Journal of Planning Education and Research

The Koopmans and Beckmann (1957) assignment model approach to problems of urban economics has led to considerable discussion. Recent papers (Gördon and Moore 1989; Moore and Gordon 1990; Gordon and Moore in press) review some of the issues raised and suggest extensions that resolve many of the conceptual dilemmas suggested by the original model. Most of the existing approaches surveyed in these previous papers make little use of the duality properties of the assignment model. In this paper duality information provided by the linear version of the Koopmans and Beckmann model is used to explain the utility of transferable development rights (TDR) as land use control policies. In particular, it is shown that aggregate rents accruing to capital are affected by land use plans in ways the current literature ignores. This view emphasizes the importance of TDR policies to city planners and sheds light on how planners can guide optimal urban development.

This paper addresses the task of converting military facilities to civilian uses, differentiat ing demand side from supply side approaches. We distinguish four alternative models of conversion from military to civilian use, each organized around a different target: converting the company, converting the community economic base, converting the worker, and converting the facility. After some discussion of each approach we scrutinize the last of these, which is in many ways the most difficult and yet the most attractive in terms of retaining jobs and stabilizing communities. After stating both strict and broader criteria for judging "success," we present the results of six geographically-dispersed and industrially- diverse case studies of such conversion efforts in the 1980s. While to date none has succeeded in the narrow sense of preserving jobs, these experiments have had a significant impact on public thinking about the formidable tasks of conversion. Several have resulted in state or regional studies, legislation, and economic development efforts. As a group, the cases demonstrate the ability and willingness of defense workers to plan for civilian work. In some, local conversion planning has led to an alliance between labor and peace organizations which has strength ened the political clout and institutional capabilities of both.

This paper theoretically investigates filtering in urban housing markets: how the process occurs and the degree to which its outcomes are beneficial. Central to the framework presented is the partitioning of the urban housing market into submarkets that are segmented by quality. Within each submarket there is latitude for independent adjustments of demand and supply, and submarkets are interconnected by the actions of households, converters of new dwellings, and builders of new dwellings. Forces impinging on one submarket create signals there that eventually lead to systematic, but nonuniform repercussions, potentially throughout the submarket array. It is these dynamics of intersubmarket adjustments of demanders and suppliers that illuminate filtering.

This paper investigates the implications of the differences in value orientations for community planning in native communities in Ontario, Canada. A value case study of the New Credit native community and a community consisting of Euro-Canadian professionals revealed significant variations in their value preferences, which were regarded as the potential areas of conflict in their planning relationships. Further examination of planning consequences of the value study showed that a variant of the social learning paradigm of planning seems to be effective in planning with the New Credit community. Conceptual issues that need to be addressed before the paradigm can be fully adopted are raised.

This case examines citizens', planners', and elected officials' responses to the proliferation of community-based residential facilities for disabled people in a large U.S. city. It traces an effort to rationalize a highly political siting process for these group homes. In the course of this effort, city planners surveying neighbors of group homes found that the neighbors cited benefits more often than problems associated with group homes. Planners also found that neighborhood resistance to the homes tended to evaporate a few months after the facilities opened. Although the planners recommended a streamlined siting process, elected officials decided against the change.