Habermas suggests that democracy means that a society is able to know itself and steer itself. This article builds on Habermas’ conception that mediatization is a central impediment to the realization of democracy, while recognizing the locally particular resolution of democratic dilemmas represented by any planning system. Using Victoria, Australia as an example, the article seeks to demonstrate that Habermas’ project offers a means of critiquing existing planning systems. Rather than communicative planning remaining an unattainable ideal, the possibility is explored of Habermasian critique offering practical directions for enhancing the democracy of existing planning systems.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Arendt, H. (1969) Crises of the Republic. New York: Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich .
2.
Audi, R. (1995) The Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press .
3.
Avio, K. (2000) ‘ Scarcity, Discourses of Implementation, and Habermasian Law and Democracy ’, Ratio Juris13(2): 148–162 .
4.
Bentham, J. (1789/1961a) ‘Anarchial Fallacies’, in F. Olafson (ed.) Society, Law and Morality: Readings in Social Philosophy from Classical and Contemporary Sources, pp. 343–358. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall .
5.
Bentham, J. (1789/1961b) ‘An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation’, in F. Olafson and E. Cliffs (eds) Society, Law and Morality, pp. 362–379. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall .
6.
Black, J. (2000) ‘ Proceduralising Regulation: Pt 1 ’, Oxford Journal of Legal Studies20(4): 597–615 .
7.
CEPR (1993) Making Sense of Subsidiarity: How Much Centralization for Europe? London: Office for Official Publications for the European Communities .
8.
CEPR (2002) Making Sense of Subsidiarity, Vol. 2002. Luxembourg: Centre for European Policy and Research .
9.
Chernilo, D. (2002) ‘ The Theorization of Social Co-ordinations in Differentiated Societies: The Theory of Generalized Symbolic Media in Parsons, Luhmann and Habermas ’, British Journal of Sociology53(3): 431–449 .
10.
Cohen, J. (1997) ‘Deliberation and Democratic Liberty’, in J. Bohman and W. Rehg (eds) Deliberative Democracy, pp. 67–92. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press .
11.
Cooren, F. (2000) ‘ Toward Another Ideal Speech Situation: A Critique of Habermas’ Reinterpretation of Speech Act Theory ’, The Quarterly Journal of Speech86(3): 295–318 .
12.
Dahl, R.A. (1956) A Preface to Democratic Theory. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press .
13.
Dahl, R.A. (1982) Dilemmas of Pluralist Democracy: Autonomy vs. Control. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press .
14.
Fagence, M. (1977) Citizen Participation in Planning. Oxford: Pergamon .
15.
Fainstein, S. (2000) ‘ New Directions in Planning Theory ’, Urban Affairs Review35(4): 451–478 .
16.
Femia, J. (1996) ‘ Complexity and Deliberative Democracy ’, Inquiry39(3–4): 359–398 .
17.
Fincher, R. and Jacobs, J.M. (eds) (1998) Cities of Difference. New York: Guilford Press .
18.
Fischer, F. and Forester, J. (eds) (1993) The Argumentative Turn in Policy Analysis and Planning. Durham, NC: Duke University Press .
19.
Flyvbjerg, B. (1998a) ‘Empowering Civil Society: Habermas, Foucault and the Question of Conflict’, in M. Douglass and J. Friedmann (eds) Cities for Citizens, pp. 185–212. Chichester: Wiley .
20.
Flyvbjerg, B. (1998b) Rationality and Power: Democracy in Practice. London: University of Chicago Press .
21.
Flyvbjerg, B. (2001) Making Social Science Matter: Why Social Enquiry Fails and How it Can Succeed Again. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press .
22.
Forester, J. (1985) ‘Critical Theory and Planning Practice’, in J. Forester (ed.) Critical Theory and Public Life, pp. 202–230. Boston, MA: Massachusetts Institute of Technology .
23.
Forester, J. (1989) Planning in the Face of Power. Berkeley: University of California Press .
24.
Forester, J. (2001) ‘ An Instructive Case Study Hampered by Theoretical Puzzles: Critical Comments on Flyvbjerg’s Rationality and Power ’, International Planning Studies6(3): 263–270 .
25.
Freundlieb, D. (2000) ‘ Why Subjectivity Matters: Critical Theory and the Philosophy of the Subject ’, Critical Horizons1(2): 229–246 .
26.
Friedman, M. (1962) Capitalism and Freedom. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press .
27.
Gamble, A. (1994) The Free Economy and the Strong State. London: Macmillan .
28.
Giddens, A. (1984) The Constitution of Society: Outline of the Theory of Structuration. Berkeley: University of California Press .
29.
Graham, S. and Marvin, S. (2001) Splintering Urbanism. London: Routledge .
30.
Gutmann, A. and Thompson, D. (1996) Democracy and Disagreement. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press .
31.
Habermas, J. (1962/1989) The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere. Cambridge: Polity Press .
32.
Habermas, J. (1984) The Theory of Communicative Action, Vol. 1. London: Beacon Press .
33.
Habermas, J. (1987) The Theory of Communicative Action, Vol. 2. London: Beacon Press .
34.
Habermas, J. (1987/1996) ‘Normative Content of Modernity’, in W. Outhwaite (ed.) The Habermas Reader, pp. 341–365. Cambridge: Polity Press .
35.
Habermas, J. (1996) Between Facts and Norms: Contributions to a Discourse Theory of Law and Democracy. Cambridge: Polity Press .
36.
Habermas, J. (1999) ‘Popular Sovereignty as a Procedure’, in J. Bohman and W. Rehg (eds) Deliberative Democracy: Essays on Reason and Politics, pp. 35–65. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press .
37.
Hall, P. (2001) ‘Global City Regions in the Twenty First Century’, in A. Scott (ed.) Global City Regions: Trends, Theory and Practice, pp. 59–77. Oxford: Oxford University Press .
38.
Hayek, F.A. (1944) The Road to Serfdom. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul .
39.
Hayek, F.A. (1960) The Constitution of Liberty. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press .
40.
Healey, P. (1993) ‘ The Communicative Work of Development Plans ’, Environment and Planning B: Planning and Design20(1): 83–104 .
41.
Healey, P. (1996) ‘ The Communicative Turn in Planning Theory and its Implications for Spatial Strategy Formation ’, Environment and Planning B: Planning and Design23(2): 217–234 .
42.
Healey, P. (1997) Collaborative Planning: Shaping Places in Fragmented Societies. London: Macmillan .
43.
Healey, P. (1999a) ‘ Deconstructing Communicative Planning Theory: A Reply to Tewdwr-Jones and Allmendinger ’, Environment and Planning A31(3): 1129–1135 .
44.
Healey, P. (1999b) ‘ Institutional Analysis, Communicative Planning and Shaping Places ’, Journal of Planning Education and Research19(2): 111–121 .
45.
Healey, P. and Hillier, J. (1995) Community Mobilisation in the Swan Valley: Claims, Discourses and Rituals in Local Planning. Newcastle upon Tyne: University of Newcastle upon Tyne .
46.
Held, D. (1987) Models of Democracy. Cambridge: Polity Press .
47.
Held, D. (1995) Democracy and the Global Order: From the Modern State to Cosmopolitan Governance. Cambridge: Polity Press .
48.
Hillier, J. (2000) ‘ Going Round the Back? Complex Networks and Informal Action in Local Planning Processes ’, Environment and Planning A32(1): 33–54 .
49.
Hillier, J. (2002) ‘Direct Action and Agonism in Democratic Planning Practice’, in P. Allmendinger and M. Tewdwr-Jones (eds) Planning Futures: New Directions for Planning Theory, pp. 110–135. London: Routledge .
50.
Howe, E. (1994) Acting on Ethics in City Planning. New Brunswick, NJ: Center for Urban Policy Research .
51.
Innes, J. (1996) ‘ Planning Through Consensus Building: A New View of the Comprehensive Planning Ideal ’, Journal of the American Planning Association62(4): 460–472 .
52.
Innes, J.E. and Booher, D.E. (1999) ‘ Consensus Building and Complex Adaptive Systems ’, Journal of American Planners Association65(4): 412–423 .
53.
Kaufman, C. (1999) ‘ The Unforced Force of the Better Argument: A Critique of Habermas’ Theory of Communicative Rationality ’, Philosophy Today43(4): 348 .
54.
Kelly, G.A. (1955) The Psychology of Personal Constructs, Vols 1, 2. New York: Norton .
55.
Kuehnelt-Leddihn, E. v. (1952) Liberty or Equality. London: Hollis & Carter .
56.
Latour, B. (1987) Science in Action. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press .
57.
Lauria, M. (1997) ‘Regulating Urban Regimes: Reconstruction or Impasse?’, in M. Lauria (ed.) Reconstructing Urban Regime Theory: Regulating Urban Politics in a Global Economy, pp. 1–37. London: Sage .
58.
Lewis, M. (1999) Suburban Backlash. Melbourne: Bloomings .
59.
Low, N. (1991) Planning, Politics and the State. London: Unwin Hyman .
60.
Low, N. (1997) ‘ What Made it Happen? Mapping the Terrain of Power in Urban Development ’, Planning Theory17(1): 88–112 .
61.
McCarthy, T. (1978) The Critical Theory of Jürgen Habermas. London: Hutchinson .
62.
McCloskey, H.J. (1984) ‘Respect for Human Moral Rights versus Maximising Good’, in R.G. Frey (ed.) Utility and Rights, pp. 86–105. Oxford: Basil Blackwell .
63.
Mackie, J.L. (1984) ‘Rights, Utility and Universalisation’, in R.G. Frey (ed.) Utility and Rights, pp. 86–105. Oxford: Basil Blackwell .
64.
McLoughlin, B. (1992) Shaping Melbourne’s Future? Town Planning, the State and Civil Society. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press .
65.
Maffetone, S. (2000) ‘ Liberalism and its Critique: Is the Therapy Worse than the Disease? ’, Philosophy and Social Criticism26(3): 1–37 .
66.
Mannheim, K. (1940) Man & Society in an Age of Reconstruction. London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner .
67.
Marcuse, P. and Van Kempen, R. (eds) (2002) Of Cities and States. Oxford: Oxford University Press .
68.
Meyerson, M. and Banfield, E. (1955) Politics, Planning and the Public Interest: The Case of Public Housing at Chicago. New York: Free Press .
Mill, J. (1863/1962) Representative Government. London: J.M. Dent .
71.
Phelps, N. and Tewdwr-Jones, M. (2000) ‘ Scratching the Surface of Collaborative and Associative Governance: Identifying the Diversity of Social Action in Institutional Capacity Building ’, Environment and Planning A32(2): 111–130 .
72.
Planning and Environment Act (1987) Government of Victoria (as amended edn). Melbourne: State Government Printer .
73.
Plumwood, V. (2002) Environmental Culture: The Ecological Crisis of Reason. London: Routledge .
74.
Polanyi, M. (1958) Personal Knowledge: Towards a Post-critical Philosophy. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press .
75.
Sandercock, L. and Kliger, B. (1998) ‘ Multiculturalism and the Planning System ’, Australian Planner35(3–4): 127–132, 223–227 .
76.
Selman, P. (1999) ‘Three Decades of Environmental Planning: What Have We Really Learned?’, in M. Kenny and J. Meadowcroft (eds) Planning Sustainability, pp. 148–174. London and New York: Routledge .
77.
Sumner, L.W. (1984) ‘Rights Denaturalized’, in R.G. Frey (ed.) Utility and Rights, pp. 20–41. Oxford: Basil Blackwell .
78.
Tewdwr-Jones, M. and Allmendinger, P. (1998) ‘ Deconstructing Communicative Rationality: A Critique of Habermasian Collaborative Planning ’, Environment and Planning A30(4): 1975–1989 .
79.
Thornley, A. and Rydin, Y. (2002) Planning in a Global Era. Aldershot: Ashgate .
80.
Truman, D. (1951) The Governmental Process. New York: Knopf .
81.
Van der Heiden, N., Kok, J., Postuma, R. and Wallagh, G. (1992) ‘ Consensus Building as an Essential Element of the Dutch Planning System ’, Planning Theory7–8(2): 116–134 .
82.
Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act (1998) Government of Victoria. Melbourne: Government Printer for the State of Victoria .
83.
Vigar, G., Healey, P., Hull, A. and Davoudi, S. (2000) Planning, Governance and Spatial Strategy in Britain: An Institutional Analysis. London: Macmillan .
84.
Wallace, M. and Milroy, B.M. (1999) ‘Intersecting Claims: Possibilities for Planning in Canada’s Multicultural Cities’, in T. Fenster (ed.) Gender, Policy and Human Rights, pp. 55–73. London: Routledge .
85.
Yiftachel, O. (2001) ‘Introduction: The Power of Planning’, in O. Yiftachel, J. Little, D. Hedgcock and I. Alexander (eds) The Power of Planning: Spaces of Control and Transformation, pp. 1–20. Dordrecht: Kluwer .
86.
Yiftachel, O. and Avinoam, M. (eds) (1998) Ethnic Frontiers and Peripheries. Boulder, CO: Westview Press .
87.
Young, I.M. (1990) Justice and the Politics of Difference. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press .
