Most first books are autobiographical, and this work is no exception. My interest
and commitment to the topics addressed in this book were inspired and shaped
by my early experiences as a graduate student at MIT’s Department of Urban
Studies and Planning. MIT introduced me to the power and potential of new
technologies and nurtured my optimism in the positive uses of information technologies.
While working with young people in Boston, I became confident that digital
technologies like GIS could be used to understand and solve complex social problems.
Initially, I believed that the tools and the analyses were central to problem
solving. However, during the short time I worked as a neighborhood planner at the
Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA), I learned the hard way that the best tools,
techniques, and analyses could not ensure the survival of good planning ideas. One
had to understand how planning was actually done, both in the trenches, and in
City Hall. From that time, I have been attuned to the complex interplay between
the technical/analytical and the institutional/political aspects of day-to-day planning
practice. The opening chapter of this book frames some of these complexities.