ABSTRACT
City planners face many problems that cannot be solved by the use of formal, “rational problem-solving techniques.” Data are often poor, the political world gets in the way, and conflicts of interest between project developers and neighborhood residents abound. The information at hand can be ambiguous, slanted, or apparently contradictory. Planners need not be paralyzed by the political conditions of their work; they can influence the boundaries of their “bounded rationality.” The real life of planning demands this: planners have to respond to problems, whether or not information is ideally sufficient. The planners face some logistical problems, and these aren’t simply trivial ones of scheduling an available room in which to meet. Agencies depend upon one another, and they may suffer accordingly. Not only does each organization suffer from the unexpected “brushfires” of their everyday work, but backing up their own projects and cases means backing up or delaying those of other agencies as well.
