Planning (disambiguation)

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same or a similar title.

The term planning refers to a number of different topics:

• Planning (psychology): Planning is the mental process of thinking about the events and activities required to achieve a desired goal or purpose. Such mental activity is fundamental to all forms of planning regardless of context, organization or scale. ^[e]
• Planning process: The various steps or procedures involved in a complete planning effort. E.g., defining the problem, identifying alternative solutions, gathering evidence, examining alternatives in light of the evidence, and selecting the preferred alternative. ^[e]
• Centrally planned change: A general approach to preparing a set of decisions for action in the future meeting two characteristics: 1) Organized by a central government or authority (e.g., nation state) and 2) Intending to bring about social change. E.g., proposal and adoption of the 14th and 15th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution, the Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education (1954), and the Civil Rights Acts of 1964 and 1965 were all parts of a decades-long effort at centrally planned change. ^[e]
• Planning Methodology: A subtopic of planning education and practice specifically concerned with appropriate or effective methods for dealing with the various stages of the planning process. ^[e]

Much planning thought is directed at organizations, communities and other collectivities:

•  Business plan: Formal statement of a set of business goals, the reasons why they are believed attainable, and the plan for reaching those goals. ^[e]
• City planning: Also known as urban planning and urban and regional planning. City planning is ordinarily the responsibility of a department of city or municipal government and/or a multi-city regional planning authority. ^[e]
• Collaborative planning: Planning based on or organized around collaboration or cooperation between [peer]]s or partners. E.g., huge numbers of private-public partnerships are planned and implemented through such collaborative planning. ^[e]
• Contingency planning: Preparing a set of decisions for action under conditions of high uncertainty, or where there are large numbers of unknown factors (including unknowns that cannot be identified) . E.g., planning by hospitals for possible pandemics such as Covid19 and other possible epidemics are classic examples of contingency planning. ^[e]
• Disaster preparedness: Advance planning is an important part of preparing for possible disasters, including hurricanes, fires, tornados, and man-made disasters like terrorist attacks, along with stockpiling food, medicine, fuel and other supplies, coordination agreements among first responders and other preparations. ^[e]
• Economic planning: The process of preparing for key economic decisions to be made or influenced by central government. (C.f., Paulson Plan) Economic planning approaches contrast in degree and kind, from pure laissez-faire that foregoes any attempts by government to influence the economy to the fully government-run economy advocated by some models of socialism. Most national governments today seek to exercise some degree of influence over their national economies. ^[e]
• Environmental planning: Preparation of decisions for action to assure the protection and stewardship of air, water, land and other natural resources. Sustainability has emerged as a primary consideration in current and future environmental planning. ^[e]
• Health planning: a.k.a. Health care planning, Health services planning, Hospital planning, and Wellness planning. Planning directed specifically at health-related issues and concerns. ^[e]
• Land Use planning: Preparing for authoritative decisions by public authorities on appropriate uses for real estate properties. In contemporary city planning distinctions between multiple classes of residential, commercial, retail, and industrial uses are common. A number of cities have also established specialized recreation or arts districts. ^[e]
• Landscape planning: Preparation of plans for the design and placement of trees, bushes, flowers, and other plants, water features and other components of the natural and [built environment]]s. Although landscape planning is an ancient art practiced in China and elsewhere for thousands of years, the late 19th century planning of the 847 acres of Central Park in New York City by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux may be the most famous modern example. ^[e]
• Lesson planning: A component of teaching pedagogy concerned with the planning of individual class sessions, including lectures, discussions, exercises and assignments. ^[e]
• Marketing plan: A product of business planning specifically focused on preparing for decisions about how to present a good or service to the public. ^[e]
• Operational planning: A phase of strategic planning in which plans are made for how the strategies identified in the strategic plan are to be implemented. ^[e]
• Regional planning: Urban or rural planning carried out on a multi-community or regional basis. In urban areas, this may consist of all or most of the communities in a metropolitan region and in rural areas, regional planning typically involves multi-county planning districts. ^[e]
• Rural planning: Community planning activities carried out on behalf of rural communities, districts and regions ^[e]
• Site planning: Planning directed at preparing decisions affecting the arrangement and coordination of the design and structure of architectural, horticultural, and economic and other elements on a specific, single site, lot or property. ^[e]
• Social planning: A.k.a. social welfare planning or social program planning. A sub-field of social work concerned with defining client needs, identifying alternative programs for meeting them, locating the resources and the other steps necessary to implement them. ^[e]
• Strategic planning: Planning primarily or exclusively concerned with preparing for critical, strategic issues and decisions. The concept is borrowed from its original military usage, where strategic planning is distinguished from tactical planning. E.g., in the Allied planning for D-Day the principal concern of strategic planning was selection of the appropriate site for the initial landing of troops. ^[e]
• Succession planning: A specialized form of planning found in social, political and economic institutions and concerned with preparing for the events associated, in particular, with leadership succession. E.g., the appointments of new presidents at universities and major foundations are often events requiring considerable amounts of succession planning. ^[e]
• Tactical planning: The more detailed planning that follows the preparation of strategic plans. The distinction originated among military planners. E.g., in the planning for D-Day, tactical planning was directed both at the details of landing on Omaha Beach and the other landing sites, and on carrying out the elaborate decoy "preparations" focused on another site. ^[e]
• Urban planning: Preparation of decisions intended to influence the design and diverse uses of urban space and address aspects of the form and economic, political and social functions of the urban environment and the location and distribution of different activities occurring there. ^[e]

Some forms of planning are directed specifically at individuals and families:

• Event planning: A specialized form of planning concerned with preparing and organizing special events, including weddings, graduations, bar and bat mitzvahs, baptisms, confirmations, engagements, gender reveals, and other special events. ^[e]
• Financial planning: Preparation of financial plans specifying a person's or organization's current money situation and long-term monetary goals and identifying strategies to achieve those goals. ^[e]
• Family planning: In the era of "birth control", this term usually refers specifically to decisions by married couples about when and how frequently to have children. ^[e]
• Menu planning: A component of meal preparation and cooking specifically concerned with identifying appropriate or preferred combinations of individual dishes, courses, beverages and other parts of a complete meal. ^[e]
• Retirement planning: Preparation of financial plans to assure an adequate income for retirees in the latter years of life, after income-producing work ceases. ^[e]
• Vacation planning: A specialized form of short-term planning for travel, hotel and motel accommodations, meals, organized tours and other travel related events and activities, often conducted by travel agents. ^[e]
• Wedding planner: An event planner specializing in preparations for a wedding and the related events (e.g., bridal showers, receptions, etc.) ^[e]

A number of other topics also relate to the general topic of planning:

• Evaluation: In both psyological and social and political senses, the process of assessment of results following after planning and implementation of plans. Goal attainment, impact assessment and outcome measurement are common strategies of evaluation. ^[e]
• Futurism: Add brief definition or description
• Future studies: Add brief definition or description
• Implementation: Add brief definition or description