ABSTRACT

This chapter examines the professional ethics in planning from two perspectives. The first assumes the social value of the occupation of planning and its professionalization and explores what professional ethics now imply for the conduct of the practicing planner. The second perspective questions the social value of planning and looks at professional ethics in that broader context. The chapter begins with several cases suggesting the concrete types of problems with which ethics in planning must deal. It describes the obligations of existing professional ethics and their application to these issues. The chapter concludes by looking beyond professional ethics to see how broader decision rules might be framed to guide planners' activities. Guild loyalty includes two types of ethical obligations assumed by professionals: one to fellow professionals, the other to the profession as a corporate body. Efficiency is an ultimate goal for professional ethics; for other approaches, it is implicitly instrumental.