The Intersection of Neurodiversity and Urban Planning Knowledge Sharing (April 15, 2024)
...Something to Process
Todays Ice Sculpture - Neurodiversity & Urban Planning Knowledge Sharing (April 15, 2024)
… Something to Process
Vlog Overview
In this vlog I share a total of 4+ decades of urban parks and parks planning practice, and my PhD park planning research experiences in Edmonton Alberta Canada and Strathcona County. I am also a professional planner and a board member of the Edmonton River Valley Conservation Society. This vlog discusses knowledge creation, interpretation and dissemination of information with populations who may not fully understand power and agency of processes.
Note: I have no training or medical knowledge in neurodiversity but am keenly interested in this topic. Below is my understandings, observations, readings, and reflections on planning practice.
My hypothesis: Urban planning is a highly technical complex multi-stepped, multi-year timed process not entirely legible and accessible to those who are (a) either not conversant with planning language, nomenclature and processes, (b) or those who simply process information more slowly for neurological reasons, or (c) both. This is where this vlog departs the station…
Planning Parameters - The Property Institution
Institutions are groups of individuals and government and non-government social actors who come together across administrative and civil society boundaries to collectively effect a specific initiative or activity. Myself and other researchers have defined land use planning as the property institution. Social actors include landowners, development companies, consultants, planners, engineers, administrators, elected officials, non-governmental advocacy organizations, banks, etc. The property institution forms the urban landscape and associated infrastructure.
Social actors have specific roles and responsibilities, and have different amounts of power and agency in processes. The Province of Alberta Municipal Government Act provides the implementing colonial based planning legislation. Elected officials approve policies, plans, practices, legal agreements, and processes for land use change processes based on the MGA parameters, and approve all land use (property) change. Administrators help elected officials to craft the policies, plans, etc to implement land use change processes, with input from the public. These documents are available publicly, some are not easy to locate, plan nomenclatures vary by municipality and time period, priority between them may not be clear, and the documents may be written in planning or administrative language.
In Edmonton the primary policy document is the municipal development plan, called City Plan. Implementing policies and plans, etc include area plans, zoning bylaws, plans of subdivision, engineering drawings, parks master plans, transportation plans, utility plans, public engagement, indigenous people policies, housing strategies, climate change adaptation strategies, seniors policies, public art, funding programs, agreements with not for profits, capital budgets, operating budgets, and many more. All of these have a had level of public review over different time periods.
A specific land use change process is initiated by a landowner(s) based on their own timelines, needs and funding interests and realities. Prior to application, the intent of the change has been costed and vetted by banks, establishing a change/program to be implemented. Once the application has accepted, the proposal is reviewed administratively for consistency with existing plans, policies, practices, processes, legal agreements, etc by functional entities (i.e., police, fire, parks, etc). Application to a file on a site basis requires interpretation sometimes referred to as administrative discretion. It is at this point the public, those impacted by land use change, is engaged to provide feedback to elected officials. This often occurs either in a public meeting and/or public hearing, based on the curated knowledge shared within a process. Land use change processes are are not intuitively legible, with timelines mandated by legislation.
The Bifurcation of Planning Process Time…
Colonial based capitalism assumes the past (i.e., existing land uses) is a closed loop or event. Land use change processes primary focus on the future (i.e., land use change) desired by landowners. The lived experience of community social actors impacted by change is the past, representing a temporal disconnect between social actors, and a knowledge gap to be bridged in processes.
A (Shallow) Dive Into Neurological Discourses
Neurodiversity is not new, but the public discourse is relatively recent. That discourse creates binaries between normal and abnormal - neurotypical and neurodivergent - a deficit and disability model - a form of othering. Examples of this model include autism spectrum disorder (ASD), Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder or ADHD (i.e., inattention, hyperactivity, impulsivity, sensory overload, fidgeting, etc), dyslexia (i.e., difficulty with reading), dyscalculia (i.e., difficulty with math), hyperlexia (i.e., advanced reading skills in children), dyspraxia (difficulty with coordination), obsessive-compulsive disorder or OCD, and Tourette Syndrome (i.e., sudden twitches, blinking, eye-rolling, grimaces, repeating words or sounds, touching objects, jumping). Masking of these “symptoms” to fit in, takes an enormous social, emotional and physical toll on the individual.
Use of deficit models is counter productive. I start from the premise that there is a biological truism - there is a limitless variability of nervous systems in the world where no two nervous systems are exactly alike, and are significantly impacted by environmental factors. People process information at different speeds, and may in fact be processing more and different information than you realize. Below is an example of the challenges some face in processing information from a post on Linkdn. I suggest you follow this insightful lady!
Processing refers to how we take in information, see it, enact a response, how organize what we want to say, and feed that input into processes. Slow processing speed may appear as inability to complete tasks on time. Slow processing speed is not an intellectual deficit. People who think very deeply, or cautious thinkers, have slow processing speed. Those who process information differently may become dis-regulated by environmental factors. Those two factors include the physical settings and structural setting.
A meeting hall, boardroom, council chamber or pop-up site event occur at a designated time and place are commonly where land use change public engagement takes place. For some, venues may be too bright, too loud, too busy, too many smells, too many people, etc.. Often those with different ways of processing information feel the need to hide or mask their behaviours. That in itself is emotionally and physically exhausting. Asking questions in a public setting or speaking in council chambers publicly may be problematic. Dis-regulation will vary by individual depending on their processing realities. Those impacted may simply avoid attending meetings. If they do attend, their ability to process information may be suspended, and/or they may have to leave, or are simply unable to provide feedback.
Universal Design Learning Principles
The University of Alberta has developed universal design teaching strategies. They have located how different parts of the brain work to process information.
They then have developed guidelines to think about ways to engage people that would be beneficial to all types of information processors.
Source: Mandy George, University of Alberta
The abvoe material is aimed at helping craft teaching strategies for neurologically diverse university students. However, the same information processing realities are implicit in land use change processes that must both educating` the public and soliciting feedback.
My Take
To reiterate - Urban planning is a highly technical complex multi-stepped extended temporal process not entirely legible and accessible to those who are either not conversant with planning language, nomenclature and processes, to those who simply process information more slowly for neurological reasons, or both. I think it time to revisit the speed (i.e., timelines), setting, temporal realities (i.e., lived experience vs future land use), and input gathering approaches of processes.
The goal is to design more engaging and inviting processes for all. The goal is not a means to accommodate neurodiverse populations but to enhance engagements for everyone. Accommodations are often beneficial, but may also stigmatize as well. Planning for all eliminates stigmatization. This outcome has never been more important. The speed of society today is much quicker, and we no longer have time to think deeply or slowly, or simply need more time to get up to speed. In terms of overall equity, expediting approval processes may not be the flex you think it is if the lived experiences are not fully part of the process. Moreover, it may be another symptom of larger process problems (i.e., neoliberalism, colonial practices) that may further dis-regulate participants in ways they may or may not understand or feel, but experience. That is our loss as well as theirs.
Finally, my comments point to broad structural deficiencies in our processes that are by their nature complex and nuanced. Planners in good faith seek to address within the existing structures.
Resources
Sorting Out Sensory Awareness - Dr. Robert Grant - The Neurodiversity Podcast hosted by Emily Kricher-Morris
https://neurodiversitypodcast.com/home/2022/9/15/episode-138-sorting-out-sensory-awareness
Processing Speed - Why Some Kids Are Faster Than Others - Ellen Broten - The Neurodiversity Podcast hosted by Emily Kircher-Morris
https://neurodiversitypodcast.com/home/2020/2/19/episode-53-processing-speed-why-some-kids-are-faster-than-others?rq=processing%20speed
I love this thoughtful approach! We need new, more inclusive practices in planning. I agree that planning processes are behind the times and are often missing out in meaningful perspectives. Thanks for sharing this!