ADITYA || 23AR60R12, ANISHA || 23AR60R19, AJOY || 23AR60R23
PARAG || 23AR60R21, TUSHITA || 23AR60R26, JITENDRA || 23AR60R18
● Wicked Problems :-
Wicked problem is a problem that is difficult or impossible to solve because its
- Incomplete
- Contradictory
- Changing requirements that are often difficult to recognize.
It refers to an idea or problem that cannot be fixed, or there is no single solution to the problem.
We call them "wicked" because these properties are themselves ethically deplorable.
We use the term "wicked" in a meaning akin to that of "malignant" (in contrast to "benign") or "vicious" (like
a circle) or "tricky" (like a leprechaun) or "aggressive" (like a lion, in contrast to the docility of a lamb).
We do not mean to personify these properties of social systems by implying malicious intent.
A great many barriers keep us from perfecting such a planning/governing system:
theory is inadequate for decent forecasting; our intelligence is insufficient to our
tasks; plurality of objectives held by pluralities of politics makes it impossible to
pursue unitary aims; and so on.
The kinds of problems that planners deal with-societal problems-are inherently
different from the problems that scientists and perhaps some classes of engineers deal
with. Planning problems are inherently wicked.
● Properties of Planning Type Wicked Problems :-
The information needed to understand the problem depends upon one's
idea for solving it.
That is to say:
to describe a wicked-problem develop an exhaustive
1. There is no inventory of all conceivable solutions ahead
of time.
concomitant
definitive formulation of Problem Problem
understanding resolution
a wicked problem
The formulation of a wicked problem is the problem!
Eg:- Poverty problem.
Does poverty mean low income? Yes.
Then Determinants of low income :-
- Low national and regional economies?
- cognitive & occupational skills within labor force?
- educational system? etc..
Adding these etiologies to our information package….
In solving a chess problem or a mathematical equation, the
problem-solver knows when he has done his job. There are
criteria that tell when the or a solution has been found.
BUT
2. Wicked problems No criteria for sufficient understanding and because there are no
ends to the causal chains that link interacting open systems, the
have no stopping planner can always try to do better…..but there’s no end.
rule. The planner terminates work on a wicked problem, not for reasons
inherent in the "logic" of the problem. He stops for considerations
that are external to the problem: he runs out of time, or money, or
patience.
- Solution to Equation True
- Structural Formula for Or
chemical compound False
3. Solutions to
BUT
NO
wicked problems are - Wicked Problems
True or False
not true-or-false, but - Judgments are likely to differ widely to accord with group or
personal interests, special value-sets, and ideological
good-or-bad predilections (condition of favouring).
- Assessment of proposed solutions are
expressed as:-
~ "good" or "bad"
~ "better or worse"
~ "satisfying" or "good enough."
- Tame-problems How good solution
attempt is
- With wicked problems, on the other hand, any solution,
4. There is NO after being implemented waves of consequences
IMMEDIATE and NO - The full consequences cannot be appraised until the
waves of repercussions have completely run out, and
ULTIMATE TEST of a we have no way of tracing all the waves through all the
solution to a wicked affected lives ahead of time or within a limited time span.
problem
- Every implementation Consequential
- Every implemented solution Leaves TRACES that can’t be
5. Every solution to a UNDONE.
- One cannot build a freeway to see how it works, and
wicked problem is a
then easily correct it after unsatisfactory performance.
"one-shot operation"; - Consequences they generate have long half-lives.
because there is no - Many people's lives will have been irreversibly
influenced, and large amounts of money will have been
opportunity to learn by
spent-another irreversible act.
trial-and-error, every - Every attempt to reverse a decision or to correct for the
attempt counts undesired consequences poses another set of wicked
problems.
significantly
Various stakeholders will have differing views of acceptable
solutions.
6. Wicked problems do It is a matter of judgment as to when enough Potential
solutions have emerged and which should be Pursued
not have an enumerable
(or an exhaustively
describable) set of
potential solutions, nor is
there a well-described set
of permissible operations
that may be incorporated
into the plan.
There are no ‘classes’ of solutions that can be applied to a
specific case.
7. Every wicked problem Part of the art of dealing with wicked problems is the art of not
knowing too early what type of solution to apply.
is essentially unique.
Of course, for any two problems at least one distinguishing
property can be found (just as any number of properties can be
found which they share in common), and each of them is
therefore unique in a trivial sense.
8. Every wicked problem can
be considered to be a A wicked problem is a set of interlocking issues and constraints
symptom of another which change over time, embedded in a dynamic social context.
problem
EX:
The doctrine advertises a policy of small steps, in the hope of
contributing systematically to overall [Link], however, the
problem is attacked on too low a level (an increment), then
success of resolution may result in making things worse, because it
may become more difficult to deal with the higher problems.
The choice of explanation determines the nature of the problem's
resolution
9. The existence of a
" The reason is that in dealing with wicked problems there are several
more ways of refuting a hypothesis than there are permissible in the
discrepancy representing a
sciences.
wicked problem can be
explained in numerous
ways. The choice of
explanation determines the
nature of the problem's
resolution
10. The planner has no
Planners are liable for the consequences of the actions they
right to be wrong generate, the effects can matter a great deal to those people that
are touched by those actions.
A scientist is expected to formulate hypothesis, which may or may
not be supportable by evidence. A designer doesn’t have such a
luxury, they are expected to get things right
CASE STUDY 1: Rural shrinkage in Denmark
In Denmark, while peripheral Due to this out-
Since the 1990s, rural areas lost up migration and
to 7% of their ageing, lower
work places and
population between educational
the population
2007 and 2012 and attainment and
have been lower
7.8% of their work
increasingly employment
places between
concentrated in 2009 and 2011. rates
the bigger cities.
Finding definitive solutions to the
planning problem is virtually
impossible because any solution will
generate “waves of repercussions” over
an extended period of time. At best, the
problem can, thus, be “re-solved—over
and over again”
CASE STUDY 2: Wicked Problem of Urban Street Planning
Street planning is what social scientists call a “wicked” problem:
Issue
involving Competing
No single Zero-sum
many versions of
right answer outcomes
stakeholders value
Constant tussle between the “moving and living” functions of the street.
MOVING LIVING
Moving function is vital, and it has dominated post-war urban street planning. But in
many cities, the dominance of the moving function has resulted in what Danish architect
Jan Gehl calls the “60kph environment” — elevated freeways, highways bisecting
communities, looming road signs designed to be read at speed.
Living function has also become dominant as cities tend to attract businesses and provide
open spaces required for healthy living.
MAJOR CHALLENGES
EXPANSION
OF ECONOMY TRAFFIC
& CONGESTION
POPULATION
As our economy and population continue to expand, traffic is set to grow in coming decades but
so will the requirement for public open spaces . There is competition among different users:
cyclists, pedestrians and rapid transit.
CASE STUDY 3: Sustainable Development as a Wicked Problem
The 17 Sustainable Development (SDGs) topics each align with the description of wicked problems
re-positioned as goals.
● Sustainable development is an unstructured
problem.
● What causes climate change?
Some say it is a result of over-consumption and
there are those who claim that climate change is
not caused by human activity but is a natural
phenomena.
● One of the top technologies in wastewater
treatment is membrane filtration technology.
While operating the pumps, it generates carbon
dioxide emissions, the climatic effects of which
are not negligible, and the cleaning costs are high,
therefore it has considerable effects on welfare.
End Hunger, seeks an increase in agricultural
production. A major route for increasing
agricultural output is by land-conversion, which in
tropical countries typically means clearing forests.
As hunger gets eliminated, Decent Work and
Economic Growth with its target to increase levels
of exports from developing countries, is next. This
again can cause deforestation to make way for
industrial development. An important way to
reduce rural poverty is by roadbuilding, and in
forest-frontier areas it is a significant driver of
deforestation. Such sensitivities to local context
provide challenges to the SDGs. The inherent
contradiction that the SDGs can simultaneously
increase agricultural output whilst halting
deforestation is unresolved within the framework
of the goals.
Sustainability issues are “wicked” problems
Proposed Involvement of
solutions stakeholders Long-term
remain limited involved and approach
and their conflicting
temporary values
THANK YOU!