Following the established tradition in our Planning Theory course, on Tuesday undergraduate planning students played Polis PowerPlays: A game of complex interactions.

How to play PPP? Watch the instructions by the game master, Dr Ralf Muhlberger.

Some student reactions to the game:

“It was a great game and activity to boost your negotiation, communication and problem solving skills, as well as give exposure to potential planning scenarios which you may encounter in the future as part of your planning career.”

“I learnt that planning is an ethical activity. It is a planner’s responsibility to act ethically. To remain professional, planners have an obligation to serve the public interest, which can clash with the obligations they have with their client or their own moral position. In the game it was clear the developers had a huge amount of cash that they could negotiate with the planners to ensure they achieved support in their preferred areas. It was clear that the planners needed to make a decision about development that benefited the community.”

“Balancing between so many diverse interests is time consuming and extremely hard. It’s impossible to keep everyone happy.”