By Murtaza H. Baxamusa / San Diego UrbDeZine
With rising inequality, a looming climate change crisis, and persistent state of housing unaffordability being the defining issues in the growth of American cities in the twenty-first century, it is time for urban planners to take social policy seriously.
Too often, social policy is relegated to a specialized role for advocacy planners, at other times ignored completely for being too political, and often times dismissed as “creeping socialism” that is inappropriate in land-use planning. This prompted planning legend Norman Krumholtz to call the profession “timid,” not as much to reflect on the work ethics of rank-and-file planners, but the leadership of those in power, who do not allow planning to pursue equity objectives. The most powerful piece on the planning chess-board is unavailable to most urban planners.
A myth that discourages planners is that social policy is antithetical to American politics. From the common sense approach of Thomas Paine in providing a basic income for seniors and disabled to protecting mothers and soldiers in the early twentieth century, to more recent approaches on poverty, pollution, retirement, and healthcare, successful U.S. social policy is informed by pragmatism, inclusion, and innovation. [Read more…]