Urban design and planning as pragmatic inquiry

Abstract

As urban design emerged as a separate discipline over the past 30 years, it be­came embroiled in a conjused relation­ship with architecture and planning. This article seeks to clarify the relation­ship between urban design and plan­ning, using the common threads of pragmatism, as revealed by an histori­cal overview of theory and procedures in both fields, to establish areas of overlap in approach and concerns. These include the dialectical nature of wicked problem resolution, and the significance of process in both dis­ciplines. Subtle differences are also pointed out, concerning values and aims, the differ­ences between inadvertent and delibe­rate design, and their significance for both disciplines, attitudes towards con­text and the degree of abstraction as­sumed treating spatially-related pheno­mena, problems and solutions, and the skills required for urban design. General implications include the po­tential for urban designers and plan­ners to play truly complementary roles in the Republic, and the need for a common approach based on open, participatory procedures. This should also recognize those areas of expertise in which each of the two disciplines can make the greatest contribution: urban design in the shaping of the built environment, specifically regarding housing to accommodate rapid urban­isation, and planning in ameliorating socio-economic issues. During their training, students in both disciplines should acquire a firm grasp of their respective areas of expertise, and learn how to cooperate with members of the other, and related disciplines, in striv­ing towards better quality urban envir­onments across the nation.