Of Urban Planning To Develop A New Model Of The System

Urban planning is considered a scientific knowledge and a responsibility of government, but it is also a social movement. As an important public policy of government, urban planning has three characteristics including of scientificity, publicity and governability. Our existing decision-making system of urban planning is developed under the planned economic system. Since the 1990s, the adjustment has been carried out. For example, the planning authority has laid heavy stress on expert review and public participation in the decision-making process of the planning. But there is lack of the overall design of framework and institutional arrangements. The power of decision-making of planning only belongs to the executive branch, and the monitoring of the National People's Congress remains merely superficial. At the same time, due to the changes in external system environment and the social environment that are both promulgation and implementation of Property Rights Law and increasing public awareness of rights, the original model of urban planning has been difficult to go on.This paper presents that the original model of urban planning must be in transition under such circumstances as the change of economic system, social restructuring, and governance paradigm shift, by recalling the development of Shanghai urban planning system and comparison on the international experiences of planning decision-making in the countries of developed market economy. The urban planning must have been changed, from the administration planned technical tools under a planned economic system to the government's public policy under the market economy system, from the government's all-embracing the planning affairs to the public participation in public decision-making of planning, from the decision-making structure of the planning only according to the leadership will under the rule of man to checks and balances of the power structure under the rule of law. In short, the transition and changes in the planning decision-making system must meet the objective demands on returns of scientificity, publicity and governability in urban planning.On the above findings, this paper presents a model of urban planning in the new framework. There were four major changes, compared with the existing planning decision-making models. First, it is proposed to strengthen the authority and responsibility of experts in the preparation stage of the planning. Secondly, the Notice program system, public participation system and a comprehensive hearing system should be set up to strengthen the process of the game and the balance of interests before planning and decision-making. Thirdly, it is the National People's Congress in charge of the decision-making of the comprehensive planning. Fourthly, it is addressed to adjust decision-making model of the detailed planning decision according to the planning board instead of the executive leader. Within the new framework of the urban planning decision-making, some brief analyses have been addressed involved with expert system of rights and responsibilities, planning decision-making system of NBC and Planning Board, Public participation system in the planning decision-making, etc. And the paper has put forward proposals on the arrangements for the corresponding in new planning decision-making system.