On Wednesday, the 19th of August 2020, ISOCARP Institute in cooperation with ISOCARP – International Society of City and Regional Planners, eThekwini Municipality, SACN – South African Cities Network, SALGA – South African Local Governments Association, SAPI – South African Planning Institute, MILE – Municipal Institute of Learning eThekwini Municipality, SACPLAN – South African Council for Planners, held the second ‘Planning Disrupted’ webinar. Based on the overwhelmingly positive response to our first webinar, our next offering in the “Planning Disrupted” series was Planning With People. This time we took a deep dive into what planning with people means. The webinar engaged with approaches and Covid19-induced opportunities for a local and international planning context.
Voices in Planning: The Bright Side of Planning Disruption
The webinar started with a kick-off presentation from ISOCARP and SACN. ISOCARP presented the results of the “Planning Beyond Limits – Building Livable Communities” ISOCARP YPP project in Jakarta and Bogor, Indonesia. While SACN launched the Practitioner Profile Magazine. The Magazine profiles the human behind the planner and is a good reminder that planners are people too, especially when we talk about “planning with people”. In this video, you can also find the recording of the first breakout session. This session looked at the opportunities inherent in Covid19 and beyond to bring creativity, trust-building and meaningful partnerships into planning with people. A celebration of the diversity of views and voices and a willingness to embrace unheard and challenging perspectives through creative methodologies and confidence in the process and deep listening.
Community-oriented Plans: Methods and Approaches for Successful Implementation
Community-oriented plans (COP) aim (in general) to adapt the theoretical urban planning knowledge and standard planning practice to be more responsive to local people’s needs. Participatory planning is just one of the methods to implement COP, and in this session, we discussed how communities can plan for their future as part of an integrated planning process for an area, and what tools and methods they may have at their disposal.
Establishing Community Partnerships: A Challenge for Planning Practitioners
We know that coordinated partnerships can help improve urban planning by addressing different urban challenges from every angle. Identifying formal (and informal) stakeholders may seem like a logical first step, but engaging them to become active and collaborative partners is much more complicated. The Breakout session focused on discussing the challenges and strategies for fostering successful partnerships between planners and the community.
Building Municipal Identity using Municipal Assets – A KZN Perspective
How can municipalities use their natural, social, cultural, economic and other assets to build and market their municipal identity ensuring municipal spaces are legible and attract investment and development. The Breakout session showcased perspectives from Kwa-Zulu Natal. The aim of the session was to indicate how municipalities can strengthen their development potential.
