“Cities have the capability of providing something for everybody, only because, and only when, they are created by everybody”. ~Jane Jacobs If you love nature, stay the heck away from it. Live in a city, the denser the better.” ~Jeff Speck Urban planning is a technical and political process concerned with the Development and use of Land Planning Permission Protection and use of the Environment Public Welfare and the design of Urban Environment including air, water, and the infrastructure passing into and out of urban areas, such as transportation, communications, and distribution networks. Urban planning is also referred to as urban and regional planning, town planning, city planning, rural planning, urban development or some combination in various areas worldwide. It takes many forms and it can share perspectives and practices with urban design. Urban planning guides orderly development in urban, suburban and rural areas. Although predominantly concerned with the planning of settlements and communities, urban planning is also responsible for the planning and development of water use and resources, rural and agricultural land, parks and conserving areas of natural environmental significance. Practitioners of urban planning are concerned with research and analysis, strategic thinking, architecture, urban design, public consultation, policy recommendations, implementation and management. Rural planning development is the process of improving the quality of life and economic well-being of people living in rural areas, often relatively isolated and sparsely populated areas. Rural development has traditionally centered on the exploitation of land-intensive natural resources such as agriculture and forestry. However, changes in global production networks and increased urbanization have changed the character of rural areas. Tourism, niche manufacturers, and recreation have replaced resource extraction and agriculture as dominant economic drivers. The need for rural communities to approach development from a wider perspective has created more focus on a broad range of development goals rather than merely creating incentive for agricultural or resource based businesses. Education, entrepreneurship, physical infrastructure, and social infrastructure all play an important role in developing rural regions. Rural development is also characterized by its emphasis on locally produced economic development strategies. In contrast to urban regions, which have many similarities, rural areas are highly distinctive from one another. For this reason, there are a large variety of rural development approaches used globally.
Randall Crane Randall Crane, Ph.D., is a Professor and Vice Chair of the UCLA School of Public Affairs, Department of Urban Planning, where he has taught since 1999. He also serves as an associate editor of the Journal of the American Planning Association, and is Associate Director of the UCLA Institute of Transportation Studies.He earned his Ph.D. in 1987 in Urban Studies and Planning from MIT. He earned his Master of City and Regional Planning in 1979 from Ohio State University He earned his Bachelor of Arts in 1974 in History from the University of California, Santa Barbara. He started his academic career planning to become an urban economist. In 2008, he was a visiting Scholar at Harvard University Graduate School of Design and a Visiting Fellow at the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy. From 1990 - 1999 he was assistant and associate Professor of Urban Planning, Economics, and Transportation Science at the University of California, Irvine.