Publics and Planning Academia: Translation, Interpretation, Resonance

In March 2024, Berkeley Planning Journal editors Xixi Jiang and Nick Shatan facilitated a virtual roundtable on “Publics and Planning Academia” with five former editors or contributors to the Berkeley Planning Journal who earned PhDs from the Department of City and Regional Planning between five and fifteen years ago: Fernando Burga, Ricardo Cardoso, Jia-Ching Chen, Paavo Monkkonen, and Hayden Shelby. This infor- mal conversation moved between multiple registers, from contemplations of the pub- lics and purposes of planning academia to personal reflections on writing, research, and career trajectories. Over the course of two hours, the discussion covered six major topics: Audience and voice; Resonance, relevance, and accountability; Working across linguistic publics; Planners as interpreters; Public teaching; and Doctoral reflections. This conversation has been edited for clarity.