Implementation

Abstract

Most planning professionals enter the field with high-minded values such as social justice and equity and subsequently struggle to recognize how their individual contributions are helping to “make a difference” in the world. Day-to-day planning work tends to focus on the transformation of places although ultimately the transformations are intended to benefit people. Along the way, people become abstractions, data points, and sometimes, planners can lose sight of how their work is critical and relevant. The disconnect can occur at any stage during the planning process, but it often happens when the plan leaves the drawing board and works its way through the bureaucratic and political processes of implementation. In this chapter, we discuss the complexities of plan implementation and the techniques that planners can use to exert influence in bringing good planning ideas to fruition. First, we discuss the pros and cons of digital storytelling, a particularly useful meta-technique. Digital storytelling helps to cultivate a community that identifies with a project or policy. They can help overcome institutional inertia and political opposition. In addition to having a good understanding of technical skills and civic engagement methods, planning professionals should cultivate unique personal, interpersonal, and group management skills to serve as facilitators and educators. Planners, particularly those working in smaller municipalities and cities, can serve as community leaders, helping everyday people to sift through different kinds of information, ensuring that diverse voices are heard, and ultimately forging consensus about how to address community concerns. Often, planners distance themselves from this obligation, contributing to diminishing their role and influence in creating meaningful social transformations. We conclude the chapter by discussing the role of ethics in planning by urging planning professionals to remain true to the ethical obligations of the profession.