are planners control freaks?

by murielskaf

Writing codes, namely building codes, is a tedious task. As free-flowing as we want them to be, we cannot but escape the necessity to code, plan and anticipate everything, especially that a “loose” building code can be open to several interpretations and suspect to loopholes.
In that sense, master plans, alongside a bundle of land use maps and zoning regulations (though revised – at best – every few years) offer a static vision of what a city ought to be. The process of changing a fraction of those binding documents can be quite a hassle, making urban planning a rigid discipline, not subject to accidental circumstances.
Are we control freaks or should we make room for some – dare I say – chaos in planning?

[more on that in later posts, namely on the success of the informal sector vs. the failure of the formal sectors with its strict planning guidelines]