The endgame of comprehensive planning seems as it should be simple and straightforward. You may be asking yourself, why don't we all live in Garden Cities, or some variation of a conglomeration of planning utopias? The answer is simple; Hyper-Capitalism.
There is that hyphenated theoretical construct yet again. Hyper-Capitalism has managed to influence nearly every aspect of our lives, especially in the field of planning and development. The precepts of H/C dictate that any social, cultural, environmental or equitable aspect of any decision should be considered after a profit/loss analysis has been performed.
The examples of this influence are abundant and obvious; the largest being the case of pre- and post-Katrina New Orleans. The planning system and decisions that had been made in New Orleans prior to Hurricane Katrina deliberately placed minority and low-income residents in the potential path of destruction that would result from a catastrophic hurricane event. Planning decisions were made solely based upon their hyper-capitalist merits; translation - how much money would be generated from each development decision made by the city.
Now, in the face of the failure of the hyper-capitalist system, planning agencies are once again turning to the almighty dollar as the motivation for approving projects. Even if the projects being approved threaten to destroy our Nation's architectural and landscape architectural heritage.
I believe totally in a Capitalist System, I only wish that someone would try it. -Frank Lloyd Wright
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