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Contemporary South African planning practice is rich in detail, complexity and innovation born out of a need to fulfil a post-apartheid development agenda. This practice warrants theorising. This dissertation aims to advance the concept of critical pragmatism into an analytical framework that will facilitate the analysis and theorising of one such complex planning case, and its delivery. The case study examines the Kathorus Special Integrated Presidential Project (KSiPP) – an ambitious, large-scale strategic planning programme that was by many accounts successful in achieving a substantial range and scale of outcomes in an exceedingly complex underdeveloped and violence-ridden context. This case provides the material for a deeper analysis of what actually happened in the project, through the application of my framework. Within the dissertation I define critical pragmatism as a concept for exploring planning practice as: An analytical framework for examining the actual processes and outcomes of planning practice that is contextually situated; that operates within and through pervasive power relations, which are exercised through and influenced by multiple rationalities, and practice in which the planning choices that are made are valueladen and mutable. This framework is comprised of five interrelated elements. These are: context, outcomes, power, rationality and ethics. These are derived through a study of the philosophical roots of critical and pragmatic schools of planning. My interrogation of these roots and planning traditions, especially with reference to thinkers such as Dewey, Habermas, Foucault, Harrison, among others, finds that while the critical traditions predominantly foreground power, the pragmatic traditions predominantly focus on action and outcome. Each tradition is limited and a conversation between them, in an integrated critical pragmatism produces a framework that can address the sort of complexities manifest in the KSiPP. Out of this conversation and the identification of ethics as an element somewhat lacking in both traditions, a contemporary critical pragmatic analytical framework is derived and substantiated, with significant implications for the discipline of planning. My own involvement as a practitioner in the project provides close methodological benefits and insights for the thesis. The research methodology employed in this thesis focuses on case study techniques, with a strong leaning on practice writing. An in-depth literature review research into theoretical concepts in planning and philosophy has enabled the development of an appropriate framework for analysis. The application of my framework yields deep and nuanced findings of the KSiPP. These include the extent to which context and circumstances contributed to the project, whose means and ends were multifaceted. The explicit assessment of power in the project illuminates its many faces in its institutional, collaborative and personal forms. A precise examination of the rationalities that were at play finds competing political and technical rationalities, and their relationships with power and action. Finally, an assessment of the project against the ethical question of justice, found it lacking and modified the sense of the KSiPP as an entirely successful endeavour. The value of critical pragmatism is that it enables a conversation between the analytical efforts to understand planning practice and outcome, and the efforts to analyse the power, rationality and ethical choices inherent in planning processes. It also takes what is implicit within such frameworks and particularly in the work of Forester, who has written of a critical pragmatic approach to planning, and makes this explicit and thus available for use in further evaluation.

Abstract The aim of this study is to gain a deeper understanding of the conflicts of interests that may arise between the differing land use needs of a municipal planning agency and The Swedish Armed Forces. The study is based on three distinct cases located in the municipalities of Umeå, Luleå and the region of Gotland; each respective case presents unique contextual factors at the local level and these also serves to exemplify the issue at a national level. The work has been carried out as a case study and the methods employed were research interviews, document-based research and literature studies. The results indicate that there are significant differences in the planning practice used by the respective municipal planning agencies and that employed by The Swedish Armed Forces in terms of differing aims, methods and outcomes. The study also highlighted how the outcome of each case was dependent upon a combination of contextual factors and the impact of external factors such as national politics, changing security policy, urban development and progression of the environmental legislation. In short, The Swedish Armed Forces is a land use agency that has had significant impact on the municipal planning in each of the locations that has been studied. In a Swedish context, their land use needs are classified as being of national interest and thusly have precedence over competing land use claims. These factors have combined to create conditions in which municipal planning is, to some extent, often restricted by the land use needs of The Swedish Armed Forces.

Implementing urban development projects in planning practice while simultaneously providing sufficient green spaces has proven to be challenging. As a result, there is a growing need for practical approaches and tools for the integration of urban green qualities in the on-going densification of cities. Environmental assessment, as a proactive decision aiding tool, can hold an important role in integrating green qualities in urban development plans and projects. However, in recent years environmental assessment has only added moderate value to planning issues regarding green space. Therefore, this thesis was designed to contribute to the knowledge and understanding on the role environmental assessment can have in the integration of green qualities in future urban development plans and projects in efforts to aid practitioners. This aim was achieved through examination of existing urban green space planning practice in the Stockholm region (Paper I) and the practice of environmental assessment in a selection of European countries in relation to the following factors identified to be important for practice: timing, quality control, alternatives, monitoring and public participation (Paper II). The findings from both studies were then analysed to identify possibilities of green space planning within the framework of these factors. A qualitative research was employed for this study including: semi-structured interviews with municipal planners in the Stockholm region and environmental assessment experts for the European Commission, literature review, document analysis and case study analysis. The case studies analyzed in Paper I were located in municipalities of Haninge and Huddinge, suburban areas located to the south of Stockholm. In Paper II, the experts interviewed were environmental assessment experts from the European Commission from: Austria, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway and Slovenia. Through analysis of the results from both studies, the potential role of environmental assessment in integrating green qualities in urban development plans and projects are explored and discussed in relation to the factors. The potential of environmental assessment to enhance public participation and dialogues amongst actors, or bring forth green space issues within alternatives are a few of the roles discussed. Furthermore, a selection of pathways is suggested for the integration of green qualities in future urban development through the application of environmental assessment. For example, the implementation of developer dialogues in the environmental assessment process and the development of knowledge exchange platforms for sharing experiences in relation to green space planning and environmental assessment. / <p>QC 20171122</p>

Les places publiques d’Oran sont des espaces d’identification et de symbolique de la ville coloniale. Elles se donnent à voir par leurs caractéristiques physiques et esthétiques propres mais aussi par leur participation à la vie urbaine. Cependant, la croissance de la ville a contribué à la redistribution des pratiques de sociabilité dans l’espace urbain. La recherche sur les places publiques d’Oran se doit donc de contribuer à une réflexion plus large sur la fabrique des espaces publics urbains et de s’inscrire dans l’actualité de la recherche urbaine sur le monde arabe et méditerranéen. Dans cette perspective se posent trois questions fondamentales. Celle des héritages d’un urbanisme issu de la culture européenne « exporté » vers la rive sud de la Méditerranée. Celle de la conception et de la gestion actuelles des espaces publics par les pouvoirs locaux, les opérateurs techniques, et les divers acteurs. Et celle enfin des usages contemporains de ces espaces par les usagers-habitants. Les usages des places et des lieux urbains à Oran sont réels, parfois même surprenants. Ils sont étroitement liés à leur position dans la ville, à leur configuration formelle et visuelle, et à la qualité de leur aménagement. Ils sont aussi inhérents à la place qu’ils occupent dans l’imaginaire collectif. Ces aspects essentiels à la fabrique des espaces publics ne sont pas, cependant, pris en compte dans les pratiques urbanistiques contemporaines. Le problème de la reconnaissance de l’espace public en tant qu’espace autorisant le vivre ensemble dans la grande ville, structurant l’espace urbain et accessible à tous, reste fondamentalement posé à Oran. / Oran public squares are identification and symbolic spaces of the colonial city. They are given to see by their physical and aesthetic characteristics but also by their participation in urban life. However, the growth of the city contributes to the redistribution of sociability in urban space. Research on public squares of Oran therefore has thus to contribute to a broader thought on making urban public spaces and to be part of the current urban research on the Arab and Mediterranean World. In this issue, three fundamental questions arose. That of legacies of town planning coming from European culture "exported" to the southern bank of the Mediterranean Sea. That of the current design and management of public spaces by local authorities, technical operators and various actors. And finally that of contemporary uses of these spaces by local users. Social practices of squares and urban places in Oran are real, sometimes surprising. They are closely related to their position in the city, their urban and visual form, and the quality of their installations. They are also inherent in the position they have in the collective imaginary. These important aspects in making public spaces, however, are not regarded in contemporary urban practices. The problem of the recognition of the public space as public realm, organizing the urban space and accessible to all, is fundamentally questioned in Oran.

How can you as a planner tackle messy realities without losing sight of possible problematic outcomes of what you put in practice? This study explores the value of everyday frictions as a resource for phronetic planning, i.e. the ability to make situated ethical judements of what is ’better’ or ’worse’ in a particular setting. The intent is to offer a situated gaze of frictions from the perspective of a civil servant of the well organised and innovative municipality of Botkyrka in the metropolitan area of Stockholm, Sweden. From this outset, an autoethnographical methodology from a poststructural approach, is used to explore the frictions that the author has experienced as a practicing planner. The study shows that frictions can be used as 'weak signals' to identify possible tricky consequences of the creation and the staging of planning 'simplifications'. Based on this insight a 'seismological' approach to planning is proposed. The argument is that planning practice should on the one hand utilize frictions when they arise and, on the other hand, actively challenge existing 'simplifications'. To achieve this, practical tools are offered to 'evoke', 'narrate' and 'diffract' on frictions and 'trickster-objects' within the constraints of the planner’s role as a municipal civil servant. / Denna avhandlings syfte är att utforska skavningars möjliga värde som resurs för praktisk klokhet inom svensk kommunal planeringspraktik. Med praktisk klokhet avses förmågan att göra situerade etiska bedömningar om 'bättre' och 'sämre' på ett reflexivt sätt i ett visst sammanhang. Studiens teoretiska ram utgörs av poststrukturell subjektteori och arbetet bygger på en metodologisk ansats grundad i autoetnografi. Avsikten är att erbjuda en situerad ’inifrån blick’ om vardagliga skavningar i planering i en svensk kommunal förvaltningskontext baserat på författarens egen yrkespraktik från en kommun. I analysen framkommer att skavningar ofta kan uppstå när planeraren ikläder sig i grunden motsatta sätt att uppträda som planerare; i studien identifierat som en central, entreprenöriell och kommunikativ persona. Det som då sker är att olika idéer om ‘hur saker funkar’, olika typer av praktiska tekniker för att uppnå uppsatta mål och olika etiska ramverk om vad som är 'rätt' införlivas och 'krockar' inom planeraren. En slutsats är att skavningar kan ses som ’svaga signaler’ för att förnimma eventuella problematiska konsekvenser av de 'förenklingar’ som av nödvändighet görs inom planeringspraktik. En medvetenhet om sådana signaler kan bidra till en beredskap om existerande konfliktytor som den kommunala organisationen kan adressera i sin planering och verksamhetsutveckling. Den typ av planerarroll som har bäst förutsättningar att inrymma skavningar är en central persona, men för att den möjligheten ska realiseras krävs att skavningar uppvärderas som en av flera komponenter för att stärka planerarens bedömningsförmåga. I ljuset av studiens lärdomar tecknas ett utkast till vad som benämns en ’seismologisk’ ansats till planering. Argumentet som förs fram är att planeringspraktik å ena sidan bör tillvarata skavningar när de väl uppstår, och å andra sidan aktivt utmana existerande 'förenklingar’. För att uppnå detta föreslås exempel på praktiska verktyg som planeraren och organisationen kan använda för att 'framkalla', '(åter)berätta' och 'diffraktera' kring skavningar inom gränserna för planerarens ansvar. / <p>QC 20171017</p>

This study examines the regional Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS) framework as a tool for cooperative practice among Connecticut's municipal practitioners. The creation of a CEDS document is a prerequisite for municipalities wishing to access planning and public works funds of the Economic Development Administration (EDA). It is the primary means by which the EDA uniformly measures regional commitment to economic planning. With ever decreasing real funding levels and ever increasing demand, the EDA relies on its regional CEDS framework to evaluate the planning and implementation capacities of economic development organizations that cross political boundaries. This study examines the regional CEDS process and document from the municipal perspective, the claims that a CEDS developed through an inclusive process, driven by diverse stakeholders, results in lasting implementation strategies that are in greater adherence to regional goals; and that a well constructed CEDS document fosters greater cooperation among municipal officials in regional economies. The findings are based on primary data collection, including interviews and the surveying of two Connecticut CEDS regions and one control region that has not been involved in the creation of a CEDS. I use interviews and survey results from municipal stakeholders to assess the benefits and limitations of the CEDS process to economic development practice in Connecticut. This study finds participation in a regional CEDS is, by itself, insufficient to increase development of regional solutions. However, strong administrative leadership by various regional organizations participation in a CEDS increases inter-municipal communication and engagement in comprehensive economic development planning.

Central to this dissertation is a discourse in contemporary Swedish planning practice referred to as the ‘new reality’. The name of this discourse reflects the notion that planning practice interprets the conditions of today as differing from those which occurred previously. The urban landscape is perceived as increasingly complex, dynamic, and competitive, where strategic alliances must be built between municipalities and private and public actors at different levels. Both the influence of private actors and such factors as climate effects contribute to that much of what may happen in the future being experienced as uncertain and unpredictable. In this context of complexity, uncertainty, and governance, municipalities must find a way to manage planning tasks connected to the social, environmental, and economic dimensions of sustainability, tasks that may be at the same time interdependent and contradictory. The social and environmental dimensions of sustainability provide the municipality with a spectrum of tasks that range from local welfare tasks to national and global environmental and climate concerns, the time span ranges between short-term and long-term, and the degree of concreteness ranges from the specific to the vague. Furthermore, tasks connected to the wellbeing and safety concern not only the own citizens but also humankind in general, and both today and in the future. Tasks of economic sustainability are, in the ‘new reality’ discourse, closely connected to growth. As growth is regarded as desirable, the assumed situation of competition between cities, municipalities, regions and nations means that it is considered important to find ways to be attractive to both the market and to new potential citizens. That notwithstanding, municipalities must also handle the effects from growth. The starting point of the dissertation is that it is easier to make good decisions (short-term, emergent) based on previous decisions (long-term, structure), in order to make gains in terms of social, environmental and economic sustainability, but also to bring efficiency gains in development decisions. Legislation assumes that the comprehensive plan serves such a function – it should both constitute political decisions for future development, and a planning data that allows holistic assessments. However, today, in many municipalities, it does not function as such. With reference to recently revised planning legislation’s intention to strengthen the strategic role of the comprehensive plan, this dissertation elaborates upon a development of the comprehensive plan based on a strategic perspective. The dissertation contributes to knowledge by outlining a way in which comprehensive planning could be developed based on a strategic perspective, that could provide municipalities with a possibility for an active role in development within the conditions of the ‘new reality’ discourse. It does so by visualising the use of strategic elements and approaches in Swedish municipalities’ work with planning and development; the application of elements such as strategic contextual awareness, strategic selectiveness, strategic responsiveness, and strategic governance. Furthermore, as the design of the comprehensive planning process is discussed from the perspective of forums-arenas-courts (Healey, 1997; Bryson 2004), the view of what in fact is planning is expanded, thereby including formal as well as informal, visible as well as invisible, processes and decisions on different levels and with difference degrees of concreteness, that influence development. Comprehensive planning concerns a variety of processes that take place not in the planning game, but in the development game. / QC 20111020

Abstract The requirements for interactive land use planning, a statutory function of municipalities, are based on the Land Use and Building Act. The objective of land use planning is to promote a high quality living environment and ecologically, economically, socially and culturally sustainable development. Ideally, planning consists of an interactive process in which aspects of administration, residents, economic life and policy making are interconnected. The everyday planning practices of municipalities are significant in implementing interactive planning. This thesis analyses the interactive planning practices and collaboration cultures of the municipalities, the ELY Centres, and the Regional Councils, together with the representatives of mining companies, and consultant planners. The realisation of planning practices was specifically studied within the scope of land use planning and mining due to the fact that there are several ongoing ore exploration and mining projects in the municipalities of Northern Finland. The study focuses on municipal planners’ experiences in interactive planning. The thesis is based on a mixed methods approach, integrating both qualitative and quantitative data. The main research material, which is qualitative data, is comprised of interviews with municipal planners, representatives of ELY Centres, Regional Councils, and mining companies, as well as consultant planners. The quantitative data was generated from a survey directed to municipal planners working in the Northern municipalities. The qualitative data was supplemented with workshop material collected through participatory action research, which was carried out in order to study and develop the interactive planning process. The findings of this thesis demonstrate that the municipalities in Northern Finland have generally fulfilled the statutory minimum requirements in their interactive planning practices. The results indicate that interaction based on statutory and informal municipality policies would increase the possibilities of different stakeholders’ participation in the planning process. In addition, interaction would improve municipal planning practices, and would provide continuity in policy making. The results of this thesis offer valuable insight into planning practices, and could inform and enhance the current reform process of central and regional administration. / Tiivistelmä Maankäyttö- ja rakennuslaki muodostaa perustan vuorovaikutteiselle alueiden käytön suunnittelulle, joka on yksi kuntien tehtävistä. Kunnilla on kokonaisvastuu suunnittelusta, jolla tavoitellaan hyvää elinympäristöä ja kestävää kehitystä. Suunnittelu perustuu lakisääteiseen vuorovaikutteiseen kaavoitusprosessiin. Ideaalitilanteessa vuorovaikutuksessa ovat hallinnon, kansalaisten, elinkeinoelämän ja poliittisen päätöksenteon näkökulmat. Kuntien suunnittelukäytännöt ovat tärkeässä asemassa vuorovaikutteisen suunnittelun toteuttamisessa. Väitöskirjatutkimuksen tavoitteena on kuvata ja analysoida vuorovaikutteisen alueiden käytön suunnittelun käytäntöjä ja toimintakulttuuria Kainuun, Lapin ja Pohjois-Pohjanmaan kuntien suunnitteluorganisaatioiden, ELY-keskusten, maakunnan liittojen, kaivosyhtiöiden edustajien ja konsulttisuunnittelijoiden välisessä yhteistyössä. Käytäntöjen toteutumista tarkastellaan erityisesti alueiden käytön suunnittelun ja vaikutuksiltaan merkittävän kaivostoiminnan vuorovaikutuksessa, koska Pohjois-Suomen kunnissa on vireillä useita malminetsintä- ja kaivoshankkeita. Tutkimuksessa painotetaan kuntakaavoittajien kokemuksia vuorovaikutteisesta suunnittelusta. Väitöskirjatutkimus on lähtökohdaltaan monimenetelmällinen. Laadullinen pääaineisto muodostuu eri toimijaryhmien teemahaastatteluista. Määrällinen aineisto käsittää Kainuun, Lapin ja Pohjois-Pohjanmaan kunnissa työskennelleille kaavoittajille lähetetyn kyselyn. Laadullista aineistoa täydentää toimintatutkimuksellisella otteella toteutettujen, suunnitteluprosessin vuorovaikutusta tutkineiden ja kehittäneiden työpajojen aineisto. Väitöskirjatutkimuksen tulokset osoittavat, että pohjoissuomalaisten kuntien suunnittelukäytännöissä noudatetaan useimmiten lakisääteisiä vuorovaikutuksen minimivaatimuksia. Tulosten perusteella lakisääteisten ja kuntien omien vapaamuotoisten käytäntöjen yhdistäminen lisäisi eri osapuolten vaikutusmahdollisuuksia suunnittelussa, mikä toisi myös jatkuvuutta kunnan suunnittelukäytäntöihin ja päätöksentekoon. Väitöskirjatutkimuksen tuloksia voidaan soveltaa ajankohtaisessa keskustelussa valtion ja paikallishallinnon työnjaosta sekä itsehallinnon uudistuvista muodoista.

This case study examines the impact of different perspectives in the planning process of a public swimming facility in Umeå. It is based on Peter Marcuse’s differentiation of planning practices into deferential planning, social reform planning and social justice planning, with emphasis on the last.A discourse analysis of interviews with five key planning actors comprises the core of the study, also supported by municipal documents and media publications.Expressions of social justice planning are found to be enabled through 1) individual planner’s benevolence, experiences and established trust relationships, 2) access to knowledge and know-how for advocating identified perspectives due to grass rootbased organizations and 3) legal support.Inhibiting conditions are further identified in 1) the prevailing economic-politicalorder, due to which the concept of the public has been renegotiated, 2) planning practices based on public-private partnerships mediated through person-centredpower concentration, and 3) a silenced ideological-political conversation. / Denna fallstudie granskar genomslaget av olika perspektiv i Umeås nya badhus,Navets, planeringssprocess. Undersökningen utgår från Peter Marcuses differentiering av planeringens praktik i de tre planeringstraditionerna teknisk planering, socialreformistisk planering och planering för social rättvisa, med tyngdpunkt i den sistnämnda.Studien baseras på en diskursanalys av intervjuer med fem centrala aktörer iplaneringsprocessen och stöds också av mediala publikationer samt kommunala dokument som utredningar och protokoll.Studien drar slutsatsen att uttryck för planering för social rättvisa möjliggörs av 1) enskilda planeringsaktörers välvilja, erfarenheter och tillitsrelationer 2) tillgång tillidentifierade intressegruppers perspektiv genom representanter med kompetens att föra deras talan samt 3) juridiskt stöd.Försvårande förhållanden identifieras istället i 1) den rådande ekonomisk-politiska riktningen, vilken utanför det politiska samtalet har omförhandlat synen på vilka som utgör allmänheten, 2) planeringspraktik baserad på offentlig-privata uppgörelser,medierad genom personcentrerad maktkoncentration samt, som en följd av detta, 3) ett tystnat idépolitiskt samtal.