Activist planning: a response to the woes of neo-liberalism?

ABSTRACT

Neo-liberalism provokes many forms of resistance, and activist planning is here shown to be one of them. The strong influence on planning of those that are able to contribute most to the economy, and those that emphasize material values, motivates progressive planners and planning-oriented social movements to take direct action to challenge the economism of urban plans and protect vulnerable segments of the population. The article offers a systematization of activist planning modes, concentrating on planning that is unconcealed and recognized by the government, and including efforts of both lay and professional planners. Particular attention is given to modes of activist planning that are not among the most familiar, such as critical-alternative initiatives, community-based activist planning and modes that position the planner as an intermediary between partisan interests. These modes are used for organizing alternative thinking in planning contexts where policy change is higher on the activists’ agenda than system change. For most of the discussed planning modes, a number of examples illustrate activist planning’s critical relationship with neo-liberalism.

KEYWORDS:

• Activist planning
• classification of planning
• neo-liberalism
• planning theory
• radical planning