Planners’ role in accommodating citizen disagreement: The case of Dutch urban planning
Özdemir, Esin
Planners’ role in accommodating citizen disagreement: The case of Dutch urban planning - Sage 2019 - Vol 56, Issue 4, 2019 : (741-749 p.)
Citizen disagreement on urban policies and planning decisions is both ubiquitous and fundamental to democracy. Post-political debates debunk the ‘consensus approach’, which is grounded in Habermasian communication theory, for circumventing disagreement. This article presents a counter argument. Our analysis of the highly institutionalised and consensus-oriented Dutch planning framework shows that this system does not necessarily prevent effective voicing of disagreement. The empirical material demonstrates that consensus is not a pre-defined and static outcome but a dynamic and sensitive process in which urban planning is an instrument. We conclude that planners could facilitate consensus through accommodative roles that address disagreement by taking an adaptive, proactive and more human stance.
citizen disagreement
post-politics
Dutch urban planning
consensus
Planners’ role in accommodating citizen disagreement: The case of Dutch urban planning - Sage 2019 - Vol 56, Issue 4, 2019 : (741-749 p.)
Citizen disagreement on urban policies and planning decisions is both ubiquitous and fundamental to democracy. Post-political debates debunk the ‘consensus approach’, which is grounded in Habermasian communication theory, for circumventing disagreement. This article presents a counter argument. Our analysis of the highly institutionalised and consensus-oriented Dutch planning framework shows that this system does not necessarily prevent effective voicing of disagreement. The empirical material demonstrates that consensus is not a pre-defined and static outcome but a dynamic and sensitive process in which urban planning is an instrument. We conclude that planners could facilitate consensus through accommodative roles that address disagreement by taking an adaptive, proactive and more human stance.
citizen disagreement
post-politics
Dutch urban planning
consensus