A Quantitative Exploration of the Existentialist Urban Planner and Work Engagement

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to explore existentialism synthesized with urban planning theory and develop a measure for the "existentialist urban planner." For existentialists, existence precedes essence, and the profession of urban planning would not exist without this belief. Other existentialist concepts which can be found within a planner's mindset are facticity, transcendence, free will, bad faith, authenticity, and being-with-others-albeit not in these terms. The Existentialist Urban Planner Scale (EUPS) was created to measure a planner's existentialist worldview based upon the main existentialist concepts. The results of the survey showed that there are existentialist urban planners. The existentialist urban planners have a significantly positive correlation with work engagement, and especially the work engagement subcomponent, dedication. Also, the existentialist urban planner associates with an entrepreneurial work culture.