PLANNING WITH THE PEOPLE:

TPL. KOLA L AWAL

tplklaw@gmail.com, 07051606787
URBAN PLANNING
AND
URBAN PLANNER
 Urban planning – Meaning & Scope
 The art and science of ordering the use of land and siting of
buildings and communication routes so as to secure the
maximum practicable degree of economy, convenience, and
beauty - Keeble, 1969.
 Urban Planning is the of design and regulation of the uses of
space that focus on the physical form, economic functions and
social impacts of the built environment and on the location of
different activities within it.
 Planning means the scientific, aesthetic, and orderly
disposition of land, resources, facilities and services with a
view to securing the physical, economic and social efficiency,
health and well-being of urban and rural communities – CIP, 2000.
Elements of Planning System
Town planning is the
organization of all Physical,
Social and Economic
elements of urban
environment - Indicating
that planning is about the
people
 Key actors in urban planning

General Town
Public Planners

Developers

Planning is not an isolated activity; rather, it involves all segments of the

community. Planning actions are determined by an interactions of
residents (Public), business people (Developers), and Politicians
(Government).
WHAT ARE THE KEY ROLES OF PLANNERS TO THE PEOPLE
• Planners work with public officials, community members, and
other groups to identify community issues, needs & goals.
• Planners help communities plan & manage the related
economic, social, and environmental issues, such as planning
laying out community land, plan a new market, sheltering the
homeless, or making the community more attractive
• Urban planners develop short- and long-term plans / projects
to create, grow, or revitalize a community. It may range from a
policy recommendation for a specific initiative to a short term
local plan /long-term, comprehensive area plan.
• They coordinate communities for overall developments
 CHALLENGES OF THE PLANNING PROFESSION IN
THE PUBLIC DOMAIN
Town planners consistently
complain about their lack of
power to affect real change
in the built environment and
about the negative
perceptions that the public
has towards their profession,
this is mainly because they Mistrust & Lack of
have failed to adequately Political will to
initiate and
involve the public in their implement Plans

work
(Witty, 1998)
 URBAN CHALLENGES
Urban
Traffic Environ
Logjam mental
Poverty

Urban
Slum

Informal
Develop
ment

The many challenges confronting our dear nation in recent times have been as a
result of poor planning and lack of adequate involvement of the public in finding
localized solutions to our challenges.
Rittel and Webber (1973) referred to planning
problems as wicked problems that
could not be solved using standard solutions.

Each planning problem is unique and

requires a careful approach to solving it; a solution
for one problem might be a problem generation
for another,

the people concern are in best position to

understand their problems and advance solutions to
them.
NEW PARADIGM REQUIRED
TO ACHIEVE THE GOAL OF URBAN PLANNING IT IS NECESSARY
TO FULLY ADOPT NEW PLANNING APPROACHES AND SYSTEMS
SUCH AS BOTTOM UP & ADVOCACY PLANNING WHICH ADDRESS
URBAN GROWTH AND THE MAJOR ENVIRONMENT AND
RESOURCE ISSUES, AND WHICH ARE PEOPLE CENTRED AND
PRO-POOR

Public

The Public The Public

Friedmann (1973) emphasized a gap between clients and planners.
He argued that planners communicate using highly technical
language (e.g., graphs, tables), which makes people uncomfortable
and frustrated.

Public involvement is now a key element in the planning process.

Some theorists argue that public participation in the planning
process leads to better plans, while others criticize planners for
poor citizen incorporation in the plan-making process (Brody,
Godshalk & Burby, 2003).

Public participation benefits the planning process

by making planning comprehensive and improves it by bringing in
new insights and ideas
(Day, 1997)
PUBLIC
PARTICIPATION
SPECTRUM
PLANNING PROCESS AND PUBLIC
ENGAGEMENT
Nigerian Environmental Study/Action Executive
Director Commissions Water Project at Orile-Owu
Community Osun State Nigeria.
Architect Kunlé Adeyemi and his architecture, urban design and
planning firm NLÉ to begin working towards solutions for the
neighborhood's survival, especially as rising sea levels and
Lagos' desire to eradicate slum housing threaten its existence.
 ADVOCACY PLANNING

• Advocacy planning as formulated by Paul

Davidoff around 1960 is a pluralistic and
inclusive planning approach where planners
seek to represent the interests of various groups
within society.
• Advocacy is the act of supporting a cause to
produce a desired change.
• We advocate because we feel strongly about a
particular issue.
The central ideas of advocacy planning were
equal rights for all people to be part of the
planning process with reduction of political power
(Mazziotti, 1982).

Advocacy planning called for planners to be local

representative and to provide service for
neighborhoods
(Davidoff, 1965).
Types of Advocacy
There are many different types of advocacy,
including:
• self-advocacy.
• group advocacy.
• peer advocacy.
• citizen advocacy.
• professional advocacy.
• non-instructed advocacy.
Davidoff believed that upholding the Advocacy ideology in the planning process
led to three major improvements within the planning discipline.

• First is the raising of the public’s awareness about planning issues. By

employing a method of participatory planning and engaging with the wider
community, this helps the public to realise that planning is not simply a process
engaged by well educated men of science, rather that the best planners are
the people themselves. It is the realisation that the public has the freedom and
choice to develop plans according to their needs.
• Secondly, this ideal structure for advocacy planning allows planners to
compete among themselves while representing the views of their people.
Healthy amounts of competition should in fact raise the standard and quality of
planning practices and outcomes.
• Finally, rather than critiquing the planners and institutions that support them,
those that are critical are given the opportunity to instead provide input and
feedback on the plans with which they disagree. Creating an environment that
encourages positive attitudes towards constructive participation.
• It is about influencing change (in policy, attitudes and practice)
• Defending the weak against the strong
• Aims to achieve lasting and positive change in poor peoples’ lives
• Successful in blocking insensitive planning
• Social policy & environmental justice became important planning
issues
• It is a long term process rather than a one-off event
• It is not an end in itself
• Draws legitimacy and credibility from our knowledge and
experience (evidence base)
INGREDIENTS OF ADVOCACY PLANNING
 Identification &
Analysis issues;
Formulation of
measurable objectives

5 1
STAGES OF
Identification
& analysis of
ADVOCACY
stakeholders
PLANNING
2

3
KEY APPROACHES USED IN ADVOCACY
•Involving leaders and interest groups
• Working with mass media
• Building partnership
• Mobilizing the community groups
• Capacity building
PERSUASION TECHNIQUES
Pressuring
Sensitizing Debating
Negotiating Dialoguing
Mobilizing
Petitioning

Lobbying Media & Visual techniques

KEY APPROACHES USED IN ADVOCACY
• Ensure that public input is possible
• Ensure that the sponsor agency /Government is committed and
able to involve the public
• Identify where public input is desired and possible
• Assess and assemble needed skills Communication, Facilitation, Conflict
Management etc.

• Identify specific stakeholders

• Identify the range of stakeholder perspectives
consider a broad range of interests that may be important to the
community – Housing; Commerce and Local economy; Health and Safety; Pollution; Congestion; Crime; etc
• Identify and commit needed resources
• Build relationships
FORMS OF ADVOCACY / PEOPLE CENTRED PLANNING

• PRO-BONO SERVICE : undertake professional work without

charge, for a client on low income.
• ORGANISING COMMUNITIES FOR DEVELOPMENT: land pooling,
layout of community land, guides & Development advising
• ADVOCATES FOR COMMUNITY PROJECTS: a link to the
government on behalf of the people
• PILOT PROJECTS: working to develop pilot and demonstrating
projects for communities to build trust
• SOURCING FUNDING FOR COMMUNITY PROJECTS: Sourcing
funding from NGOs and donor agency for community plans and
projects