Planning Defined

Different people define planning in different ways. Common among these definitions of planning is that it is a deliberate and organized activity intended to achieve desired results based on the past and present conditions. Planning, therefore, is forethought. It is future-oriented.

Ernest Alexander provided a summary of different definitions given by various authors and professionals in the planning field… “planning is a deliberate social or organizational activity of developing optimal strategy of future actions to achieve desired results of solving novel problems, in complex context, and attend to commit resources and act as necessary to implement the chosen strategy”. The definition provided by Alexander stresses that planning is directed towards the future and it may be a response to certain dissatisfaction with the status quo.

Planning is actually an integral part of any social action. In more practical terms, planning is basically an activity that aims to solve societal problems in general, such as pollution, traffic congestion, illegal settlement, and garbage. Planning, of course, brings benefits to the society. It provides a basis for resource allocation, particularly when resources are limited and finite. It also serves as a tool to promote social equity, such that, by involving the people in the planning process – from the formulation of plan up to the implementation and evaluation – their voices and concerns are heard and are taken into consideration, particularly the marginalized sectors of the society.

Planning promotes scientific efficiency. The modern day society, for instance, has been characterized by technological innovations which make, or which are intended to make life easier. These are not totally beneficial but somehow these provide ease and comfort to people.

Planning enhances civic beauty. As experienced in the past, the growing population had created complex problems in the cities which caused the cities to “deteriorate”. To bring back the “beauty” of the cities, planning was the answer.