17909 Local Strategic Planning
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Subject handbook information prior to 2025 is available in the Archives.
Credit points: 6 cp
Result type: Grade and marks
There are course requisites for this subject. See access conditions.
Description
This subject explores the role of local strategic planning in shaping community futures. The subject begins by addressing the rationale for strategic planning (contrasting it with statutory planning), the relationship among metropolitan, sub-regional, and local strategic plans, and comparisons of this hierarchy amongst the states and territories. Students develop an in-depth understanding of the major components of strategic plans, and alternative approaches to developing these components. These include community visioning and the identification of priorities, defining local character and values, developing a long-term plan for land use and the infrastructure (transport, social, and green) that will support it, and strategic choices that can help communities manage change (environmental, economic, and social). The final section of the subject asks students to reflect on the values advanced by the practice of local strategic planning efforts, based on contrasting case studies of both contentious and collaborative state-local strategic planning efforts. Under what circumstances can local planning efforts build effective local planning practice? Can local strategic planning help manage climate change, economic volatility, and political and social uncertainty?
Subject learning objectives (SLOs)
On successful completion of this subject, students should be able to:
| 1. | Evaluate urban and environmental contexts as the basis for strategic proposals |
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| 2. | Develop effective communication strategies |
| 3. | Articulate planner’s ethical responsibility to meet the needs of current and future residents |
| 4. | Determine forecast needs and propose strategies to satisfy them |
| 5. | Explain the relationships among local, metropolitan, and state-level planning |
| 6. | Develop integrated land use – infrastructure plans |
Course intended learning outcomes (CILOs)
This subject also contributes to the following Course Intended Learning Outcomes:
- Demonstrate ethical responsibilities of professional planners and urban designers and develop critical ethical thinking capability (A.2)
- Communicate with people with a wide variety of cultural, social, economic, and political perspectives and interests using verbal, written, and visual media (C.2)
- Investigate strategically the future of cities and regions and identify the drivers of change (P.1)
- Prepare and critique plans and design solutions based on a broad understanding of urban and regional and environmental dynamics, and analyse (and develop) alternatives (P.4)
- Explore the principles of environmental, economic and social sustainability and apply them to analysing and developing plans and design solutions (P.7)
Contribution to the development of graduate attributes
The term CAPRI is used for the five Design, Architecture and Building faculty graduate attribute categories where:
C = communication and groupwork
A = attitudes and values
P = practical and professional
R = research and critique
I = innovation and creativity.
Course intended learning outcomes (CILOs) are linked to these categories using codes (e.g. C-1, A-3, P-4, etc.).
Teaching and learning strategies
This subject is taught fully online. Each week is self-paced through the learning management system. You are expected to complete a range of different learning activities throughout the week. Activities provide opportunities to learn, apply, and discuss the knowledge gained in a practical manner. Feedback is provided from both peers and teaching staff throughout the activities. You are encouraged to actively provide feedback and interact with staff and students in the exercises and on the discussions board(s). Online Zoom sessions will be held regularly throughout the subject to allow you to interact with staff and students, ask questions and receive clarification and formative feedback on your assignments.
Content (topics)
1. The different faces of local strategic planning
2. Strategic planning and spatial scales
3. The role of planners in making local strategic plans
4. The role of stakeholders in local strategic plans
5. Methodological approaches for local strategic planning
6. How to leverage the transformative potential of local strategic planning
Assessment
Assessment task 1: Analysis of the faces of local strategic planning
| Intent: | This assignment focuses on testing student’s understanding of the different faces or purposes of strategic local planning. Due to globalisation, cities have gained an important role politically and economically. This has led to a shifting of priorities and urban governance systems where strategic plans and city marketing strategies have flourished to encourage competition and attraction of global investment. At the same time cities have become more responsible and involved in human development and the promotion of wellbeing for all its citizens. Strategic plans are also developed to address pressing contemporary issues and can play a transformative role in urban development. | ||||||||||||||||||||
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| Objective(s): | This task addresses the following subject learning objectives: 1, 3 and 4 This task also addresses the following course intended learning outcomes that are linked with a code to indicate one of the five CAPRI graduate attribute categories (e.g. C.1, A.3, P.4, etc.): A.2, C.2, P.1 and P.7 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Type: | Quiz/test | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Groupwork: | Individual | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight: | 15% | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Length: | 5 minutes | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Criteria linkages: |
SLOs: subject learning objectives CILOs: course intended learning outcomes |
Assessment task 2: Critical review of a local strategic plan
| Intent: | Local strategic plans respond to frameworks derived from state governments as stated in Regional/Metropolitan Strategic Plans as well as the needs and priorities of local communities as stated in Community Stategic Plans. Furthermore, through the plan-making process a broad range of stakeholders can shape the planning priorities and action plans proposed in local strategic plans. This assignment is an opportunity to critically review an example of a local strategic plan and identify how the plan responds to the broad range of interests embedded in these processes by analysing how the planning priorities and actions proposed benefit different stakeholders and the implications of this. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Objective(s): | This task addresses the following subject learning objectives: 1, 2, 3 and 5 This task also addresses the following course intended learning outcomes that are linked with a code to indicate one of the five CAPRI graduate attribute categories (e.g. C.1, A.3, P.4, etc.): A.2, C.2, P.1, P.4 and P.7 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Type: | Report | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Groupwork: | Individual | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight: | 45% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Length: | 2000 words (+/-) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Criteria linkages: |
SLOs: subject learning objectives CILOs: course intended learning outcomes |
Assessment task 3: Development of a local planning strategy to tackle contemporary planning issues
| Intent: | The transformative potential of local strategic planning has been used by different stakeholders such as local and state governments, local communities, and the private sector to tackle contemporary planning issues such as climate change, social inequality and the transition to sustainable futures. How does a local strategy should look like to be effective in tackling contemporary issues, what should their components be, which stakeholders should be engaged, and how can strategic visions be translated into action plans at the local level? Planners need to engage with these and many other questions when practicing local strategic planning. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Objective(s): | This task addresses the following subject learning objectives: 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6 This task also addresses the following course intended learning outcomes that are linked with a code to indicate one of the five CAPRI graduate attribute categories (e.g. C.1, A.3, P.4, etc.): A.2, C.2, P.1, P.4 and P.7 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Type: | Presentation | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Groupwork: | Individual | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight: | 40% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Length: | 1 page Poster | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Criteria linkages: |
SLOs: subject learning objectives CILOs: course intended learning outcomes |
Minimum requirements
Students must achieve at least 50% of the subject’s total mark.
Required texts
All required texts are indicated on Canvas.