Kari
Urban Design
Kari is the CTO of Placefocus 
Urban Design
Kari is the CTO of Placefocus
What is planning?
This page is closely related to my Theories page. This page is in the quest of understanding the process of planning. This ever endless question has been in my mind for some time.
Here is my best version so far.
11/11/01
by
Kari Sinkko
To be a planner is to organise things. Why do we organise? We need to organise to maintain sufficient resource management ideas, processes and systems in place. These systems are very simple and do not require large amounts of time to assemble. They are as simple or as complex as you need them to be. The more information and data you enter, the less the degree of random events occurring. Random events are events that change an idea and design so that they are more in tune to the fluctuations in the usage of the site. A site is determined by the level of random occurrences that are there. Be they desirable or not. The total size of the site is the space that humans occupy, so therefore it is seemingly endless. But if there is no end to the human "region" it is only restricted in which it occupies a concept, idea and design opportunity and constant.
The idea that we place a design into the fabric of a society gives the impression that a space contains no natural culture, void of a society that uses the space in it's own particular way, a way that is outside of the generalisation of the process. The process itself is dogged with biases within the cultural ideas of the designers background, and a sign of a good planner is to be able to separate your biases, be aware of the future and hang on to the mindset of several people at once. What I mean by this is the belief that planning caters for more than one group, although to gain total satisfaction requires the actions of a diplomat, the skill of an artist and the dedication of a minister that serves his/her people.
Whilst the process does have several aspects, the method in which the sweeping hand of a planner is purely undertaken by the actual talking with the parties concerned, in really understanding, not just being able to gain a better understating, but to live as a Roman in Rome. Sir Patrick Geddes really understood this "live the life" role of a planner, although I believe he did not really understand the ramifications that he had set as a person. Planning is like taking a metaphysical snapshot of the economic, social and environmental (physical) aspects of a civilisation and trying to transpose and extrapolate a potential, a thought,a spark that ignites an response that changes the cultural landscape.
Purely based on this, does this mean that we design places that have an artificial character, and do not take a soul of their own. To manufacture a pseudo landscape is to deny people their right to interact with the physical enjoyment in creating, participating and being involved with other people. This recognition is apart of being in a society, and without the recognition with in a group, the fabric of that society is fragile.