Ferry VAN DE MOSSELAER, KU Leuven, Belgium
Dominique VANNESTE, KU Leuven, Belgium
In more and more countries participation has become formally institutionalized as a part of strategic spatial governance processes over the last years. Whereas the Netherlands has a longstanding tradition with public involvement in spatial governance, only with the upcoming Environment and Planning Act, participation will become a formal prerequisite. In this research we scrutinize the premise that participatory governance processes will not only lead to increased public support for decisions but also, as a consequence, to more effective and efficient implementation processes. We adopt a performative lens on strategic spatial planning which shifts the analytical angle. From looking into the future, that is what a place is and may become, we move into looking at the future and examine how expectations are mobilized in real time to structure the strategic planning process. Hereto we have conducted an intensive case study over a period of three years into the Seelig Park area development in Breda, the Netherlands. Over the course of this time we observed a reiterative dynamic. Presumptions on the roles and identities of actors and their expected behaviour clearly intersected with presumptions on the scope of the project and the expected outcomes. We examined how these articulations contribute to the continuous shaping and alteration of the planning practice in the present and argue that participation is deliberately used as an polyvalent concept. We introduce the concept of recalibrations to expose how this versatility enables the adoption of alternating legitimacy claims. We distinguish between democratic, heuristic and political legitimacy claims and conclude that these are often at odds. Nevertheless, in their own right, these can all be utilized to validate (or disprove) the constellation that participation has led to increased public support for plans and decisions or to more effective and efficient implementation processes.
Mots clés : Participation|Strategic spatial planning|Recalibrations|Performativity|Legitimation
A103621Fv