Papers

This page is intended to assist African students and educators to access papers on topics related to planning education and practice.

AAPS conference papers

The AAPS 2010 conference background paper is available by clicking here. The paper provides a broad overview of different approaches to planning education on the continent, and helped to inform the development of the AAPS postgraduate curriculum frame for African planning education.

For the AAPS 2008 conference, representatives of each school were asked to prepare individual papers documenting the urban and national context within which their school operates, and how the school’s curriculum attempts to equip students to deal effectively with their urban and legislative contexts. Click on the relevant links below to access the papers.

Papers on planning education

Andrea Frank’s (2006) article entitled ‘Three decades of thought on planning education’ is available for download by clicking here. The article discusses the various trends and debates unfolding within planning education since the 1980s. The abstract reads as follows:

This annotated bibliography provides an overview of the literature on planning education addressing issues ranging from curriculum content to pedagogy and, program accreditation to nation-specific planning education. The focus of the bibliography is on academic, English language journal texts, however, some key books and web sites with significant sections devoted to planning education were also included. It was compiled as part of the author’s work at the Subject Centre for Education in the Built Environment (CEBE) in the School of City and Regional Planning, Cardiff University with the principle goal to develop a subject-specific educational resource for academics. As such, the bibliography seeks to facilitate informed discussion, the identification of themes and knowledge gaps for further research and to support the development of a research culture in planning education. Spanning a period of 30 plus years, the compilation offers an opportunity to link change in education to those in planning practice and Higher Education.

Africa Research Institute publications

In 2013 the Africa Research Institute (ARI) teamed up with AAPS colleagues to produce a series of three publications related to planning education in Africa. Click on the links below to download these publications:

Concept and working papers

A number of research organizations, international development agencies and funders produce concept and working papers to assist their work in Africa and the global South. Several examples are available for download by clicking on the links below:

  • Concept paper on ‘Reducing the vulnerability of urban slum dwellers in the Southern African region to the impact of climate change and disasters’, by M. Rubin (Urban LandMark, 2011)
  • Research report on ‘The interaction between informal land markets and rural-urban migration’, by D. Posel and C. Marx (Urban LandMark, 2011)
  • Working paper on ‘In search of land and housing in the New South Africa: The case of Ethembalethu’, by S. Berrsiford et al. (World Bank, 2008)
  • Concept paper on ‘Cities: The new frontier’ (UK Department for International Development, 2010)