1. General review.
Professor Webster published this article in Urban Planning Forum, one of the top Chinese urban planning academic journals, before he went to take the office as Dean of the Faculty of Architecture in the University of *. Obviously, Professor wants to make an announcement of his arrival and exert an impact on the world of Chinese urban planning.
A very good job, in my opinion, he has done. The lacking of underlying theories in urban planning, the huge gulf between planning theories and planing practice, and the defection of the current research methodologies, listed in the article, are imminent problems that need urgent address from urban planner and urban researchers.
Criticism don't construct anything. Next, professor proposes his remedy: refutation. A timely, right solution in spite of somewhat 'cliche' it is, I would say. As far as I can think, refutation is a basic requirement of a scientific discipline. It is like an intrinsic nature of a subject that builds on positivism. A few similar terms can be used to describe it, like falsification, critical thinking, etc.
In order to support and exemplify this proposal, this translated Chinese paper uses several professor's works on public health. By investigating on the relationship between urban form (e.g., accessibility, green space, etc.) and human health (e.g., obesity, psychological health), the author tries to prove that the gap between theory and practice in planning discipline can be filled, and the theories can be approximated by refutation.
2. Further thinking on public health through urban planning.
A lot of shining points are presented in this article. For me, the most interesting point is that 'Urban Planning is the ultimate intervening measure to Public Health.'
Bibliography
Webster, C. (2013). Refutation and the scientific knowledge base of urban planning practice. Urban Planning Forum(3), 36-42