You’re a city planner with a big project on the horizon. How can you use logic to make the most of it?

1 Define the problem

Before you jump into the design and implementation of your project, you need to clearly define the problem you are trying to solve. What are the current challenges and opportunities in the area? What are the goals and objectives of the project? What are the constraints and assumptions you have to work with? By defining the problem, you can narrow down your focus, avoid irrelevant or contradictory information, and set the criteria for evaluating your solutions.

2 Gather the evidence

Once you have defined the problem, you need to gather the evidence that will support your decision-making process. Evidence can include data, facts, opinions, perspectives, and feedback from various sources, such as surveys, reports, maps, interviews, and observations. You need to collect enough evidence to cover the relevant aspects of the problem, such as the social, economic, environmental, and technical dimensions. You also need to assess the quality, reliability, and validity of the evidence, and avoid any biases, errors, or gaps that might affect your reasoning.

3 Generate the alternatives

Based on the problem and the evidence, you need to generate the alternatives that could potentially solve the problem. Alternatives are different ways of approaching or addressing the problem, such as different designs, methods, or strategies. You need to generate as many alternatives as possible, without judging or dismissing them at this stage. You can use various techniques to generate alternatives, such as brainstorming, mind mapping, scenario analysis, or SWOT analysis.

4 Evaluate the alternatives

After generating the alternatives, you need to evaluate them against the criteria you set when defining the problem. Criteria are the standards or measures that you use to compare and rank the alternatives, such as feasibility, effectiveness, efficiency, sustainability, and acceptability. You need to apply logic to evaluate the alternatives, by using facts, evidence, and reasoning to support or reject each alternative. You can use various tools to evaluate alternatives, such as decision matrices, cost-benefit analysis, or multi-criteria analysis.

6 Communicate the solution

Finally, you need to communicate the solution to the relevant audiences, such as the community, the stakeholders, and the authorities. Communication is essential to inform, persuade, and engage the audiences about your solution, and to gain their support, approval, and feedback. You need to use logic to communicate the solution, by presenting the problem, the evidence, the alternatives, the evaluation, and the choice in a clear, coherent, and convincing way. You also need to use appropriate formats, channels, and media to communicate the solution, such as reports, presentations, or visualizations.