Practitioners Theorize, Too

Abstract

Many scholars have voiced frustration with planning theory’s marginalization. The purpose of the article is to demonstrate the relevance of theory to practice by exploring what practitioners have theorized. It reviews the development of procedural theories of city planning from 1959 until 1983, and juxtaposes this review with a survey of theory-articulating literature in U.S. trade journals. The article concludes that practitioners value theorizing, that practitioners’ theories mirror academics’ theories, and that practitioners maintained diverse theories of planning rather than pursuing a single theory of planning. These findings can remind the reader of how planning theory speaks to professional experience.