This paper represents an attempt to show how computation might be improved and reorganized to deal better with the imperatives of the planning profession and to improve its organizational setting, I will first sketch three underlying sets of circumstances: the state of urban development, focussing mainly on the USA; the structure and imperatives of planning capable of dealing with these conditions; and some organizational factors which generally stand in the way of such planning, The key to this part of the discussion is the identification of three major activities in planning: analysis or modeling, invention or design, and guiding public participation. I will then describe the hypothetical functioning of a well-tempered planning program, showing the critical importance of computing in relation to the three major planning activities; then with a generalized examination of the computing issues I arrive at an optimistic evaluation of the possible achievement of this program.
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