Julija BAKUNOWITSCH , TU Dortmund University, Germany
Frank OTHENGRAFEN, TU Dortmund University, Germany
Even though there are different understandings of justice, it is a central principle for structuring social institutions. Corresponding justice efforts are also reflected in urban planning. As an administrative task urban planning deals with the alignment of spatial development and finding forward-looking solutions for future distribution of population, land uses, and resources. Although planning practices are formally regulated by law, the implementation leaves room for different interpretations of what justice means in planning processes and their concrete outcomes.
This becomes clear in the procedure of weighing of alternatives, in which planners balance the respective interests of concerned public and private parties. The purpose of weighing is to enable a structured and transparent decision-making process. This always includes the development and evaluation of planning alternatives for redesigning or developing a planning area.
Decisions that result from weighing processes have direct impacts on spatial justice. For example, planners have to fulfill the needs of today’s population, while they also should deal with possibly contradicting needs of future generations. Due to different perspectives, interests, and future-related uncertainties this decision-making process is a challenging task (Hillier 2004).
However, the phase of developing, evaluating, and selecting alternatives often remains unexamined as a ‘black box’ (Fürst 2004: 243). Thus, we address the following questions: In how far does weighing contribute to spatial justice? Specifically: In how far does weighing serve as an instrument for safeguarding just land use? The presentation links the concept of spatial justice with the current planning ethics debate. So, it is possible to examine how decision-making processes are legitimized. In this way, the lecture links planning with spatial sciences and contributes to a better understanding of the relationship between urban planning and spatial justice.
Mots clés : spatial justice|planning ethics|planning practices|alternatives|land use
A104244SB