The Civil Engineer in the Multidisciplinary Design Team

Design teams are becoming increasingly prominent because of the increasing complexity of urban planning and development. The team should be tailored to the special problems of each project and each community. The team may include civil engieers, planners, architects, attorneys, sociologists, ecologists, landscape architects, demographers, and others. Systems analysis and the multidisciplinary design team approach show promise of optimizing decision-making. Civil engineers know their own discipline well. More intensive effort is needed to understand the broader problems, the skills and techniques of others, and the interrelationship of the team members. The extent to which civil engineers understand and contribute to the solution of the human problems in the creation of urban facilities, is the extent to which they will be leaders in the revitalization of our cities.