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People in cities — the urban environment and its effects
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intensive agricultural development and careful search for new land which could be utilized because a self-regulating mechanism of decreased growth is not yet apparent. H. VERSCHURE Post-Graduate Centre Human Settlements Katholieke Universiteit Leuven Belgium PEOPLE IN CITIES People in Cities - the Urban Environment and its Effects by Edward Krupat. Cambridge University Press, The Edinburgh Building, Shaftesbury Road, Cambridge CB2 2RU, England, 1985, 235 pp., price paperback &8.95/US$12.95, hardcover 527.5O/US$39.50, ISBN O-521-31946-3. The arrival of this text clearly illustrates the way in which research developments in matters urban fail to influence the design and development process. Krupat, whose major sources derive from the period of man-environment studies enthusiasm of the 1970’s, has provided a most readable undergraduate text which may well be the vehicle to sensitise the current generation of designers and planners in training. Unfortunately, however, the dominant influence on such students is likely to be the hard reality of employment and cost-effective development for the private client, circumstances which relegate concern for the individual in the city to a position well below style, development finance and professional practice on the educational menu. Yet when most of the findings reported here were first produced, they lacked the effective interpreter who could offer a stimulating and uncluttered view of perspectives and issues to the, then, interested student.
Krupat’s perspective is that of the environmental psychologist, and thus we move from aspects of the individual’s view of. and experience in, the city to later consideration of collective aspects and to the relationship between the design and the designed-for. Although there is little new, and some images such as the crumbling of Pruitt-Igoe in St. Louis, Howard’s Garden City diagrams and Arnstein’s Ladder of Citizen Participation are rather too old, this book must be judged for its impact on the social science or design student rather than on the seasoned reader. Although regrettably limited to U.S. literature and examples, there is crisp vitality to the author’s style which, together with wellintegrated comments on personal experience, should serve to engage the reader in a dialogue between text and the validity of youthful observation. The recitation of classic studies in cognition and the identification of key ~ if sometimes rather too summary -- findings from research is organised in such a way that each section or summary provides a convenient base for discussion or project work. The urban sociologist or economist will find much of the text partial and lacking the forceful theoretical frameworks which such disciplines have brought to the contemporary study of urban life, and even if the perspective here is outwards from environmental psychology, the failure to connect with economic reality will not encourage use on some courses where the book’s subject is the focus of an integrated social science approach. Whilst admitting-that Zeisel’s Inquiry by Design in the same series focuses on design and the implementation of new environments, the final chapters of Krupat’s text reveal the author as an onlooker and commentator on the built environment rather than one who understands
the process of its contemporary development. This is a useful basic text which a scientist or designer actively engaged in research or practice could embellish with classroom and studio examples. BRIAN GOODEY OxfordPol_ytechnic Oxford Gt. Britain
PLANNING GAMES Planning Games; Case-Study Simulations in Land i~a~~age~lent and ~eye~~~~~en~ by M. Wynn. E. and F.N. Spon, 1 I New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE, 1985, U.K./238 pp., hardback, illustrated, price &17.50/ US$35.00, ISBN o-419-12810-7. Crammed within the 238 pages of this short book is everything one needs to know in order to run no less than seven different board games. Like monopoly, such games provide players with “Compressed Experience” knowledge of how planning situations can be impacted by the actions of different actors. For those unfamiliar with simulation games, the book will be reviewed in the light of the sometimes-justified prejudices that the uninitiated often have about the field. Firstly, the subjectivity, artificiality and over-simplification of games seems to torpedo them as viable educational tools. However, six of this book’s seven games are based on actual case-studies and visits to the actual site, After completion of the game, are recommended. Such visits allow players to compare the simulated outcome with what actually happened, to talk with key officials and persons affected, and so gain deeper insights into the actual reality of the situation. Perhaps the best example of this is Michael transport decision-making game Romanos’ (Chap. 7). In this, players need to absorb con-
siderable group dynamics informaton about Chicago’s crosstown expressway controversy, for example, who owed political favours to whom, who voted in what way and why, and so on. Moreover, this game is completely roleplaying in nature. Players have to argue for different viewpoints, especially those which run counter to their own opinions, and then finally argue for a particular case at a mock public hearing. This achieves strong identification with, and appreciation for, diverse viewpoints. Readers of this journal will be heartened to learn that not all seven games are about the politics of land-use planning. Philippos Loukisso’s Tourist Development Simulation Game (Chap. 8) emphasizes the measurement of environmental impacts. Quick-return tourist development on a Greek island is assumed to exponentially degrade traditional agriculture’s productivity, as well as water quality and beach amenity, which is what attracted tourists in the first place, and this ultimately depresses tourist demand and hoteliers’ profits. This game is also noteworthy for the inclusion of two elements which the other six do not have. Firstly, it achieves greater playercommitment by being a competition - the player who becomes the richest is the winner, whether he or she started off as an hoteiier, or as a farmer selling produce to locals and tourists, or as a small local trader, or whatever. All players are allowed to borrow money, pay interest and taxes, make profits, close deals, and so on. Secondly, this game simulates the partial randomness of reality by specifying probabilities for, say, levels of outside tourist demand in any time-period, and then settling on the actual level by rolling the (loaded) dice. The price of this is a divergence from any actual case, but the gain is increased realism. However, the realism of case studies is the source of a second prejudice against simulation gaming. By navel-gazing at “what is”
intensive agricultural development and careful search for new land which could be utilized because a self-regulating mechanism of decreased growth is not yet apparent. H. VERSCHURE Post-Graduate Centre Human Settlements Katholieke Universiteit Leuven Belgium PEOPLE IN CITIES People in Cities - the Urban Environment and its Effects by Edward Krupat. Cambridge University Press, The Edinburgh Building, Shaftesbury Road, Cambridge CB2 2RU, England, 1985, 235 pp., price paperback &8.95/US$12.95, hardcover 527.5O/US$39.50, ISBN O-521-31946-3. The arrival of this text clearly illustrates the way in which research developments in matters urban fail to influence the design and development process. Krupat, whose major sources derive from the period of man-environment studies enthusiasm of the 1970’s, has provided a most readable undergraduate text which may well be the vehicle to sensitise the current generation of designers and planners in training. Unfortunately, however, the dominant influence on such students is likely to be the hard reality of employment and cost-effective development for the private client, circumstances which relegate concern for the individual in the city to a position well below style, development finance and professional practice on the educational menu. Yet when most of the findings reported here were first produced, they lacked the effective interpreter who could offer a stimulating and uncluttered view of perspectives and issues to the, then, interested student.
Krupat’s perspective is that of the environmental psychologist, and thus we move from aspects of the individual’s view of. and experience in, the city to later consideration of collective aspects and to the relationship between the design and the designed-for. Although there is little new, and some images such as the crumbling of Pruitt-Igoe in St. Louis, Howard’s Garden City diagrams and Arnstein’s Ladder of Citizen Participation are rather too old, this book must be judged for its impact on the social science or design student rather than on the seasoned reader. Although regrettably limited to U.S. literature and examples, there is crisp vitality to the author’s style which, together with wellintegrated comments on personal experience, should serve to engage the reader in a dialogue between text and the validity of youthful observation. The recitation of classic studies in cognition and the identification of key ~ if sometimes rather too summary -- findings from research is organised in such a way that each section or summary provides a convenient base for discussion or project work. The urban sociologist or economist will find much of the text partial and lacking the forceful theoretical frameworks which such disciplines have brought to the contemporary study of urban life, and even if the perspective here is outwards from environmental psychology, the failure to connect with economic reality will not encourage use on some courses where the book’s subject is the focus of an integrated social science approach. Whilst admitting-that Zeisel’s Inquiry by Design in the same series focuses on design and the implementation of new environments, the final chapters of Krupat’s text reveal the author as an onlooker and commentator on the built environment rather than one who understands
the process of its contemporary development. This is a useful basic text which a scientist or designer actively engaged in research or practice could embellish with classroom and studio examples. BRIAN GOODEY OxfordPol_ytechnic Oxford Gt. Britain
PLANNING GAMES Planning Games; Case-Study Simulations in Land i~a~~age~lent and ~eye~~~~~en~ by M. Wynn. E. and F.N. Spon, 1 I New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE, 1985, U.K./238 pp., hardback, illustrated, price &17.50/ US$35.00, ISBN o-419-12810-7. Crammed within the 238 pages of this short book is everything one needs to know in order to run no less than seven different board games. Like monopoly, such games provide players with “Compressed Experience” knowledge of how planning situations can be impacted by the actions of different actors. For those unfamiliar with simulation games, the book will be reviewed in the light of the sometimes-justified prejudices that the uninitiated often have about the field. Firstly, the subjectivity, artificiality and over-simplification of games seems to torpedo them as viable educational tools. However, six of this book’s seven games are based on actual case-studies and visits to the actual site, After completion of the game, are recommended. Such visits allow players to compare the simulated outcome with what actually happened, to talk with key officials and persons affected, and so gain deeper insights into the actual reality of the situation. Perhaps the best example of this is Michael transport decision-making game Romanos’ (Chap. 7). In this, players need to absorb con-
siderable group dynamics informaton about Chicago’s crosstown expressway controversy, for example, who owed political favours to whom, who voted in what way and why, and so on. Moreover, this game is completely roleplaying in nature. Players have to argue for different viewpoints, especially those which run counter to their own opinions, and then finally argue for a particular case at a mock public hearing. This achieves strong identification with, and appreciation for, diverse viewpoints. Readers of this journal will be heartened to learn that not all seven games are about the politics of land-use planning. Philippos Loukisso’s Tourist Development Simulation Game (Chap. 8) emphasizes the measurement of environmental impacts. Quick-return tourist development on a Greek island is assumed to exponentially degrade traditional agriculture’s productivity, as well as water quality and beach amenity, which is what attracted tourists in the first place, and this ultimately depresses tourist demand and hoteliers’ profits. This game is also noteworthy for the inclusion of two elements which the other six do not have. Firstly, it achieves greater playercommitment by being a competition - the player who becomes the richest is the winner, whether he or she started off as an hoteiier, or as a farmer selling produce to locals and tourists, or as a small local trader, or whatever. All players are allowed to borrow money, pay interest and taxes, make profits, close deals, and so on. Secondly, this game simulates the partial randomness of reality by specifying probabilities for, say, levels of outside tourist demand in any time-period, and then settling on the actual level by rolling the (loaded) dice. The price of this is a divergence from any actual case, but the gain is increased realism. However, the realism of case studies is the source of a second prejudice against simulation gaming. By navel-gazing at “what is”