Utopian Planning Research Articles

The project of planning: An interview with John Friedmann

This article contains an interview with John Friedmann. The interview covers two core areas in John Friedmann's work: (a) The history of planning, from the beginning of the industrial era till today and (ft) radical planning and social mobilization. In relation to radical planning and social mobilization the Utopian aspects of John Friedmann's work are discussed together with the forces of social development, that must be counted on to make the Utopian visions and radical planning materialize. Finally, the role of radical planner is considered.

REVIEWS

REVIEWS The Sword of the Spirit: Puritan Responses to the Bibl. By JOHN R. KNOTT JR. Pp. x+194. Chicago: University Press, 1980. £10.80 net. Utopian Planning and the Puritan Revolution. Gabriel Plattes, Samuel Hartlib and Macaria. Edited by CHARLES WEBSTER. Pp. 90. Oxford: Wellcome Unit for History of Medicine, 1979. £2.40 net. JOHN MORRILL JOHN MORRILL Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The Review of English Studies, Volume XXXIV, Issue 135, August 1983, Pages 336–338, https://doi.org/10.1093/res/XXXIV.135.336 Published: 01 August 1983

Utopian planning and reality: learning showdown to become XXI century

La planificació social, econòmica i educativa actual s'orienta a identificar metes més que a crear-les, a continuar una realitat més que a transformar-la, és aquesta una mena de planificació anomenada realista que resulta incapaç de canviar el curs o direcció de la societat. Davant ella l'autor ens proposa el que s'anomena: planificació "utòpica" com "clímax" de pensament que amplia el judici a la reflexió, a la idealització, en definitiva, a la creativitat. La diferència de la planificació realista és que aquesta última té diverses metes de desenvolupament a què s'arriba mitjançant la conjunció de recursos disponibles i ampliació de la capacitat d'absorció en aquests recursos, mentre que en la planificació utòpica o planificació d'alternatives convergents a un sol paràmetre té una única i sola fita a assolir. Depenent dels recursos disponibles es planifica a la marxa cap a aquesta utopia desitjable. El sistema desenvolupista ha donat a la institució educativa l'única funció de formar recursos per a l'aparell productiu i no el paper de millorament global. l'home. Aquest, autèntic eix de desenvolupament, ha estat canviat per una de les seves creacions: la producció d'objectes. Aquest tipus de planificació realista és, així mateix, insuficient a l'hora de fer arribar els nous avenços científics i tècnics a les institucions escolars que continuen perpetuant la pissarra i el guix. Així doncs, l'aprenentatge del segle XXI -tan sols falten dinou anys- exigirà del sistema una major participació en el seu futur: la tecnologia ens facilitarà amb més rapidesa i qualitat la informació, la jornada laboral es veurà disminuïda en funció de l'augment del temps d'oci creatiu, el sistema educatiu recobrarà la seva missió autèntica de servir l'home ajudant en la seva formació, en la capacitat de reflexió i crítica, en l'actitud cooperativa amb els seus iguals; aquesta preparació per al futur de l'home que ha de començar ara i aquí és la que predica la planificació utòpica. "L'única esperança és planificar la utopia i dirigir-se cap a ella amb obsessió".

The Theme of Salvation in the Novels of Hermann Broch

Hermann Broch's lofty conception of the artist as seer and prophet led him to sketch out new paths for the future, absolute values for a “new society.” Thus, the theme of salvation plays a key role in his works, from the first novel in 1932 to the last completed in 1950. Broch's conception of salvation connotes not only the saving of man from the spiritual consequences of sin, but also from existential anguish. Broch presents a number of solutions, often embodied in archetypal savior figures, for the plight of modern society; they range from vast mystical visions (in Der Tod des Vergil) to utopian plans in the empirical realm. A central theme in Broch's novels is that salvation can be achieved through attainment of ultimate knowledge which emerges from Dionysiac depths but which must be structured by reason. In the ethical aspect of Broch's treatment of the salvation theme, one can discern a possible trend in the later works toward a strict form of moral activism and humanitarianism.

The Mahatma and Modern India

Centenary celebrations of the birth of any prominent man attract assessments of his character, career and influence. Nothing could be more understandable, particularly in the case of M. K. Gandhi, who was by common consent one of the greatest leaders Asia has produced in an era of colonial nationalisms and decolonization, who in his own life time was called a saint and a machiavellian politician, and who has become in independent India both a national myth and an embarrassment. Accounts of the importance of Gandhi in modern India tend to fall into two main categories. There are those who dismiss him, often regretfully, as an idealist whose Utopian plans for a democracy of village commonwealths and a non-violent society have collapsed in the face of economic and political necessity and the machinations of unscrupulous politicians. In the words of Jayaprakash Narayan, ‘If you consider the political ideologies attaining in India today, you would find that somehow one who is called the Father of the Nation is completely missing from all of them’. Such pessimism assesses Gandhi as if he had been solely a dispenser of blue-prints for a brave new world, and fails to see him as a dynamic leader whose greatest influence flowed from the type of movement he led and the techniques he used, rather than from the peculiarly personal ideals he held. On the other hand, there are those who hail him as the Father of India and try to draw direct causal connexions between his ideals and many of the major changes which have occurred in India since 1947, particularly the official abolition of Untouchability and the institution ofpanchayat raj.But this is the perspective of the biographer. It underrates the complexities of politics and society and their interaction, and turns a blind eye to the innumerable cross currents which make up the main stream of Indian social and political activity.

A Study of Planning Techniques for Local Congregations

The evolution in church planning techniques is examined in the light of the experience of one major denomination (United Presbyterian Church). Specific tools of that denomination are described and compared. The results of an empirical study of their use are reported and the implications of the differences upon the variance in results are discussed. In religious institutions, as in other institutions in American society, the practice of long-range planning has become a frequent part of the life of many organizations. This paper reports a study of three planning techniques for local congregations developed by the Board of National Missions of the United Presbyterian Church in the United States of America. The research, conducted during the summer of 1967, was sponsored jointly by the Institute of Strategic Studies of the Board of National Missions and an eastern metropolitan presbytery. The study was limited to planning in the United Presbyterian Church, but other evidence suggests that it exemplifies a much wider evolutionary development in church planning. In some respects, this evolution parallels the growth in city planning from the emphasis on architectural facade and imperiously utopian master plans to the current emphasis on broad policy and priority statements with maximum community participation in the decisions. A brief description of this evolution in city planning is contained in the writings of Perry Norton (1960: 108122; 1964:77-86). RANGE OF THE STUDY In historical sequence, these are the three techniques examined in this study. First was the "survey." Used in the late 1940s and '50s, this technique involved assigning a sociologist from the Board at the request of local church leaders to conduct a survey. Such a survey normally included the comparison of population trends for the city with the trends in Presbyterian congregations. Membership residential distributions were plotted, and church buildings were evaluated both for the suitability of their sites and the adequacy of their facilities. Recommendations were made for changes in location, program, etc. that appeared desirable to the surveyor, in the light of his investigation and his experience in other communities. Throughout the Survey, the assumption was clear although implicit that the basic unit of the Presbyterian Church was the geographically cohesive congregation or parish. It is possible to see the essential concepts of this survey technique in Douglass (1928). Second, in 1960 the Board developed the "Self-Study Guide," similar in approach to the technique described by

Bulgaria: Leaping Forward without Communes

The Chinese poet's call to Bulgaria to follow China's path into a bright Communist future reflects a view of the relationship between the two countries, which towards the end of 1958 was widely held in the West. Bulgaria's “Great Leap Forward” and the methods used to mobilise the masses for the Utopian plan for the economic break-through were linked with the visit of two high-powered Bulgarian delegations to China and interpreted by some observers as signs that the Party leaders in Sofia were deviating from the Moscow course in an attempt to hitch their wagon to the rising star of Peking.