Article Review regrading Canadian Urban Planning

Assignment Purpose

This assignment provides an opportunity to become familiar with some of the issues facing planners in an inclusive (or supposed to be) society, issues sometimes rooted in planning traditions, and inherited biases. Get to know what municipal bylaws look and read like. Begin to see them in a better-informed human rights lens. Understand that your work belongs to the public and may be challenged by members or groups of citizens if your work harms them. Understand the need for change and your inevitable participation.

Assignment/Challenge

Read and understand what Agrawal says in “Balancing Municipal Planning with Human Rights: A Case Study” in the Canadian Journal of Urban Research, volume 23. Issue 1, 2014. Look up our Charter of Rights and Freedoms. You also will read Agrawal’s “Human Rights 101 for Planners” in Plan Canada, summer 2017. Check the Charter and provincial code. Once you have a basic understanding of human rights and understand how human rights relates to planning, at least through Agrawal’s example, put this relationship into your own words and discuss human rights consequences for planning work today and in the future.

Part two, find a good example. Most municipalities have their planning statements and zoning bylaws available online. See if you can find something questionable given human rights and explain why. Suggest possible solutions.