It’s a snowy day, and I’m huddled in bed writing a term paper about planning education. As part of my research, I went to the website of the School of Community and Regional Planning at UBC, and I think I’ve just developed a crush on the school. It seems like a place that takes social planning and policy seriously, and the courses look amazing. They have a specialization in social planning, another specialization in comparative planning (ie-planning in other cities and the Global South,  studio courses for social planners, multimedia courses, and their theory course is taught by Leonie Sandercock!

The question is, why isn’t social planning emphasized as strongly at planning schools/discussions in Ontario?  The Ontario Professional Planning Institute defines planning as the “scientific, aesthetic and orderly disposition of land resources, facilities and services within a view of securing the physical, economic and social efficiency and well being of urban and rural communities”, but planning, (at least in the way it’s approached at UBC and according to other practitioners I’ve met this year) seems to be a lot more than that.