Word: vigier
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...subscriber to more traditional planning ideas, Francois C. Vigier, professor of City and Regional Planning and department chairman from 1969 to 1971, says Harvard's program lacks balance. "Planning is not a bunch of numbers," Vigier says, adding, "It deals basically with human beings and how they deal with space." Vigier points out that most of the professors on the Harvard faculty had very little professional planning experience...
Some members of the profession agree with Vigier. In March 1977, an Overseers' visiting committee reported the department placed "far too much emphasis" on policy analysis and social sciences, downplaying planning as a professional discipline...
...Kain is one of the faculty members Vigier mentions with little professional planning experience. Vigier says Kain has harmed the department by bringing in junior faculty who share his outlook on city planning...
...Vigier believes that the current CRP program "speaks to urban phenomena but not to planners"--it addresses part, but not all, of what a planner needs to know. If the CRP is actually closer to an urban economics program than to a professional training school, it does not clearly belong in the Design School, he says. In fact, he says that "we might as well be in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences or in Timbuktu, for that matter...
According to Kain, CRP students believe that AIP recognition of Harvard will be important when they job hunt but Kain believes it "is of very little consequence at all." Vigier says, however, that some states use AIP membership as a surrogate for state certification agencies. If Harvard is not recognized, or does not apply for renewal, it will be "most unpleasant for our students." A degree from a recognized school is "useful in gaining a foothold in the profession and membership is a requirement in certain professional organizations," he said. Robert Brown says that "there is no question that [recognition...