PLAN410: Planning with Indigenous Communities

Daniel Iwama

To borrow an aphorism from the Māori planning theorist Hirini Matunga, “no one owns planning” (Matunga, 2017). As a universal practice of spatializing social aspirations, planning has always existed in- and outside of Indigenous communities. This undergraduate course will take a global approach to understanding Indigenous experiences of planning. We will be attentive to two types of planning: government-based forms which have been used to control and dispossess Indigenous communities of their lands; and other practices which some Indigenous communities have used to regain control over their own land-use decisions. See Matunga’s schema below for a preliminary understanding of how these worlds of planning relate to one another. 

The course will require students to engage deeply with the assigned materials through reflective journalling, discussion and regular assignments. Our learning will be complimented by occasional guest speakers who will speak to their own experiences leading various types of planning which activate Indigenous community interests. 

Note: While the topical focus of this course will vary from year-to-year, this first iteration (especially in its second half) is heavily concerned with understanding the practice of Comprehensive Community Planning and related debates.