Bridging academia and practice

Urban planning and design are both professional and academic disciplines. Relations between academia and the professions are rarely straightforward. Do universities exist primarily to provide basic training to prepare new graduates for the world of work, or to push the boundaries of thinking beyond currently accepted professional wisdom? Are academics leading or following practitioners? Do professional demands constrain or inspire critical and creative teaching and research? These were some of the questions addressed at a round table of academics, practitioners and ‘pracademics’ hosted by Urban Design and Planning at the recent World Planning Schools Congress in Perth, Western Australia (4–8 July 2011)