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Planning cultures refer to the differing customs and practices in the profession of urban and regional planning that exist around the world. The discourse, models, and styles of communication in planning are adapted to the various local conditions of each community such that planning approaches from one part of the world are not necessarily transferrable to other parts of the globe. Examples of planning cultures include neo-liberal, colonial, and indigenous planning cultures.

Canadian planning culture
It has been recognised in Canada that moral and cultural values are a part of planning culture, and that planning culture is an inherently value-laden activity. Canadian planning culture has been influenced by the planning practices of Great Britain, who partly settled Canada, and by the United States, Canada's neighbour to the South. The culture of planning in Canada has retained its unique identity by focusing on community planning, while British planning focuses on town planning, and American planning focuses on urban planning. Canada's legacy as sparsely populated nation has led to a planning culture that centres on regional planning as a way of tackling disparities between rural and urban areas. The conflict of Canada's regional planning culture lies in the fact that a region can be defined through different mechanisms. For example, a region could be a large area centred around an urban area, a watershed area, or as an area based on the valley section between mountains.

The diverse and multicultural nature of the Canadian population, and the regional approach to planning has led to some challenges in the way that planning is conducted in Canada. Jill Grant explains that a potential solution to these types of conflict that has been adopted by adopted by Canadian planners is a culture of planning where the professional works in a proactive manner and attempts to anticipate conflicts and work to mitigate them before they reach a tipping point. Planning practice is influenced by politics, and in Canada social justice has been incorporated into progressive planning cultures since the 1960s. This form of social justice in planning has focused on enabling typically under-resourced groups, including the poor. The legacy of planning in Canada as a form of social justice has permeated to planning schools, including the School of Community and Regional Planning at the University of British Columbia, where agency, democratisation, and sustainability are declared to be important values of the curriculum. Participatory planning culture in Canada is in part inspired by Porto Alegre's participatory budget, which has led to a culture of consensus-building, collaboration, and community agency.

Canada's planning culture is rife with colonial legacies and inequalities and this is not forgotten in today's planning culture. Today, planning culture in Canada has evolved to a values-based practice embedded within the political realm that attempts to give agency to various groups by promoting collaboration and conflict resolution.