Planning Outlook

Cities are complex entities, containing a multitude of peoples, histories, perspectives and forces. In such a dynamic environment, where the idea of a singular “public interest” is becoming less and less viable, planning work can feel almost futile.

This context is shifting, however, and shifting quickly. Climate change and an increasingly competitive global economy mean that cities need to change quickly to keep up, and limited resources available to cities means that the implementation of policies – and who gets to benefit from new plans and initiatives – becomes an increasingly contested space. An growing acknowledgment that the impact of policies on communities can be magnified or exacerbated through past injustices and continuing inequities also means that planners must be more careful with the plans and policies they implement.

I believe that to effectively navigate this environment and make good plans that benefit the communities we work for as planners, we need to consider our practice through an ethical lens, and interrogate questions such as why we plan, who we plan for, and how we can plan better.

Prior to SCARP, I spent ten years as a planner with the Urban Redevelopment Authority of Singapore (URA), the country’s land use planning authority. This was a highly structured planning environment that is geared towards efficiency, and from my time there I understood the importance of context and pragmatism in drawing up plans that could be implemented.

My time at SCARP, and the projects and explorations I have taken on during this period, has helped me to round out this understanding. With a stronger appreciation of the need for and power of equitable, communicative planning, I hope to bring a blend of value-driven idealism and action-oriented pragmatism to my future planning work.