The Problem with the 5,000-Word Report
Ask any practising urban planner how often they submit a 5,000-word written report in their day-to-day work. The answer, almost universally, is: never. Yet this remains the dominant assessment format in Australian planning schools.
What Practitioners Actually Do
Planners present to councils, brief ministers, facilitate community engagement workshops, and prepare development assessment reports — none of which map neatly onto a traditional academic essay.
Alternatives Worth Trialling
In my recent studio units I have experimented with oral examinations, policy briefing notes, community consultation simulations, and peer-assessed design charrettes. The results have been encouraging: students engage more deeply when the output format feels professionally authentic.