Any Good City Plan has a Narrative

28 March

I attended a talk from Paul Farmer the CEO of the American Planning Association. It was a short talk on planning in the United States and how the current environmental-sustainability movement presents numerous opportunities for planners today and in the future. It was easy to see that he truly believed in planning and the service it provides to community building. He left us with six things to remember:

1. Hard Science – keep up-to-date with the latest information coming out on Climate Change and other science based research that will affect cities.
2. Political Rhetoric – understand it! If you know how it works, you will know how to get around it and get things done!
3. Empathy – be perceptive of communities and their emotional state when redevelopment is happening around them. Successful planning only happens when the community is ready to have the planning conversation.
4. Understand the public – understand how they perceive the project you have set in front of them. Planning is a conversation, not a monologue!
5. Communication – a good plan is a narrative; it is a good story! Good stories aren’t easily forgotten, and neither will a good plan.
6. Passion – be passionate about planning.

As silly as it sounds, I wanted to stand up and fist pump a little after the talk. Mr. Farmer was very inspirational. Two of the six points have stuck with me ever since: empathy and story telling.

Understanding the emotional state of a community is key to working towards a plan. One could argue that emotions are primitive aspect of human relationships, but a very important aspect when trying to communicate in any situation! Emotions drive everything, whether we want to admit it or not, and they stand between a successful conversation and a confrontation. As Mr. Farmer said, planning is a conversation in its simplest form thus emotions, the simplest way of communicating must be understood.

Likening a plan to a story makes the process of policy-making much more fun! I enjoy a good story, as does the next person and a good story can resonate with everyone young and old! Who doesn’t remember their favorite fairy tale?