The work of Harvey S. Perloff stands as a landmark in the evolution of
Anglo- American planning doctrine. It is impossible to fully capture the
essence of the published work in a paragraph, page, or even an entire
essay. Yet its highpoints can be identified. His work was innovative,
reformist, comprehensive, and ori- ented toward the future. In
emphasizing the greater importance of people com- pared to things,
Perloff repeatedly prodded planners to be concerned with human needs and
values. He was critical of the past. But inasmuch as he de- voted more
effort to envisioning what could lie ahead than in recalling the past,
his work was markedly optimistic. He once admitted in writing to his
"built-in weakness for expecting rational, socially oriented solutions
ultimately to win out, no matter what the objective situation seems to
be. " To some the expecta- tion may be seen as naive; to others, as a
faith in the wisdom of humankind to take the best course. However
received, Perloff's optimism served as a powerful stimulant to keep
moving ahead for the best that would come of it. Institutions and the
ways they should be shaped and reshaped were of central concern, for
institutions (though he rarely used the term) were the in- struments
through which "knowledge was translated into action.