Although treatises on planning published since the 1960s show that alternative paradigms have dominated planning theory over the years, case studies of municipal planning practice display a remarkable continuity in the lessons that researchers have drawn about the qualities that planners should possess to be effective practitioners. This is due, at least in part, to the very nature of case studies as in depth investigations of behaviors and motivations. The article analyzes the way in which researchers have used case studies to build planning theory. It reviews their conclusions on required individual abilities and compares them with the author’s own empirical observations.
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