Just taking a systematic, thorough look at the current situation and thinking about the implications for the future, can bring these things to light. It helps us to do first things first. In other words, it provides a rationale for assigning priorities. Through planning, you can come up with sound policies for address growth or decline. A good plan will suggest answers to perplexing questions.
Planning helps to coordinate development projects with one another.
In other words, making sure that adequate roads and utilities are in place before the new shopping center or subdivision or dairy farm are opened. Planning can educate, involve and inform the public as well as public officials. A soundly reasoned plan, especially one where there has been good public participation, can forestall opposition to implementing what might have been controversial policies or projects or constructing the wrong project. Another aspect of this is that a plan and participating in planning can reveal the potential for change and improvement to a community to those who had never thought of such things before. Planning can be a real eye-opener.