Non-Plan

Article published in ’New Society Magazine;’ March 20th, 1969

Non-Plan: an experiment in freedom

Written by: Paul Barker, Peter Hall, and co-contributors Reyner Banham, and Cedric Price

Paul Barker and Peter Halls idea: ’could things be any worse if there was no planning at all?’

From this they came up with the term: Non-Plan

They consider such questions and thoughts throughout the article as:

’Why not have the courage, where practical, to let people shape their own environments?’

’Why don’t we dare trust the choices that would evolve if we let them?’

’Why do people seem so afraid of freedom?’

The subsequent chapters presented throughout the book are essays and
articles alike which were written in response to this idea of ’Non-Plan.’

There were reflections on the role the government has played in society in response to these ideas; as told by Barry Curtis in ’The Heart of the City’

As well as outrageous ideas collaborated by Hadas Steiner in ’Off the Map;’
and a look at what has happened since the release of this article by Johnathan Hughes in ’After Non-Plan’

FREEDOM:
-Is freedom determined by power?
-Is freedom lost when there is planning?
-We fight for freedom but at the same time we
are afraid of it?
-Why has it become so hard to accept change?

POWER:
-Who has the power to create freedom?
-Does power regulate planning?
-Do people give up their freedom to power?
-Has power become such an integrated part
of society that we cannot live without it?
-Does power give people the right to create
change?

PLANNING:
-Is planning controlled by power?
-Does freedom exist with planning?
-Can planning be the voice of everyone or
does there have to be a compromise?

Please feel free to contribute further to this blogg. If you want to read the book, we suggest starting with chapter 1; Paul Barker: Thinking the Unthinkable and chapter 14; Jonathan Hughes: After Non-Plan, to give a basic understanding of the Non-Plan idea.
//Fanny and Adam