Paul Davidoff’s Life in Prospect: Building a Progressive Planning Research Agenda Through Engaged Scholarship

Abstract

This article explores Paul Davidoff’s life and its relevance to the epochal turn for the planning discipline when theories in planning gave up ground to new theories of planning. By using biography as a method of inquiry, this article highlights the intertwined relations between Davidoff’s scholarship, his public and private life, and his efforts to face structural racism in planning. The article offers suggestions for progressive planning by reflecting on the relevance of scholars’ entrenchment with their context to foster practice and research through engagement.