The job of a city planner is to identify everything wrong with their city and propose feasible solutions that will create a more sustainable city without draining taxpayers dry. Hundreds of thousands of city planners have dedicated themselves to the noble task of bettering the lives of the people in the community, and yet all of them seem to get stumped by a problem universal in its omnipresence but unique in its manifestation. What is this problem you may ask? It is a problem so large and complex that one might even call it wicked. The challenge faced by all city planners and has yet to be solved is none other than the issue of wicked problems.

Wicked Problems

Because planning is a social science, the challenges that city planners face are dynamic and multi-faceted. Common problems that cities are faced with include poverty, shortage of affordable housing, environmental sustainability, and equitable access to public goods. Wicked problems have the following ten attributes:

1. Problems are difficult to define, thus making defining a solution difficult.
2. There is no end to the problem.
3. Solutions are ambiguously good or bad, and there is no conventionalized criterion for evaluating solutions.
4. Solutions cannot be immediately evaluated.
5. All implemented have long-lasting impacts on the community.
6. It is impossible to identify all possible solutions and conduct objective comparisons.
7. All problems are unique, and there is no universal solution.
8. Problems are symptoms of other problems
9. Explanation for the cause of wicked problems determines how the resolution is implemented.
10. Planners are not allowed to be wrong (Rittel and Webber, 1973, p. 161-176).

Solving wicked problems requires a holistic view that incorporates the needs of the community and extrapolates upon intrapersonal relationships and how individuals interact with their environment. There is no end to societal problems because they are in constant flux and cannot be clearly defined. The solution to the problem is reached when resources run out or when planners are content with the solution they have proposed. Due to these limitations, planners are prone to the “best” solution fallacy by oversimplifying the problem, and only addressing one symptom of the problem. Perhaps a more effective approach is identifying the “best compromise”, which can be established through public participation and careful tradeoff analyses of the alternatives (Glasser, 1998, p. 237).

The fundamental first step to addressing an issue is identifying what the issue is. However, given the nature of wicked problems, identifying the problem is one of the largest barriers that planners face. For example, when looking at distressed areas of a city where unemployment, homelessness, and crime rates are high, it is unclear which of these three attributes is the core problem or if there is a larger problem at hand, for example economic downturn or lack of access to education. Examination of societal problems quickly reveals the complexities and the interconnected nature of such problems. Furthermore, societal problems are usually only examined from the perspective of the planner. It is essential for wicked problems to be evaluated through the lens of various worldviews because a planner cannot be expected to accurately represent the fabric of the neighborhoods they are planning for (Skaburskis, 2008, p. 279). A pluralistic planning process where members or representatives of various interest groups can participate is critical to the success of understanding wicked problems.

19^th Century Planning Efforts and Contemporary Planning

Wicked problems are an intrinsic aspect of urban planning. Ever since cities began cropping up across the global landscape, wicked problems have followed suit. During the Industrial Revolution, the main objective of city planning was to increase efficiency by designing solutions that utilized minimum resources in order to address social problems (Rittel, 1973). Planners identified inefficiencies in the city and proposed solutions to fix that one issue. In focusing on only one branch of the problem and failing to include affected interest groups in the planning process, planners were ultimately unsuccessful in creating solutions that addressed the root causes of such inefficiencies and meeting the needs of the community.

The school of planning thought has evolved significantly since its early roots in the Industrial Revolution. The profession is more cognizant of the fact that the outputs of one system are inputs to a larger system, and that this interconnected structure makes it difficult to determine where a social ill originates. Methods for addressing social ills can be divided into two categories: the rational-comprehensive approach and successive limited comparisons. The rational-comprehensive approach is a theoretical method where all possible solutions are taken into account and policy makers make a decision based on what will yield the maximum benefit (Lindblom, 1959, p. 81). However, the inherent limits to human intellect and knowledge make applying this approach to complex problems impossible. In the successive limited comparisons method, the means and ends are identified simultaneously, meaning there is no clear distinction between the two. While the rational-comprehensive approach defines a “good” policy as one where there is agreement on the objective, successive limited comparison is focused on achieving any form of agreement. In the long term, this can be detrimental because there is no solid foundation or clear objective for what the policy is trying to achieve.

Successive limited comparison is employed when dealing with societal problems, given the infeasibility of applying rational-comprehensive approach to the scope of issues such as poverty and unemployment. The successive limited comparison approach analyzes a problem in smaller parts, which implicitly recognizes that all problems are symptoms of other problems. Implementation of the successive limited comparison method results in incremental policy changes, but incrementalism does not actually fix the problem, and often only exacerbates it because the source of the problem is never identified.

Pruitt-Igoe, the historical housing project in St. Louis, exemplifies some of the shortcomings of the successive limited comparison method. In an effort to combat the substandard conditions of urban slums, policy makers undertook a massive public housing project. However, within a few years of its construction, the building fell into

disrepair due to its unsustainable funding plan. Upkeep of the building was reliant on the incomes of residents, but the low and unstable incomes of the residents were inadequate for maintaining the building. Rather than creating a safe haven in the city, the social order of the complex fragmented, attracting drug dealers and other criminals. While the city created a permanent shelter for some of

its marginalized demographics, this solution did not solve any of the underlying problems that had created the condition of the slums in the first place. Unemployment rates were at an all-time high in the city because of middle-class flight to the suburbs. Jobs were relocating outside of the city center, leaving those who could not afford to follow employment opportunities to the suburbs jobless. Despite being given new housing facilities, the underlying issues of a

shortage of high paying jobs was still present, and the economic position of Pruitt-Igoe’s residents was not improved. Planners failed to predict population trends and were unable to recognize that the distressed neighborhoods were a symptom of the city’s changing economic landscape. Policy makers failed to understand the causes of urban slums, and thus the proposed solution was equally ineffective in addressing poverty and crime.

 

Racial Zoning

One of the most prevalent wicked problems of today is the issue of racial housing discrimination and the correlation between race and poverty. In order to have a comprehensive understanding of the role race plays in creating the fabric of the city, the historical uses of zoning to create a segregated environment must be evaluated. Southern American cities utilized zoning as a means of social control in the post-Civil War years. General inequality between black and white neighborhoods was the result of income discrepancies across racial lines and the isolation of black neighborhoods from social services. Landlords and landowners were instrumental in preventing desegregation by refusing to sell land to blacks. Despite the landmark Supreme Court decision in Buchanan v. Warley, which ruled that prohibiting the sale of property on the basis of race was unconstitutional (Silver, 1997), racial segregation continued to be perpetuated through race-based zoning codes that preserved racially homogenous neighborhoods. Up until 1949, Birmingham, Alabama’s zoning ordinance encouraged racial segregation in residential zones by utilizing building permits to prevent Black housing units from being developed adjacently to white housing units (Silver, 1997). Active racial zoning has for the most part been eradicated from the zoning process, but covert racial segregation is still a reality in many American cities.

Out of all the ethnic minorities in the U.S., blacks are the most highly impacted by exclusionary housing. The most common forms of exclusionary housing practices include direct refusal to rent a unit, refusal to negotiate price, differential conditions to qualify for renting a home, and false representation of units available on the market. Although housing discrimination on the basis of sex, race, or familial status is illegal, there have been numerous recorded cases of single black mothers who were turned away for having “too many children” (Roscigno, Karafin, and Tester, 2009, p. 59).

Another form of discrimination is nonexclusionary, which entails differential terms and treatment. Much like exclusionary discrimination, blacks are most affected, representing 81 percent of reported cases (Roscigno, Karafin, and Tester, 2009, p. 62). Forms of treatment may include the intentional neglect of providing maintenance and service needs, harassment, or coercion. These methods of intimidation create an inhospitable living environment that prompts victims of such treatment to move out. Creating additional renting stipulations for minority groups is one manner in which landlords exert control over the racial fabric of the neighborhood. Landlords are incentivized to turn down low-income people of color out of fear that their presence will decrease the neighborhood’s marketability, thus inhibiting potential investments in the area. Even minority groups who can afford to live in neighborhoods that are predominantly white middle-class are forced to find housing in less ideal locations due to discrimination. Creating a more inclusive housing system would require enforcing anti-discriminatory laws, but the government lacks the means to do so. Furthermore, implementing effective policies that confront practices of racism and discrimination in the market is a slippery slope because of the contrasting viewpoints and personal beliefs surrounding the issue.

Food Deserts

While urban spaces have evolved since the nineteenth century, many of the same problems that facilitated the increased role of formal city planning are still applicable to contemporary times. Whereas planners of the Industrial Revolution dealt primarily with sanitation issues, planners today are faced with a myriad of health related problems ranging from pollution to lack of access to healthy food. Food deserts are defined as underserved neighborhoods that lack access to affordable, fresh produce (McEntee and Agyeman, 2010). They are often used as an indicator of poverty, and people who live in such areas tend to be more susceptible to obesity and generally have poorer health.

In a study conducted in Vermont, researchers utilized Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to determine distances from residential units to food retailers, where residential tracts located more than ten miles from a food retailer were considered food deserts. Census Tract 9501, located in the northeast part of the state, not only had the longest average distance of 24.45 miles between residential areas and food retailers, but also had the lowest

educational achievement in the state. There was only a 1% poverty rate difference between food desert communities and non-food desert communities, but one-third of the poorest communities in Vermont are considered food deserts (McEntee and Agyeman, 2010). While it is difficult to draw concrete conclusions, the data appears to suggest a correlation between poverty, health, and education.

The logical answer to solving food deserts is making food retailers more accessible, but this is a much larger undertaking than one might assume. Funding for food retail stores in impoverished areas is difficult because private sector development and financing are incentivized to build in areas that are perceived to have the highest economic return. Consequently, distressed neighborhoods are placed at an inherent disadvantage and recovering their economic potential has proven to be a challenge. In order to attract investors, these neighborhoods would need to create a form of sustainable high-paying job growth, but job growth is highly dependent on market demand and the skill level of workers needed. Food deserts are the consequence of the intersection between poverty, health, and economics, and the complexities of these three facets make it difficult to identify the root cause as well as separate the means from the ends to the problem.

Conclusion

Wicked problems encompass both the promise of contemporary planning as well as why so many planning efforts have and will continue to fail. If planners were able to solve wicked problems, then the ideal would be attained; cities would be equitable, sustainable, and the people living in them would have a much-improved quality of life. However, due to their open-ended nature, solutions are never black or white, but instead tend to fall in a gray area where implementation will result in a mix of both positive and negative responses from the affected community. While wicked problems may never be fully solved, city planners should strive to work towards solutions that will have maximum benefits on the community. This can be achieved in part by including members of the community or representatives that embody the diverse demographics of an area in the planning process. Planners will have a more holistic view of the issue at hand and be more informed of factors involved and possible impacts when deciding on a solution. While it is overly idealistic to believe that pluralism will result in a society where all government decisions will ultimately benefit the people, pluralism creates the basis for a more representative planning process. Through this approach, planners can hope to alleviate social problems through the creation of a more equitable city.

References

Glasser, H. (1998). On the evaluation of “wicked problems”. The GeoJournal Library, 47: 229-249.

Lindblom, C. E. (1959). The science of “muddling through”. Public Administration Review, 19(2): 79-88. doi:10.2307/973677

McEntee, J. and Agyeman, J. (2010). Towards the development of a GIS method for identifying rural food deserts: Geographic access in Vermont, USA. Applied Geography, 30(1): 165-176. doi:10.1016/j.apgeog.2009.05.004

Northridge, M. E. and Freeman, L. (2011). Urban planning and health equity. Journal of Urban Health, 88(3): 582-597. doi:10.1007/s11524-011-9558-5

Rittel, H. W. J. & Webber, M. M. (1973). Dilemmas in a general theory of planning. Policy Sciences, 4, 155-169.

Roscigno, V. J., Karafin, D. L., and Tester, G. (2009). The complexities and processes of racial housing discrimination. Oxford Journals, 56(1): 49-69.

Silver, C. (1997). The racial origins of zoning in American cities. Urban Planning and the African American Community: In the Shadows.

Skaburskis, A. (2008). The origin of “wicked problems”. Planning theory & practice, 9(2), 277-280.