National Planning Dynamics of National

National Planning

Dynamics of National Planning

Urban planning is affected by cultural traditions as norms as are all other aspects of a nation. This might seem to be contradictory at first, for planning is a process that emphasizes the pragmatic: There are elements of good planning that supersede any cultural differences, like the need for good sanitation and establishing bulwarks against the depredations of natural disasters. However, even such seemingly obvious universals of planning are not in fact universal; nor are they void of cultural overlays. This paper examines the planning process in two different nations, the United States and the Netherlands.

These two countries are in many ways similar to each other: Both share traditions of Western liberal democracies and cultural tolerance. (Indeed, something that many Americans forget is that before the Pilgrims came to the New World, they stopped in the Netherlands first.) Both have literate, educated populations. Both have immigrant populations that challenge the ways in which both local and national governments determine who shall benefit the most from government policies. But the two nations also differ in important ways that affect the mechanisms and overall philosophy of urban planning.

The United States is certainly not without threats from natural disasters, as recent hurricanes have reminded us. Earthquakes and volcanoes also menace the nation, as do more mundane but potentially terrifying floods, wildfires, and storms. Moreover, of course, urban planning must address a wide range of other concerns, including how to renew downtown spaces and how to balance the move toward suburbanization with planning designed to meet the increasing costs of energy and so of commuting (Gavin, 2002, p. 48).

While there are national agencies in the United States that are tasked with overseeing broad policies in these areas (including FEMA, the sub-agency that helps people recover after a disaster and HUD, the Department of Housing and Urban Development), the social and physical geography of the nation is so diverse that the bulk of urban planning is done on the state and local levels to meet local needs and local cultural demands (Gavin, 2002, p. 36). The United States is very much a patchwork of different approaches.