The Uses of Planning Theory

There is a widespread opinion that planning theory is of little relevance to practitioners. This article tries to refute this view by showing the impact that planning theorists have had on the profession during the past 50 years. It suggests three ways that theorizing can contribute to the field, referring here to both practice and education primarily in North America. The first is by evolving a deeply considered humanist philosophy for planning and tracing its implications for practice. The second is by adapting planning practices to their real-world constraints with regard to scale, complexity, and time. The third is by translating knowledge and ideas generated in other fields into the domain of planning. The article concludes that planning theory needs to be perceived as a transdisciplinary endeavor involving a global community of scholars and that their contributions are vital to the profession.