Real-Life Communication
"Although this sounds cliched, the most important skill is dealing
with people," says Daren Fluke. He is a development consultant. "You have
to be a good public speaker. A lot of what planners do is interact with the
public and public officials."
But it's not enough just to be able to
communicate. You will definitely need to be able to speak persuasively. "A
lot of times, you are in the hot seat. Someone is always mad at you. You are
advocating development and that makes you a target."
You are a land
developer. Your new development is controversial. You are developing a mini-community
that mimics the street patterns of bigger cities, in grid-like fashion. Also,
you will be mixing retail stores such as flower shops and clothing stores
with condominiums and coffee shops.
The community you are working in
is medium-sized, but growing explosively. Typically, local land developers
here have segregated land use. That means one area is zoned commercial. One
area is zoned residential. Then, you have your shopping malls with giant parking
lots in front.
You think this way of building will, in the future,
result in more problems.
At 7 p.m., you and your business partner are
to stand in front of the community and city government to make an argument
for mixed use of land, rather than segregated use of land. Can you think of
some reasons why mixed land use would be better than segregated land use?
What might you say to your audience this evening?
Here are some points
you may want to consider and develop in your argument. When you segregate,
you have to duplicate city services, such as libraries, post offices and public
schools. Also, when subdivisions are isolated from shopping and workplaces,
people need to drive. You might also want to mention that land is scarcer
today.