Planning Theory and Process 

Week 1 Introduction and review

Hello fellow readers, my name is Luke Cawthorne, I am a new undergraduate student at the university of Canberra (UC) undertaking studies in the bachelor of Urban and Regional Panning program (BURP). Previously before taking studies here at UC, I was 2IC at a fitness facility in Sydney for a good four and half years. Previously to that I was apart of the Australian defence Force, serving in infantry corp. The reason why I have undertaken studies in BURP stems from my major in secondary studies focusing on Urban renewal in geography. Having received some insight from professionals in the field of architecture, project management and planning, I hope to find myself in a planning profession in any of those fields. 

Planning theory and process will be my focus on my blog as well for some of you on your blogs. Our first week in this unit required us to look at a couple of readings, Arguments For and Against Planning, Richard E. Klosterman and Fifty Theses on Urban Planning and Urban Planners, Raphael Fischler. These readings provided us with an introduction into planning theory by;

• Definition
• Meaning and origins of planning
• What makes good planners and plans
• Substance and uses of planners
• Individual concerns with planning
• Arguments for and against planning 

Placed into groups, we broke down each of these points listed above and discussed the key parts of planning in those fields. As a new student in BURP, this provided me with a much wider scope of what Urban planning entails in terms of  addressing what professional and learning planners do and why they do it. Some key elements from the readings helped define urban planning through mobilization of resources, management of urban development,  as social activity and more. what did you take out of the first readings in terms of defining Urban planning?