, 2015. Late papers will lose one mark (out of 40) for each day (or portion thereof) after this time. Papers containing any plagiarized material (see your School handbook) will receive a grade of zero (0).

Grading Method:

All components of this course will receive numerical percentage marks. The final grade you receive for the course will be derived by converting your numerical course average to a letter grade according to Queen’s Official Grade Conversion Scale:

Queen’s Official Grade Conversion Scale

Grade / Numerical Course Average (Range)
A+ / 90-100
A / 85-89
A- / 80-84
B+ / 77-79
B / 73-76
B- / 70-72
C+ / 67-69
C / 63-66
C- / 60-62

Grades below B- are considered as a failure for MPL graduate courses.

COURSE MATERIALS

Required Texts (on sale at Campus Bookstore)

Hodge, Gerald and Gordon, David L.A. (2014) Planning Canadian Communities, 6th edition (Toronto: Nelson). If you possess a copy of the 5th edition, you will need to purchase new chapters directly from the publisher.

Sewell, John (1993).The Shape of the City(Toronto: U. of T. Press)

Recommended Text (for sale at Campus Bookstore; chapters on reserve)

Hall, Peter (2014) Cities of Tomorrow, 4rd Edition (London: Basil Blackwell). The 3rd edition is acceptable; however, you should verify the page numbers.

Other readings will be posted on the course Moodle site for reading / printing, with a hard copy available in the SURP 817 box in the school office.

September 14, 2015

Timetable and Readings

This course is team-taught and represents a melding of different approaches to the course material and processes. There will be readings assigned for each session and a suggested chronology will sometimes be provided (i.e. if your readings are numbered, the first reading listed should be read before the second and so on to get an overview of the evolution of relevant ideas). Both required and recommended readings are listed for many sessions.

While there is much written on planning history, it is often a challenge to locate appropriate material framed within a Canadian context. In choosing our readings, we have endeavored to emphasize Canadian writers but also include some readings from outside Canada, which are, we believe, important contributions to historical discussions of planning ideas.Important background information and readings from previous years are listed in the website for the course text

Accessing some readings and lecture materials via Moodle or through Queen’s University Libraries
Students must access all required readings (except the course texts) from Moodle or directly from the Queen’s University Library website. Use your Net ID and password to Log In to: You will see the link for SURP 817 show up after you log in. In addition, PowerPoint slides presented during course lectures for Sessions 5 to 9 will also be posted on Moodle, AFTER the lecture. Whenever available, the books from which the chapters were obtained are placed onSURP 817 course reserve at Stauffer Library and are available for your use on a 3-day loan.Remember that if you are off-campus, in order to access journal articles from the Queen’s University library site, you must sign in using the “Connect from Off-Campus” link.

SURP 817 - FALL 2015CLASS SCHEDULE – RSH 554

WK / CLASS / DATE
(Mon.) / TIME / TOPIC / Instructor
1 / 1 / Sept. 14 / 8:30-11:30 / What is Urban & Regional Planning? / DG/SC
2 / 2 / Sept. 21 / 8:30-11:30 / Ideal Communities / DG
3 / 3A / Sept. 28 / 8:30-11:30 / City Planning Movements / DG
3B / FRI
Sept 25 3PM / OPTIONAL / Kingston Walking Tour / DG
4 / 4A / Oct 5 / 8:30-11:30 / Modernism and Planning / DG
4B / WED
Oct. 7 / OPTIONAL / Field Trip to Toronto
OPPI conference Oct. 7-9, 2015 / DG
5 / 5 / FRI
Oct. 16
No Class on Mon, Oct. 12 / 8:30-11:30 / Planning Theory 1
Thanksgiving (replacement class on Fri. October 16, 2015) / SC
6 / 6 / Oct. 19 / 8:30-11:30 / Environmental Planning / GW
7 / 7A / Oct. 26 / 8:30-11:30 / Planning Theory 2 / SC
7B / SAT
Oct. 25 / OPTIONAL / Montreal Field Trip
Sat. Oct. 24 and Sun Oct. 25 / DG
8 / 8 / Nov.2 / 8:30-11:30 / Planning, Diversity and Healthy Communities / SC
9 / 9 / Nov. 9 / 8:30-11:30 / Social Planning / SC
10 / 10 / Nov. 16 / 8:30-10:30 / Post-Modern Urban Planning / DG
11 / 11 / Nov. 23 / 8:30-11:30 / Post-Modern Suburban Planning / DG
12 / 12A
12B / Nov. 30 / 8:30-10:00
10:00 - 11:30 / Regional Planning / Smart Growth
Course Wrap Up / DG
SC/DG

SESSION 1 - Urban Planning – Definitions, Scope and Overview of History (DG/SC)

Monday, September 14, 2015

Topics:

What is urban planning? What is its domain?
How did it evolve into a modern profession in Canada?

3.Significant contributions of historical civilisations to urban planning: Classical cities; Medieval European city; Non-Western contributions: Islamic, Chinese, Indian and south-central American urban heritages and North American Aboriginal Communities.

Readings:

1.Hodge, Gerald & Gordon David, (2014) Planning Canadian Communities Toronto: Nelson, Ch.1, Ch. 2.

Wolfe, Jeanne (1994) “Our Common Past: An Interpretation of Canadian Planning History” Plan Canada July ’94.

Then >Publications >Plan Canada >75th Anniversary Special Edition>Our Common Past

SESSION 2 - Ideal Communities in the Early 20th Century (DG)

Monday, September 21, 2015

Topics:

The Garden City and Garden Suburb
The City Beautiful Movement
Broadacre City

Readings:

Hall, Peter (2014) Cities of Tomorrow, 3rd ed., (London: Basil Blackwell) Ch 4 & 6.
Hodge, G. & Gordon, D., (2014) Ch. 3 and 4..
Grabow, Stephan (1977) "Frank Lloyd Wright and the American City: The Broadacres Debate", Journal of the American Planning Association (JAPA), 43(2), April, pp. 115-124.

Plans for Student Presentation and Discussion:

Burnham, Daniel H. and E. Bennett (1909) Plan of Chicago, (NY: Princeton Architectural Press 1993 re-issue)

Mawson, Thomas (1913) Calgary: a preliminary scheme…; E. Joyce Morrow (1979) Calgary, Many Years Hence: The Mawson Report in Perspective, (Calgary: University of Calgary).

Abercrombie, Patrick (1945) Greater London Plan, 1944. London: HMSO

Plantown Consultants, North Pickering Project Recommended Plan, Toronto (1975)

Question for Class Discussion:

Identify the political philosophies underlying these three concepts (Garden City, City Beautiful, Broadacre City).

SESSION 3A - The City Planning Movements (DG)

Monday, September 28, 2015

Topics:

Parks & Conservation Movement
City Scientific
Zoning and Separation of Land Uses
Comprehensive Planning

Readings:

1.Hodge, G. & Gordon, D. (2014) pp. 81-91; 210-218; 387-95; 6th ed.; (85-92; 203-210; 329-339 (5th ed)).

2.Adams, Thomas (1921) "Editorial: Town Planning is a Science" Journal of the Town Planning Institute of Canada, Vol.1, No.3, pp.1-3. April 1921.(Available at SURP office and as PDF on Moodle.)

3.Gabor, Andrea and F. Lewinberg (1997) “Zoning: New Urbanism” Plan Canada,

Vol. 38, No.4, pp.12-17.(Available at SURP office and as PDF on Moodle.)

Plans for Student Presentation and Discussion:

Olmsted, Frederick L. (1881) Mount Royal, New York: Putman, Reprinted in The Papers of FrederickLaw Olmsted, Supplementary Series, Volume1. Baltimore, John Hopkins UP, 1997.
** note: We will visit Mount Royal in Montreal.** Be prepared to act as a tour guide and to make your presentation during the field trip in Montreal on Saturday, October 24, 2015.

Todd, Frederick, (1904) Report to the Ottawa Improvement Commissioners Ottawa: OIC

Toronto Harbour Commissioners (1911) Toronto Waterfront Development 1912-1920

Vancouver Town Planning Commission (1929) A Plan for the City of Vancouver, BC. Vancouver: Wrigley Printing Co.

Gréber, Jacques (1950) Plan for The National Capital, (Ottawa: National Capital Planning Service).

SESSION 3B – OPTIONAL KINGSTON WALKING TOUR

FRIDAY September 25, 2015 at 3:00PM

SESSION 4A – Modernism and Planning (DG)

Monday, October 5, 2015

Topics:

Congrès Internationaux d'Architecture Moderne (CIAM)
Urban Renewal
Modern suburbs

Readings:

Hall, Peter (2014) Cities of Tomorrow, (London, Basil Blackwell), Ch. 7, "The City of Towers" pp. 237-246 only.
Sert, J.L. (1942) Can Our Cities Survive?, (Cambridge MA: Harvard U.P.) pp. 246-249 only.
Sewell, John (1993) The Shape of the City, (Toronto: U of T) Ch. 2,3,4.
Silver, C. (1985) "Neighbourhood Planning in Historical Perspective",Journal of the American Planning Association, Spring 1985 pp 161174.
Perry, Clarence A. (1939) "The Neighbourhood Unit Formula" in Housing for the Machine Age, New York: Russell Sage Foundation, pp. 4982.(Available at SURP office and as PDF on Moodle.)

City Plans for Student Presentations:

Stephenson, Gordon (1957) A Redevelopment Study of Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Stephenson, Gordon and G. Muirhead (1960) Planning Study of Kingston, Ontario(field trip)

Wylie & Ufnal (1970) Sydenham Ward Urban Renewal Scheme (City of Kingston)(field trip)

Project Planning Associates (ca. 1969) Erin Mills plan

SESSION 4B - WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 7– OPTIONAL TORONTO FIELD TRIP

Oct. 7 to Oct.9, 2015 – OPPI Conference

***Student Tour Guide(s) and presentations will be made during this trip***

Plans are associated with:

Don Mills Suburb
Don Mills Centre Redevelopment
Affordable Housing – West Donlands
Bringing Back the Don (1991) (see Week 9)
Nathan Phillips Square

MONDAY OCTOBER 13, 2015 – THANKSGIVING -NO CLASS

SESSION 5 – Planning Theory 1: Planning as Process(SC)

Friday, October 16, 2015 8:30 to 11:30

(replacement class for Thanksgiving Monday Class)

Topics:

Normative Rationality and Democratic Processes
Planning Ethics and what it means to be an expert.
What defines relationship(s) between planners and the ‘public’
Planning in the Face of Conflict.

Readings:

Hendler, Sue (2002), It’s the Right Thing To Do Or Is It? Contemporary Issues in Planning Ethics. Plan Canada, Avril-Mai-Juin 2002, Vol. 42, N" 2
Andreas, Blake, Sheri. (2010). Participatory Design and Howard Roark: The Story of the Detroit Collaborative Design Center. In Leonie Sandercock and Giovanni A. Attili (eds.) Multimedia Explorations in Urban Policy and Planning, pp.225-242. London and New York: Springer.
Klosterman, Richard E. (1978). Foundations for Normative Planning. Journal of the American Planning Association, 44(1): 37-46.
Chapter 15 The Texture of Participation Community Planning– Hodge and Gordon, pp.360-382.
Innes, Judith (1996) Planning Through Consensus Building: A New View of the Comprehensive Planning Ideal.Journal of the American Planning Association Vol.62, No.4, pp. 460-472.

SESSION 6 – Environmental Planning

Monday, October 19, 2015

Featured Guest Lecturer: Dr. Graham Whitelaw, MCIP, RPP

Topic:

Ecology, sustainability, and environmental justice in urban and regional planning
First Nations Peoples in environmental planning and management

Readings:

Carson, Rachel (1962) Silent Spring Houghton Mifflin Company, pp. 1-13. (Book also placed on SURP 817 Course Reserve at Stauffer Library)
McHarg, Ian (1969) Design With Nature Natural History Press, pp. 175-185. (Book also placed on SURP 817 Course Reserve at Stauffer Library)
World Commission on Environment and Development (1987) Our Common Future, pp. 1-23. Book also placed on SURP 817 Course Reserve at Stauffer Library)
Whitelaw, G., P. Eagles, R. Gibson and M. Seasons (2008) Roles of environmental movement organizations in land-use planning: Case studies of the Niagara Escarpment and Oak Ridges Moraine, Ontario, Canada, Journal ofEnvironmental Planning and Management, 51(6): 801-816.
Lane, Marcus. B. (2006). The role of planning in achieving indigenous land justice and community goals. Land Use Policy, 23: 385-394.

Optional Reading:

Spirn, Anne Whiston. 1984. The granite garden : urban nature and human design. New York : Basic Books. On SURP 817 Course Reserve at Stauffer Library. Call number. HT166 .S638 1984

Plans for Student Presentation and Discussion:

Niagara Escarpment Plan (1985)
Bringing Back the Don (1991) (to be presented on Montreal Field Trip, Oct. 4)
National Capital Commission, Greenbelt Master Plan, Ottawa (1996)
Ontario, Greenbelt Plan, (2005)
PlaNYC – Sustainability (2007)

SESSION 7A – Planning Theory 2: Planning and Power(SC)

Monday, October 26, 2015

Topics:

Planning in the Face of Power
Communicative rationality
Challenges for Theory and Practice

Readings:

Forester, John, (1989), Planning in the Face of Power, (University of California Press), Ch. 3 & 5.
Healey, Patsy. 1992. Planning through Debate: The communicative turn in planning theory. The Town Planning Review, 63(2): 143-162.
Huxley, Margo, and Oren Yiftachel. (2000). New Paradigm or Old Myopia? Unsettling the Communicative Turn in Planning Theory. Journal of Planning Education and Research, 19(4):333-342.
Porter, Libby. (2006). Planning in (Post)Colonial Settings: Challenges for Theory and Practice. Planning Theory and Practice, 7(4): 383-396.
Matunga, Hirini. (2013). Theorizing Indigenous Planning. In R. Walker, T. Jojola, and D. Natcher (Eds.) Reclaiming Indigenous Planning, 3-32. Kingston and Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press.

Session 7B – SATURDAY, OCTOBER 25 – OPTIONAL

FIELD TRIP TO MONTREAL

***Student Tour Guide(s) and presentations will be made during this trip***

Plans are associated with:

Affordable Housing – Benny Farm
Bois Franc, Montreal (1994) – see Week 11
Quartier des Spectacles
Frederick Law Olmsted – Mount Royal (1881) – see Week 3

SESSION 8 –Planning, Diversity and Healthy Communities (SC)

Monday, November 2, 2015

Topics:

Planning for Healthy Communities: Healthy City Movement, Health Supporting Community Design Policy and Tools.
Planning with and for different demographic groups (Planning for Aging Friendly

Communites, Planning for Children, Planning for Vulnerable Populations).

Readings:

Shoshkes E. and S. Adler (2009) Planning for healthy people/healthy places: lessons from mid-twentieth century global discourse. Planning Perspectives, 24(2): 197-217.
Chapter 13 Planning for Diverse and Healthy Communities, in Hodge and Gordon
Hendler, Sue. (2005). “A Dammed-up Reservoir of Ability: Women on the National Council of the Community Planning Association of Canada” Plan Canada, 45(3): 15-17.
Nelson, Jennifer. (2011) ‘Panthers or Thieves’: Racialized knowledge and the regulation of Africville. Journal of Canadian Studies, 45 (1): 121-147.

Plans for Student Presentation and Discussion:

Finding the Right Fit: Age Friendly Community Planning. (2013) Ontario Seniors’ Secretariat.
Region of Peel. “Health Background Study. Development of a Health Background Study Framework.”.
Burnaby Social Sustainability Strategy, 2012

Recipient of 2012 CIP Award of Planning Excellence.

(City of) Thompson. “Thompson Economic Development Plan: Restorative Justice Facility.”

Recipient of 2014 CIP Award of Planning Excellence.

SESSION 9 – Social Planning (SC)

Monday, November 9, 2015

Topics

Introduction to the history of social planning in Canada and the United States

Readings

The Research Committee of the League for Social Reconstruction. (1975) [original 1935] Social Planning for Canada. Toronto and Buffalo: University of Toronto Press, pp. vi-xxiv.
Moffat, Ken; George, Usha; Lee, Bill; and Susan McGrath. (1999). Advancing citizenship: A study of social planning. Community Development Journal, 34(4): 308-317.
Hodge & Gordon. (2014), pp. 56-59.

Plans for Student Presentations and Discussion:

Addams, Jane. (1895) Hull House Maps and Papers, Chicago: Hull House
All Aboard: Manitoba’s Poverty Reduction and Social Inclusion Strategy (2011)

A Place to Call Home – Edmonton’s Ten-Year Plan to End Homelessness (Update Year 5 – Halfway to 10) (April 2014)

Regent Park Revitalization Plan Toronto (2003)

HAND IN TERM PAPER PROPOSAL TO THE INSTRUCTOR

SESSION 10 - Post Modern Urban Planning (DG)

Monday, November 16, 2015

Topics:

Urban Design
Intensification
Public-Private Partnerships

Readings:

1.Jencks, Charles (1986) Postmodernism New York: St. Martin’s Press, pp.7-10.

2.Jacobs, Jane (1961) The Death and Life of Great American Cities, (New York: Random House) pp. 1-2, 50-54.

3.Sewell, John (1993) The Shape of the City, (Toronto: U of T) Ch. 5-6, pp. 136-198, Skim Ch.5, read Ch.6 carefully.

4.Hall, Peter (2014) Cities of Tomorrow, (London: Basil Blackwell), Ch. 11, “The City of Enterprise”

Plans for Student Presentation and Discussion: