SHRAPNEL URBAN PLANNING

Suite 18
336 Churchill Avenue
Subiaco
Western Australia 6008

ABN 37 139 283 692

What is Urban Planning?

(Also known as Town Planning, Town and Country Planning, or Regional and Town Planning) In my view the late Professor Lewis Keeble had the best definition. Town Planning is...

The art and science of ordering the use of land and the character and siting of buildings and communication routes so as to secure the maximum practicable degree of economy, convenience and beauty. 
(Principles and Practice of Town and Country Planning, Lewis Keeble, 1969).

Urban Planning theory and practice have evolved significantly since this definition was created, with methodology and focus shifting from design to systems to process to politics and back again in various combinations. But regardless of methodology, focus, or the political context within which it is practiced, the above definition remains, fundamentally, what town planning as a separately definable profession is all about.

Nowadays, I suspect, anyone crafting a definition of town planning would probably feel compelled to include within it the term "sustainability". However, according to Professor Patrick Troy of the ANU Centre for Resource and Environmental Studies (with whom I agree on this point), sustainability has become a hackneyed term "meaning whatever anyone using it wants it to mean" (Ref: Professor Troy himself at a talk presented in the Western Australian Department for Planning & Infrastructure offices on 29 October 2003).

Even with today's greatly increased focus on green issues, I believe the inclusion of the word "economy" in Keeble's definition still suffices as, in its fullest sense, it represents the closest human beings will ever actually come to the ideal of sustainable development; for example: "thrifty management; frugality in the expenditure or consumption of money, materials, etc.... a saving....the management, or science of management, of the resources of a community, etc., with a view to productiveness and avoidance of waste......the efficient, sparing, and concise use of something..." (Macquarie Dictionary). I wax more fully on the subject of sustainability elsewhere>>>.

Urban Planning is a complex field. Its main focus is on land use and urban design, but it overlaps with sociology, economics and law. It also requires much interaction with architects and engineers of various types (e.g. civil, transport); and because planning decisions may affect the whole community, politics inevitably features quite prominently.

Planning Consultants

Planning consultants potentially have two main roles:

In our practice we work about 50/50 for both governments and private enterprise.

Scope of Activities

The scope of the planning services offered by SHRAPNEL URBAN PLANNING is wide and includes the following:

 Because of the multi-disciplinary nature of regional and town planning and the extent to which it may affect the community, much of the firm's work is carried out in association with other planners, architects, engineers, and related professionals in the social and economic sciences. Both principals have frequently participated in planning teams, with several major team projects having been managed by Tony Shrapnel.

Send any feedback or enquiries to ts@shrapnel.com.au
Last modified: June 06, 2008