Planning mixed-use developments in the globalizing cities: Shanghai and Chicago

My dissertation focuses on mixed-use development to explore how planners make plans in the process of development and design within different planning cultures. It examines planning advice as a form and mechanism to shape urban development within the interactions and relationships of participants in plan making processes. By employing a combination of archival research, process study and semi-structured open-ended interviews within an overall case study approach, I compare and contrast the difference and similarity of configuration and consequences of planning advice in four mixed-use development projects in Shanghai and two similar projects in Chicago.;This research reveals that a planning culture characterized by planning systems, public-private partnerships and global-local dynamics in urban development shapes the information, values and interest of planners that support their ideas in planning advice. The planning culture of Shanghai is characterized by a hierarchical planning system, a domination of multi-layers of the public sector, and a preference for adapting global practices. On the other hand, Chicago planning culture is featured with key elements that include a planning network, fragmented and balanced relationships among public and private sectors, and a reliance on local expertise and experiences. These features of a planning culture configure planning advice through their impacts on how planners employ information, deliberate values and allocate interests. This research improves the understanding of how planners make plans within the cultural differences across the globe.