Societal planning: Identifying a new role for the transport planner—Part II: Planning guidelines

Abstract

This paper presents preliminary results of the authors’ research on guidelines for what we have simply termed ‘good practice’ (GP) planning. The research on GP planning has been spurred by our common recognition that much planning undertaken now and earlier on has been too simplified and abstracted to be actually useful in real‐world, future‐oriented, thinking and problem solving. This paper seeks to formulate planning guidelines based on Habermas's theory of communicative action. Specifically, this has led to the formulation of a set of four planning validity claims connected to four types of planning guidelines concerning adequacy, dependency, suitability and adaptability. The guidelines serve to frame the right considerations and questions when dealing with planning problems of a certain complexity, and they can facilitate the structuring and interpretation of empirical study. Emphasis is paid to describe the planning process as one of self organizing dynamics vis‐à‐vis the planning validity claims. Among other things, the contingency of this process is outlined. It is concluded that transport planners can conveniently utilize the guidelines in their professional practice, tailored to their particular settings.