Urban Planning Approaches and Processes

In this section we will describe the basic concepts of planning approaches,

plan types, and the step-by step procedures to carrying out a planning
exercise:
1. Planning approaches
2. Plan types and
3. The planning process,
1. Planning Approaches
➢ Planning is an activity for the determination of future state.
➢ It involves understanding the current need of society and projecting
what would be needed in the future.
➢ It is here that different approaches emerge. There could be a difference
on philosophical issues, on power to plan, and the reality at the time of
implementation.
Two broad approaches could be cited;
1. Those aim for a total control, and
2. Those go with the tide incrementally.
➢ The first category is based on comprehensive knowledge of past,
present, and the future sufficient capacity to enforce strict control of
activities, actors, and having sufficient resources to carry out plans.
However, such situations are only ideals; in reality no one has full
knowledge of situations, full power over all actors, sufficient resources
to carry out plans.
➢ In this category of approach we have:
1. Master planning, and
2. Structural planning
➢The second category of planning approached capitalizes on the
dynamism of urban development.
➢ The stress is on the short term, on current needs, on projects. However,
it does not deny the need for a rapid assessment of conditions to
establish possible scenarios for the near future.
➢ These are action-oriented planning. Planning approaches of this
category include:
1. Strategic planning
2. Action planning

2. Forms/Types of urban planning and their components

➢ Discussion the subject of planning is always prone to
misunderstandings. There are no copyright definitions in existence.
➢ Plan types or forms differ depending on the level of plan and the planning
approach.
➢ The main approaches of urban planning are statutory and performance
oriented planning; and
➢ The major components of the main forms of urban planning are policy,
physical (including spatial aspects and infrastructure), financial,
institutional, legal support, and commitment from key stakeholders.

2.1. Statutory planning

❑ Statutory planning is the planning system set up and specified by law.

❑ Physical or spatial planning is planning of the layout, use, and servicing

of land. It is normally backed by statutory instruments.
❑ In most countries this is specified and often approved centrally, though
some countries, such as Brazil, allow considerable local freedom in the
definition of the scope and form of the plan.
➢ It is important not to dismiss statutory planning. Although it may be the
object of much criticism it has a number of important strengths which
include:
✓ Protection of critical elements can be reinforced by law,
✓ It helps to avoid ad hoc decisions based on self-interest, and
✓ There is normally trained manpower who are used to implementing
the system weaknesses include:
o Bureaucratic routines make for slow inflexible working,
o Bureaucratic divisions often isolate planning departments,
✓ The legal basis makes changes very difficult, even
in non-critical areas. This makes plans easily
outdated, thus often irrelevant and ignored or
bypasses. This in turn makes certain aspects
vulnerable for example environmental protection,

✓ It is ineffective when government is weak and/or

corruption is common and,

✓ It suffers when attitudes to law are weak.

 The two main types or forms of statutory plans, and
their characteristics:
2.1.1 Structure Plan
➢ Structure Plan contains the general mandatory provisions for the
development of a planning area.
➢ The structure plan is a basis for rational decisions regarding an urban
areas’ long-term physical development.
➢ It serves as a bridge between community values, visions and objectives
on one hand and decisions on physical development on the other.
➢ Normally, structure plans are long-term plans prepared to guide
development for 10 years from the date of approval.
The main characteristics of structure plans are:
Comprehensiveness
o Geographically, it should cover the whole area of the urban center’s
jurisdiction.

o All broad issues related with the development of an urban center.

Long term perspective

o Time horizon for structure plan is between 10-20 years.

o Time frame for different issues within the plan could vary.
Consistency of provisions
o Policies of structure plans should have external consistency- be in
agreement with and supportive of policies in other development
sectors.
o All elements have equal status; policies within a structure plan must
have internal consistency between elements.
o Mandatory elements should be internally consistent within each
element.
o Texts and diagrams of structure plans must be consistent.
2.1.2. Master Plan
❑ The preparation of master plans ranks among the most important duties
of city planners.
❑ A master plan, also called a comprehensive plan, includes diagrams
and models that show a community as it is and as the planner believes it
should exist in the future.
❑ The plan includes reports and statistical information that support the
planner's proposals.
❑ A master plan shows how land should be used. It also shows how public
facilities and services such as schools, roads, fire and police stations,
,water, sewerage, and transportation systems... should be improved
or expanded.
❑ Planners call these services and facilities a community's
infrastructure.
❖ In some cities, new developments are permitted only when a master
plan allows the developments and states of the USA, a master
plan is required before a city can proceed with development.
Preparing the Plan: A professional city planner many consult and many
other professional experts are preparing a master plan.

❖ These experts might include architects, economics, educators,

engineers, finance specialists, geographers, lawyers, political scientists,
statisticians, and specialists in air and water quality.

❖ The city planner also seeks advice from non-professional people who
will be affected by the plan. These people include business persons,
homeowners, and members of citizens groups.
❖ The general public may also be allowed to participate in the
preparation of the plan.
❖ Today, many city planners also use computers in their work.
❖ Computers process information that planners analyze informing a
plan. Planners also use computes to create maps and designs.
❖ Many communities mostly small ones hire a private planning firm that
prepares a master plan and submits it to the local government for
approval.
❑ In some communities, especially big cities the government includes a
department of city planning.
❑ This department prepares the master plan. The city planner and other
department members are responsible to the top executive.
Proposals of the plan: A master plan aims to make community life more
comfortable, enjoyable, safe, and profitable.
✓ A good plan provides transportation facilities that enable people to
get to and from stores, offices, and factories quickly and easily.
✓ It also provides enough recreation areas, schools, and shopping
facilities.
❑ The major part of a master plan recommends how the community's land
should be used. The plan divides the community into sections.
❑ It classifies some sections as residential areas, others, as
commercial and industrial areas, and the rest as public facility
sites.
❑ It divides these major sections into smaller districts, each with certain
building restrictions. For example, the plan reserves some parts of
residential areas for houses only and some for both houses and small
apartment buildings.
❑ It may process construction of high-rise apartment buildings in other
neighborhoods.
❑ The master plan may permit retail trade, wholesale trade, and light
manufacturing there.
❑ The plans may allow mixed-use development in some areas, with a
combination of residential, commercial, and industrial sites.
❖ A master plan may suggest ways to improve the appearance of a
community. For example, it may propose tree lined boulevards,
parks, and a new civic center. Such improvements are sometimes
called urban design.
❖ The plan may include proposals for major changes in citywide facilities,
such as sanitation and transportation systems.
❖ It may recommend a more complex sanitary drainage system for
heavy manufacturing areas than for residential and commercial
districts.
❖ The plan also may call for such developments as the widening of
streets and the construction of a new expressway to ease travel
between residential, commercial, and industrial areas.
2.2 Performance- orientated planning
Two forms of performance- orientated planning are discussed here,
action planning and strategic planning. Both have strong similarities.
2.2.1. Action planning
❑ Action planning is the participative process of development of a
relatively short-term plan to use available resources to meet limited
objectives, normally in a defined area.

❑ The main advantage is short-term effectiveness. It is by nature

innovative and flexible.

❑ Problems include lack of legal support, unless linked to a statutory

plan, and a potential danger of being ad hoc.
❑ Baross described action planning as having the following key
characteristics:
✓ implementation orientated,
✓ action to tackle problems in limited frame
✓ refers to a defined area,
✓ innovative, non- routine,
✓ should be “owned’’ by those involved,
✓ problem should be a legitimate one to tackle,
✓ relates to realistically available resources, and
✓ those involved can leaden from proceed.
❑ The process of action planning is designed so as to give the greatest
possibility of success based on full involvement of the key actors from
problem identification through implementation to the operation of
the infrastructure or facility.
❖ The process is likely to start with some form of workshop or forum
where the key stakeholders come together for some days to agree on
the main issues and the main lines of action.
❖ A system of committees or working a group is then set up which may be
serviced by urban development specialists, often including planners
and financial experts.
❖ The success of working together depends very much on how clear the
issues are and the strength of support for them.
❖ Sustaining the initial interest can be difficult if benefits are not clear, as
participation in the process takes time and energy.
2.2.2 Strategic planning.
➢ Strategic planning is action planning writ large. Strategic planning is a
concept borrowed from business management and adapted to urban
planning.
➢ There is no single agreed definition: the words are used differently in
different national contexts and by different organizations. HOW?
➢ In the UK, strategic planning is a non-statutory process where a
number of partners, which may be different departments in local
government, get together to agree on a limited number of actions to
meet medium-term development objectives.
➢ In the Netherlands strategic planning is seen by some as a central
government function to achieve some broad development objective,
e.g. the maintenance of the “Green Heart” in the Randstadt.
❖ In the city of Rotterdam, it is seen as a city-region function to maintain
the competitive position related primarily to the success of the port.
❖ Strategic plans often use statutory plans as a starting point, particularly
when they are recent and well developed.
A working definition could be:
❖ Strategic planning of a city is the participative process of development
of a medium term plan to meet strategic objectives set by key
stakeholders in a city.
❖ It combines normally physical, financial and institutional aspects.
❖ Advantages are focus and the potential of support of key stakeholders.
❖ Problems related to lack of legal support to back it up, unless it is in line
with a statutory plan.
❖ The following list of characteristics is adapted from an Urban
Management Programme (UMP) publication. (As stated in Davidson, F.
1996)
✓ Policy framework,
✓ Focus on multi-sectorial strategies and programmes,
✓ Close tie with budgeting- revenue planning, capital expenditure,
and operations and maintenance costs,
✓ Participation of and ownership by key actors,
✓ Prioritization to allow strategic choices,
✓ Can be developed incrementally with development of staff capacity,
✓ Medium to long-term time horizon – main focus typically 5 years
with 10-20 year horizon.
2.2.3 Integrated Development Planning (IDP)
o What is IDP?
o Where is its origin?
❖ IDP is a type of urban development planning or plan classified under
the category of performance-oriented planning approach.
❖ It is originated in South Africa. The key to unlocking IDP is Integration.
❖ IDP is how to start talking, working, planning together. It is about:
o Participatory planning process,
o Joint planning process,
o Multi-sectorial planning process,
o Holistic planning process.
❖ IDP is not about meeting but is about asking out of agenda- what the
need priority of the participants is.
❑ IDP becomes a vehicle that coordinates all the stake holders in the
development process, or
❑ The idea of IDP is to make integration at all level with in a frame work.
There is:
o National framework,
o Regional framework,
o Local framework,
❑ There is IDP at National level, at Regional level, at Woreda level
and/or at Municipal level.
❑ Without institutional and legal framework, IDP cannot function as a fish
can’t live in desert- needs oxygen to breathe in.
❑ IDP should be conducted in an integrated manner – from lower to top
level.
❖ Town planners are still chiefly concerned with the physical layout of
communities. But since the mid-1900's, many planners have also dealt
with economic and social problems.
❖ Today, a city plan may include proposals for economic development,
education, and health-care and welfare programs for the needy.
2.2.4 Local Development Plan (LDP) and its characteristics
➢ A local development plan (LDP) describes the medium term
development direction of an urban center.
➢ Local development plans contain policy statements and development
guidelines for particular areas. Its emphasis is on concrete standards
and development criteria.
➢ It provides requirements for the development of necessary
infrastructure and facilities, allowable land use categories and open
spaces for the selected area.
➢ A local development plan should specify programmes and regulations
necessary to finance infrastructure and public works or projects.
➢ A provision of local development plan must be consistent with that of
the structure plan; provisions with a local development plans is 3-5
years.
3. The Planning Process
❑ The demand to prepare an urban plan might arise as a result of new
additions to an existing city, the need to prepare a new plan revision of
an existing plan.
The following general procedures are involved in carrying out these
obligations.
1. Initiation for planning and preparing work plan(programme),
2. Identification of current context – baseline study,
3. Conduction analysis and formulating goals, visions, and objectives,
4. Preparing plans (alternatives) – as a plan proposal,
5. Evaluating alternatives,
6. Adopting plans,
7. Monitoring & follow-up the implementations,
3.1 Initiation for Planning and Preparing work Plan (Programme)
❑ Any one affected by an existing plan, or a visionary could initiate plan
preparation; however the legislative organ of city administration should
formulate early policy guidance.
The procedure involves:
1. Developing a single purpose statement or complex sets of vision
about the development of the planning area.
2. Identification of agencies to carry out plan preparation,
3. Setting deadlines for critical components of the planning task
o Dates for public participation states,
o Environmental review periods,
o Review of draft plans,
o Presenting final plan, and
o Deadline for plan adoption,
3.2 Identification of Current Context – baseline study
❖ The determination of current conditions is necessary to prepare new
plans and to revise existing plans. The items which need assessment
include:
a) Existing land use,
b) Natural environment,
c) Infrastructure capacity,
d) Existing commitments and policies,
e) Population and social characteristics,
f) Housing stock and need,
g) Economic conditions, and
h) Planning ideas.
❖ Source of data for each of these items are identified and is collected.
3.3 Conducting Analysis and Formulating Goals, visions, and obj.
❖ The next in the series of activities is ‘analysis’ of data gathered during
the previous period. Principal tasks at this stage of plan preparation
include:
1. Analysis of data,
2. Evaluation issues,
3. Determining principles/assumptions,
4.Formulating community vision and missions, objectives, and policies.
❖ Series of public participation is necessary before this stage is finalized.
Sufficient time should be set aside for public participation.
❖ Public and stakeholders participation at an early stage helps to
minimize charges to draft plan at the review period.
❖ The whole issue of public participation is planned down in the principles
of transparency and accountability.
❑ Several techniques could be used to promote public participation.
1. Conducting surveys,
2. Establishing task forces (advisory committees)
3. Arranging public meetings (public hearings, panel discussions,
workshops, etc.)
4. Employing mass media,
5. Making meetings of elected official open,
6. Announcing public hearing dates through mass media ahead of time,
7. Inviting knowledgeable persons, elders, professions to workshops,
8. Providing notice of preparation for all affected parties.
3.4 Preparing Plans (proposal)
The list of steps to be considered during the preparation of
urban plans includes:
1. Setting of standards for different functions,
2. Preparation of alternative plans for each of the objectives
(sketch and written),
3. These alternative plans should include sets of principles,
policies, standards, plan proposals, and implementation tools.
4. Each alternative plan is then evaluated on at least three criteria:
economic, social, and environmental objectives.
5. Impact assessment of each alternative proposal is conducted as
a plan evaluation.
➢ During the planning stage the draft proposal is referred to agencies
that are likely to be affected by the changes or the plan proposals.
➢ Intergovernmental coordination is much more than exchange of
information.
➢ It is necessary that service providing institutions are involved from the
beginning.
3.5 Plan Evaluation
➢ Sets of criteria have to be fixed based on the goals and objectives of
the community. The tasks that should be performed include the
following:
1. Fix evaluation criteria based on community goals and scientific
knowledge,
2. Devise mechanisms for professional evaluation of alternatives,
3. Devise mechanisms for public evaluation of alternative plans,
3.6 Plan Approval
➢ After the community has thoroughly reviewed alternative plans, decision
makers select a preferred plan or an amalgam of plans. The following
process will take place:
1. The planning agency proceeds to prepare a detailed plan that takes
into consideration all comments on principles, objectives,
policies, plan proposals, and implementation measures.
2. An environmental impact review may be conducted if substantial
changes have been made to an alternative.
3. Before formal adoption of a plan, the planning commission holds a
public hearing on the selected alternative.
4. The legislative body (or the city council) holds a public hearing on
the draft plan and the recommendations of the planning commission.
5. The public at large, affected bodies, and individuals conduct the
formal public review of draft plans.
6. Sending draft general plans or parts thereof to selected national
agencies,
 7. National agencies respond to new draft plans of amendments to
elements,
8. After considering all comments and recommendations the local
council adopts a general plan.
➢ The aim of this processes to ensure that the adopted vision, the polices
and standards reflect community concerns and to wield together all
stakeholders interests for the implementation of the plan.
3.7 Monitoring Implementation
➢ Planning agencies are required to investigate and recommend
implementation measures. All plan elements should have:
1. Implementation tools such as local agencies to carry out plans,
source of finance, phases, etc.
2. Technical means such as Zoning, subdivision procedures,
specific plans development agreements, building cods, etc.
3. Establish formal procedures for monitoring the implementation of
plans.
4. Annual reports should document capital improvement programmes,
the status of the plan, and progress of its implementation.
5. Every local planning agency should thoroughly review its general
plans at least once every five years.
Thank You !