2020 carried a heavy symbolic weight. In the preceding years, communities across the country developed 2020 plans, linking local aspirations with a magical number intended to convey clear vision.
And then 2020 arrived, bringing a pandemic, a national awakening toward racial justice, political unrest, job losses, a roller coaster economy—conditions that even those with 20/20 vision didn’t see coming.
The mismatch between 2020 visions and 2020 reality underscores the limitations of long-range planning. The future is uncertain, unsettling, downright weird. So what’s a planner to do?
First, we should retire the famous admonition from Daniel Burnham to Make No Little Plans. Because little plans are a sensible response in times of rapid change, while grand plans tend to gloss over a host of inconvenient factors that we can neither predict nor control. An important lesson of 2020 is that, while we need to remain clear in our vision and intent, we should also stay light on our feet and ready to respond to whatever challenges and discoveries the new year brings.
If the first week of 2021 is any indication, we’re in for more surprises from a changing climate, an unstable democracy, an unresolved pandemic…and adversities we have yet to imagine. Hard work, hopefulness, and a creative, incremental approach are (perhaps) the tools that will carry us through.
From all of us at the CUDC, wishing you a healthy, happy, and righteous new year.