This section on urban forest planning kicks off Module IV, the final Module of this course. In this Module, you will learn about the importance of taking a planning perspective to urban forestry. The strategic planning cycle with its different steps will be introduced, and it will be applied in an urban forestry context. The Module also introduces land use planning and discusses the importance of issues of scale.
At the end of this section you should be able to:
Articulate the purpose of planning.
Define and compare the steps in the strategic planning cycle.
Define land use planning and its applications.
Discuss and evaluate issues of scale in land use planning.
Readings and Discussion Questions (For certificate learning only)
The article by Godschalk et al. (2004) discusses land use planning and the different challenges it has to address. In particular, land use planning needs to understand and resolve conflicts in values related to the development of sustainable and liveable communities. In their manual for green infrastructure planning, Hansen en al. (2017) present an integrated approach to urban green infrastructure planning, drawing on current research and the green infrastructure practice in Europe. This manual presents a typology of urban green infrastructure, explains the principles of green infrastructure planning, and present practical approaches for implementation.
After having completed the readings, you are once again asked to post a couple of discussion answers on our course’s Discussion board. Do you apply a planning approach in your daily work or life? If so, how? What are your thoughts on the planning cycle? Are there ways to improve it?
Lecture Recordings
Please view Lorien Nesbitt’s lecture on ‘The planning process and land use planning’. This lecture introduces the planning process as a foundation for good decision making and discusses the importance of planning when dealing with complex and uncertain challenges, as is often the case in urban forestry. The lecture then introduces and explains the steps in the strategic planning cycle and explains land use planning and how land use planning happens at different scales.
Post-lecture Mini Quiz (For certificate learning only)
Now it’s time for you to complete an online, multiple choice topic quiz after finishing viewing each lecture for this topic. The main purpose of the quiz is to examine how well you grasp the contents for this topic. The quiz will be open-book, covering contents of the lecture(s) for the topic. You will have 5 mins to complete the quiz. Two attempts are allowed and higher mark will be saved for your grade. There will be 13 online topic quizzes throughout the course with 4-5 questions per quiz, each worth 4-5 points that collectively count for 10% towards the final grade.
When you are ready, click the link Mini Quiz 4.1 or go to left menu > Quizzes > Mini Quiz 4.1 to start taking the quiz.
Topic Summary
In this first part of Module IV we have introduced a strategic planning perspective, as well as the way of organising and understanding planning through the planning cycle framework. We have also discussed land use planning and examined how the strategic planning process fits within land use planning at various different scales. It is important to remember that strategic urban forest planning is a clear, inclusive, and transparent process designed to support good decision making in complex situations.
Topic Self-review (For self learning)
To review what you have learned in the topic, you are encouraged to use the following reflection questions as a study guide to do a self-review for the topic:
Why is a planning perspective important for successful urban forestry?
Which of the steps in the planning cycle do you see as especially important?
Why do we present planning as a cyclical rather than linear process? Do you agree?
Describe examples of how urban forestry planning plays out on different scales.
Graded Assignment(s) for the Week (For certificate learning only)
TBD.
FODE012
Requirements Changed
Module IV Readings Topic 4.2: Strategic Management in Urban Forestry