Exercise 7.1—Policy The purpose of this exercise is the development of critical thinking on urban form and its transformation over time. The student (or a reduced number of students)

should start by identifying and reflecting on the main strengths and weaknesses of the physical form of his city.He should then select one of theseweaknesses for further reflection. Subsequent thinking should aim at moving from ‘scientifical knowledge’

to ‘professional action’—from the acknowledgment of this weakness to the definition of one policy to address it. This policy should be then translated into one goal and a fewobjectives (placed at a lower rank than the goal). Each objective should contribute to the achievement of the goal, and it must be clearly distinguishable from the other objectives. If possible, the achievement of each objective should be measurable. The exercise can be developed in classes, involving the preparation of simple diagrams and its presentation and subsequent debate.