RationalityRationality

Palmanova: Georg Braun & Franz Hogenberg: Civitates Orbis Terrarum, 1572-1618.

Rationality of the CityRationality of the City

• City vs. nature• The city as moral order and confinement

(Foucault 1961: Histoire de la Folie)• The city as the area of the word, the work

and reason (logos, opus) vs. bestiality of nature (Foucault, Derrida)

• The city as a rational Utopia (the garden city, Owen’s ”Village of Harmony and Cooperation)

Owen: Village of Harmony and Cooperation 1817Owen: Village of Harmony and Cooperation 1817

Rational-comprehensive planningRational-comprehensive planning

• Martin Meyerson & Edward Banfield: Politics, Planning, and the Public Interest 1955.

• Based on the idea that individual conflicts can be rationally solved by the community

• The political forms of cooperation, conflict, compromise and dictation

Rational decision makingRational decision making

• The decision maker deliberates about the The decision maker deliberates about the relevant optionsrelevant options

• He/she identifgies their consequensesHe/she identifgies their consequenses• He/she chooses the one that maximizes the He/she chooses the one that maximizes the

expected utility of the community) (Herbert expected utility of the community) (Herbert Simon: Administrative Behavior 1947, Talcott Simon: Administrative Behavior 1947, Talcott Parsons: The Structure of Social Action 1937) Parsons: The Structure of Social Action 1937)

Rational PlanningRational Planning

• Analysis of the situationAnalysis of the situation

• Definiton of the objectives and goalsDefiniton of the objectives and goals

• Design of the action alternativesDesign of the action alternatives

• Comparative analysis of the Comparative analysis of the consequenciesconsequencies

– Foreseen and unforeseenForeseen and unforeseen– Sought effects and side-effectsSought effects and side-effects– Costs and benefitsCosts and benefits