This exploratory study assesses the utility, in terms of learning and conceptualizing planning, of a role-playing exercise (the Great Planning Game [GPG]) and a serious game (Polis PowerPlays [PPP]) employed in a planning theory course offered at The University of Queensland in Australia. The study reveals that role-playing and serious gaming are equally engaging and help planning students learn and embody different roles while having fun. No great differences can be discerned in terms of learning effectiveness. With regard to teaching style, the GPG is more passive and tends to encourage collaboration, whereas the PPP is more dynamic and fosters competition. Both activities help students discover aspects of planning—and planning stakeholders—which they may not have considered before. Most participating students appear to regard planning as a pluralist pursuit. Communication and public participation are viewed as central to planning processes. However, traces of incrementalism and rationality are also present. While students believe in equity planning (i.e., advocacy from within the system), radical social justice approaches that challenge the status quo are notably absent. Overall, the authors conclude that these activities cannot fully replace guided and structured instruction but, as “whole task practices,” are a desirable complement to direct instruction.@en

Many cities and regions have embraced the concept of transit-oriented development (TOD). This paper explores how transfer of TOD as a policy concept impacts its implementation in the Netherlands. The study determined international policy ideas and tools that have contributed to implementation and tested them with Dutch experts using workshops, serious gaming and design charrettes. The findings suggest a number of factors complicating policy transfer, and that ‘softer’ transferable lessons (e.g., good actor relationships, information sharing) are much more difficult to transfer than ‘harder’ technical tools. Using policy lessons and tools in learning exercises helps to develop contextually appropriate policy solutions.

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This chapter examines the nature and type of urban planning tools sought by policy officials, consultants and academics who look to the Netherlands for inspiration, and the lessons that they have drawn from the Netherlands. It reveals that, although many foreign “policy tourists” are impressed and inspired by Dutch planning achievements, policy transfer efforts based on Dutch examples of planning do not often result in concrete actions or hard outcomes abroad. Contextual differences (e.g. cultural and social norms, language, planning legislation and financial resources available to planning) limit the extent to which Dutch planning approaches can be employed elsewhere.@en

Despite the many efforts devoted to identifying and disseminating “best practice” in urban and regional policy, research suggests only a very modest impact (at the most) of best practices on policy change. Moreover, the effects of spreading lessons and “best practice” are not well understood by many actors involved in the processes of policymaking. The chapter recommends that it is generally more appropriate to offer a compendium of practices and ideas to policymakers, rather than predefined policy solutions, and allow them to determine for themselves the most suitable option based on the specific context in which it is to be used. This chapter is a shortened and updated version of an article published in Planning Practice and Research, 27 (1).@en

This chapter discusses urban transport issues, policies, and initiatives in [The Urban Transport Crisis in Emerging Economies: An Introduction/Australia]. Consistent with the other case studies, it covers the following set of issues: Urban land-use patterns and spatial structure; Trends in transport use and mobility; Urban transport problems; Urban transport governance, decision-making, and financing; Proposed urban transport solutions and implementation issues; and Other country-specific issues. The object of this framework is to allow for a comparative analysis across the case studies. This book discusses urban transport issues, policies, and initiatives in 12 of the world’s major emerging economies—Brazil, China, Colombia, India, Indonesia, Iran, Mexico, Nigeria, Russia, South Africa, Turkey, and Vietnam—countries with large populations that have recently experienced large changes in urban structure, motorization, and all the associated social, economic, and environmental impacts in positive and negative senses. It documents the worsening transport crisis and differences among these countries in their urban transport and land-use systems. It includes chapters on each of these 12 countries, focusing on one or more major cities per country. In order to present the case studies in a more comparable way, all chapters follow a common format. Each chapter covers the following set of issues: Urban land-use patterns and spatial structure; Trends in transport use and mobility; Urban transport problems; Urban transport governance, decision-making, and financing; Proposed urban transport solutions and implementation issues; and Other country-specific issues. The object of this framework is to help to identify new explanatory factors that may be overlooked in research limited to single cities or nations. By including cities and countries across all continents, the aim is to identify useful lessons on how to achieve urban sustainability goals across the globe.@en

This chapter reflects on the 12 case studies contained in this book, and identifies some of the key issues, trends, and policy measures which emerge from the previous chapters. Consideration is also given to the lessons that can be learned from these countries and the extent to which they may be generalizable and applicable in other contexts across the world. The chapter is structured according to the main headings used in each of the country-specific chapters.@en

Abstract: This paper discusses how visual representations contained in urban plans change during periods of rapid social, economic and political transition. It investigates the consequences of these transitions, focusing on the situation in Albania immediately after the fall of socialism. In doing so, the paper contributes to the academic literature on the implications of liberalization for planning, particularly in terms of the way in which plans are formulated, presented and employed. The authors contend that the visual representations and the written word both express and validate the perspectives of power holders and the dominating planning doctrines. Maps often contain hidden or subtle messages and agendas that are not immediately apparent to text readers. To fully understand the evolution of planning thought and practice in any place, texts and maps must be analysed in conjunction with each other.

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