How Do Plans Work?

According to Lewis D. Hopkins in From Urban Development: The Logic of Making Plans (2001), a plan has five key purposes: they can provide agendas, policies, visions, designs, and strategies. An agenda is a set of objectives. It can be useful as a reminder to the public and decision-makers of the long-term goals of a project. Policies provide a set of standard responses to problems. They assist decision making by reducing the financial costs and improving the efficiency and consistency of responses to problems. The vision of a plan refers to the desired outcomes of change. They work by conceptualizing for people what the future could be like and inspiring them to believe it could be so. Hopkin’s describes a design as “a fully worked out outcome”. They work through a series of interdependent actions that lead to a desired outcome. Lastly, the strategy of a plan refers to a set of decisions that determine a course of action. In contrast to design, strategies are focused on the means of reaching an outcome, not just the outcome itself. The provision of all of the above (agenda, policy, vision, design and strategy) does not necessitate a plan. Rather, a plan can be exclusively concerned with one or several these purposes.

Hopkin’s considers plans to have two key components: regulations and investment. Regulations are enforced by the state and set the range of decisions that can be made in a plan (eg. restrictions on building height). They involve two kinds of decisions related to planning: to regulate and to act within those regulations. Investment is essential in planning as it creates the physical infrastructure and facilities. It also involves two decisions: to invest and to use the results of that investment in particular ways. For example, a zoning restriction specifies an area for residential development prompting investment in housing infrastructure for that area.

There are four broad criteria for assessing whether plans works: effect, net benefit, internal validity, and external validity. The effectiveness of a plan concerns whether it had any influence on decision-making, actions, or outcomes. Net benefit refers to the cost of the plan and compares it with the results achieved. Internal validity checks if the original intention of plan was fulfilled and external validity examines whether the plan was able to fulfill criteria outside its own purpose.